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With the availability of broadband Internet reaching all time heights, it has never been easier to access the wealth of free MP3 music that is on tap and online. Many bands allow their music to be distributed on the net because of the massive potential audience they can reach using this medium. A wealth of bands even use their own websites to post demos, b-sides and interviews, any material, in fact, that they hope prospective fans might find interesting, and get them hooked on their sound.

Any new band will go to almost any lengths to get their music heard and the Internet offers many straightforward ways to do this. Many new bands post information about themselves and their music at www.myspace.com where visitors can either stream or download music. The mini sites offered here are customizable and the quantity of space available very generous.

These sites thus allow personal connections to develop between bands and the fans that follow them. The up and coming band called Yeah Yeah Yeah?, for example, recently previewed their new album exclusively at www.myspace.com allowing their fans to hear the material before it hit stores. To date, this exclusive arrangement has lured tens of thousands of individuals to check out the band's own site, offering them unprecedented publicity for free.

While this arrangement would seem advantageous to both musician and listener, some bands find the notion to be anathema, assuming that it will mean lost sales and ultimately, lost profits. Many more established bands have been unhurried to create their own music sharing sites, while others have fought to have file-sharing using peer-to-peer networks stopped altogether.

And yet the notion that online music sharing will exert a negative impact on CD sales seems to hold little water, as British band Artic Monkeys? recently displayed. The band made available on their website all their material and instead of losing out on CD sales, their debut album quickly became the fastest selling debut album of all time.

It seems that the ability to download MP3 benefits all concerned, both band and fan alike. So may the spirit of sharing long continue, so that everyone can continue to enjoy the fruits of the musicians? labor.