When Will It Be?

The world is still waiting for it's first internet music superstar. The only question is, when will it ever happen?

The internet, while being created in the early 1960s, only gave birth to the World Wide Web a mere twenty years ago. While the technology continues to grow at a very rapid pace, the more traditional communications mediums, such a Radio and Television have been around for far longer and still hold sway with consumers in the mainstream market place.

The first band to post a million downloads was the band, Fisher back in 2000. This got the attention of a major label and landed the band a record deal. However, the success that they had online didn't translate to brick and mortar, as the size of there fan base came from a wide and varied, global audience.

While 2011 was indeed the year that digital music began to make an impact, still the artist whose music contributed to it's greater success launched their careers through the use of those more traditional forms of media. In fact all major artists enjoy the promotion power that signing with a major label can bring.

The success of Adele and Lady Gaga, as well as last year's first million selling album by Lady Antebellum was the product of major label promotional muscle. It is true, if you are an independent artist able to travel the world touring, that it is possible to build huge fan base. But, by so doing, your audience will have been built from thousands of miles of travel and countless numbers of live performances, and not by anything more than maybe a few days of advance notice either from Radio, Television, or the Internet. And, while you may gain a great deal of notoriety, stardom or super stardom may not necessarily come along for the ride.

Maybe, the concept of star, or super star actually negates ones efforts as a musician, or singer/songwriter and plays host to something that is obviously more fleeting, like fame. Most music legends endured a certain amount of struggle on their journey to the top, while most of today's stars seemed to come forth, ready made, complete with their own image and fan base already in place.

The internet gives all artist a greater chance at a larger audience. But, most Web surfers tend to do just that. They roam the internet in search of something that they have yet to experience or maybe have been wondering about. And how important is it to become a star on the internet anyway? What most independent artist long for is the freedom to create what they envision. Maybe all any artist hopes to do on the internet is build a following that really and truly enjoys their music. Sure, as an independent, you're always hoping that you can reach a level of attention that can earn you enough money so that can do just music for a living. Having said that, then maybe it is also true that no one coming onto the internet that isn't already famous or a star, is looking to actually become one. But, if such a thing should happen, I could see how no artist would be able to turn away from it, including yours truly.

All in all, for most independent artists at least, the internet is about getting the word out to those who love music, that you have music for sale. If we as a species survives long enough, I could see the day when good music triumphs over all, even if only in my dreams.