Good marketing or bad business?

Black market music used to flow from garages to tapes to backpacks. Now independent music surges from MP3s to Napster to CD burners. \nBut independent musicians from the corners of Indiana -- just like their commercial counterparts in the big cities -- see the black, white and gray of MP3s and Napster. \nWhen the indie-rock HOME tour rolled into Bloomington Saturday night at the Bluebird, Napster wasn't on the bands' minds. Johnny Socko, the Mudkids, Blue Moon Boys and the other bands were only trying to bring music to listeners and make a couple dollars in the process.\nAt the show, the bands hinted (not so subtly) for fans to check out their merchandise. In the independent scene, it's how they make their money. A few dollars come from the bar, and a few from CDs, band-logo shirts and stickers.\nWhile some bands play their music in bars and clubs, others play right into the hands of the Web site twice banned from IU's campus.\n"I know a lot of independent bands stick their own stuff on Napster just to get the word out," Johnny Socko band member Dylan Wissing says. \nMetallica and Dr. Dre sued the Web site that puts free downloadable music on the Internet. It was the enemy to these millions-of-albums-sold artists. \nBut bands that got their start in Bloomington like Johnny Socko and Danagas struggle with the site as both a friend and a foe. The MP3 frenzy is a phenomenon that exposes their music to a broad audience but threatens potential profits.\n"I think as an upcoming group you have to pay your dues and promote yourself as much as possible," says Ryan Fitch, drummer for the Bloomington funk band Danagas.\nFitch's tech-savvy friends upload MP3s of the two-year-old band as much as possible so word of the band gets out there. The band also features downloadable MP3s on its own Web site.\nFor these artists, it is a catch-22. MP3s help indie musicians reach an untapped wealth of music listeners. A garage band from Idaho can make a fan out of a Massachusetts computer wiz-kid. But that wiz-kid doesn't need to buy the band's album. He can download it with the click of a mouse. \nIt's exposure, but not loyalty.\n"I think it's good for us and other small-time bands," Danagas saxophone player Bill Hauser says, sitting down in the living room of the band's house with Fitch and bass player David Barajas. "Online is the way to go -- in MP3."\nMetallica wouldn't agree with that sentiment, but the three members of the indie band found Metallica's opinion and lawsuit humorous.\nHauser, pointing out that Metallica "ripped off their name" from a metal magazine, says he doubts a younger Metallica would have had the same problem with Napster. \nIn fact, Hauser bets a younger Metallica would embrace MP3s, like Danagas. \nAnd Danagas isn't alone in the business of online self-promotion. More and more bands and independent musicians are playing the MP3 game, adding downloadable clips of concerts and early releases of songs to their Web sites. \nHauser says some larger bands are taking advantage of the online music trading. \n"Phish -- right there. There's a band that doesn't care how much music you steal from them," he says. \nEven the compilation Web site, Potent, www.potent.com.au, a spot for independent musicians to promote themselves, advertises MP3s and music clips.\nWissing, Johnny Socko's drummer and self-appointed spokesperson for the Indianapolis band, says he is skeptical about Napster and similar sites like Scour, MP3.com and imesh. \nAlthough the indie band can be found on these sites -- and has even put up a few MP3s themselves -- he does not like the idea of trading music online in the manner Napster promotes.\n"There's a very definite part of us that doesn't like giving our music away for free," Wissing says. "But, if you're going to be a band these days and get your name out, it's something you're going to have to do."\nA Scour.com search for Johnny Socko, a 10-year-old band, produced 5,132 audio results, almost 4,000 more than produced on a search for Metallica.\nBlue Moon Boys guitarist Kenny Taylor substantiates Wissings' fears of too much for free.\n"A kid came up to me and said, 'Yeah, I turned my friend onto Johnny Socko and he downloaded the whole CD.' \nIt's like, 'Yeah, well I hope he bought a T-shirt,'" says Taylor.\nDanagas isn't as fearful.\n"You can't deny the technology that exists," Fitch says. "I think the world is changing and you have to take it for what it is." \nBut "Danagas" produced no results on the Scour.com search.\nWhether bands love MP3s or loathe them is a matter of name recognition. Younger bands tend to bask in the spotlight of Internet popularity, while older bands scorn the blow to sales. \n"It seems like Napster is much more a college phenomenon," Wissing says, adding he and the band are more removed from MP3s. Johnny Socko has only put up a few of its own songs, and Wissing says only one band member has used the site.\n"The less known you are," Fitch says, "the better it is for you."\nBut even Danagas see a downside to MP3s. "There's a fine line of how much free stuff you could give away," Fitch says.\nAll three bands see the same problem: money. MP3s on Napster are free. MP3.com does charge for some musical clips and does pay the artist, in Taylor's words, "a few cents," but record sales do add to their income. \nDespite their agreement on money issues, Danagas and Blue Moon Boys don't see eye to eye on the whole situation. Their friends in Johnny Socko find themselves neither loving nor hating the computer age slowly taking over music. But none could deny that it isn't just about music anymore. It's about music on computers.\n"It all comes down to ones and zeros," Hauser says.