A reader asked for some suggestions on tools and practices "for someone steadfastly NOT going to do live gigs" who wants to ignore the typical advice to give away MP3s and play lots of gigs. The good thing is there is no shortage of online tools for the stay-at-home musician, and it's something I was planning on writing about.

There is no shortage of new companies that offer services to independent musicians. In fact, the number of options may surprise you. Musicians should keep in mind two things. First, some of these companies may not be around in a few years. Second, the stay-at-home musician will be responsible for the legwork. These sites offer only the tools for online sales and promotion. Artists will need to find listeners and build a following using their own websites and/or social networking pages (MySpace, Facebook). Each company has different payouts (they're pretty similar) and different fine print, so do your homework.

Here are a few of the many companies:

A few weeks ago I took a look at Speakerheart, a new company that is an offshoot of PassAlong Networks. Speakerheart combines digital distribution services with online sales tools and does it all with an elegant, easy-to-understand interface. The 'Shelves' tool is Speakerheart's widget/storefront that can be placed on websites, MySpace pages, etc.

Nimbit offers distribution to major download stores and a customizable widget for your website or social networking page. Indie911 offers the Hooka to artists. Their Hooka is a widget that enables sales as well as hooka-to-hooka online chat. The company also offers digital distribution.

Here are two that lack distribution. Musicane is another that allows users to create a sale page or embed a widget (the company calls it a "viral media store"). INDISTR allows artists to create a page and sell through its site.

For distribution, stay-at-home musicians have TuneCore as the best option get their music to the main online stores and services.

CD Baby brings together physical and digital. The site acts as an online consignment store. Artists send their CDs to CD Baby and a unique artist page is created and hosted by CD Baby. The company also acts as a digital distributor to all the main players (digital tracks are taken from the artist's CD, so this is an option only if an artist wants to get CDs made).

For promotion, Garagaband.com is an option. It is a community-based site for listeners who seek new music. People rate the music they hear and Garageband lists the top-rated songs and artists.
Radio stations and podcasters give top-rated artists a good deal of exposure...though not all genres are going to work here.

AmieStreet is open to independent musicians and differentiates itself by using demand-side dynamic pricing to sell its music. Keep an eye on this one. Some major indies have signed up, and the company counts Amazon.com as one of its investors.

Finally, Snocap is still an option for a sales widget but the company is in a state of flux. It was recently acquired by imeem.com.

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