So I'm almost a month into my Sellaband experience. I have to say it's been mostly good. Music promotion is very chicken and egg - in order to get fans you need listeners, but in order for people to listen to you they need to know you are there, and achieving that without spamming people is a fine art. I think Sellaband users try hard to provide advice, there's a handy community writing section where people have posted helpful hints about surviving the long road to $50k, and generally it's accepted that it will take time and perseverance.

I think Sellaband could help new artists a little more by having some sort of newbie promotion for the first month or so. When I signed up, I was offered 10 free parts to give away if I could generate 10 believers in the first week. That's too soon, especially when one is new to promoting oneself in such an intensive way online. I made it to 7 believers, which was still a lot, but think of how I could have pulled more in with some gift parts to give away? I'm on the hot new acts chart, but that chart is only published on the home page, not on the charts page, so it's easy to miss. So I think, looking at it, it would be nice to see some extra hints given to newbie and perhaps a little extra attention. Also, the helpful community writing stuff really isn't prominent enough, I only found it after trawling through the forums for advice. Be nice to see that mailed out to all new artists. I did get a tips sheet, but the pieces in community writing are a lot more comprehensive.

All that aside though, Sellaband has still so far been the much more positive experience. After a year on STP, I still haven't come close to breaking past the reviewer stage, on Sellaband I'm already $200 into financing. 0.4% in three weeks. That's not bad going.

I've been pondering what makes the sites so different, and I think it's this. STP supports the choices and fads of the existing music industry. In asking scouts to review according to the marketability of a track, STP is actually asking scouts to compare tracks to what is currently selling well. But of course, as we know, what is currently selling well is still largely doing so through the push of the major record companies. So new music doesn't stand a hope unless it's the current favourite genre on the market, and even then it has to be very polished, since most scouts struggle to look beyond the production of a track. Add in the fact that scouts are actively penalised for going outside of the fad choice by losing ratings if they diverge from the majority, and you have just a continuation of the old system of music promotion.

Sellaband on the other hand makes no penalty for your personal preference for music. In fact, by liking a supporting an artist, you are ultimately rewarded. The artist, additionally, gets a zero penalty way of getting heard, without having the trolls and unprofessional scout reviews. The artist gets a shot at being liked for what they do best, rather than feeling they have to write the sort of music that is already in the charts in abundance.

I have also found the general market on Sellaband to be more mature. I'm still chuckling with amusement at the latest review for Mary on STP, which complimented it as a "strong electronic track with a great back beat". In case you've not heard it, it's a piano ballad. The same song also attracted comments for my "awesome guitar playing". And these, dear reader, are the critics responsible for deciding whether I get to the financing stage. STP would be much improved by making the scouts take a musical instrument identification test, it's astounding how many of them can't tell guitar from piano.

STP still has it's uses. I know when my home production has started to improve when people start to say tracks sound professional or that my vocals are clear. It's a great feedback mechanism on a good day and sheer comedy on a bad day. If you're a musician, upload a track, make a cup of tea and prepare to laugh. If you want to really take the piss, write something awful but strangely catchy (I used "I've Got a Brand New Kitten (Mostly She Just Purrs)" which is a country track using copious banjo that I wrote for FAWM) and then you can guarantee not only a laugh from the majority of the reviews, but the strangely satisfying knowledge that the scouts will spend the rest of their day tormented by it on replay in their heads.

Please comment to be added, I removed everyone who didn't specify that they wanted my spam ;) So if you think I removed you in error, just shout and I'll stick you back on!

As some of you may be aware, I have a passing interest in music ;) writing it, playing it, and one day selling it. This has led me to check out sites that offer artists the chance to become financed to make an album. And my goodness, how my experiences have differed.

First of all, I tried Slice The Pie (www.slicethepie.com). The premise is simple, you post up three songs, they are entered into arenas, and then reviewers review them and give them a score out of ten. At the end of a fixed period, the artists with the highest review average go on to the financing stage (showcase), with a target to raise £50,000. The system is, however, not without its flaws.

* Reviews are not monitored and are anonymous, so there are (despite numerous terms and conditions) reviews that blatantly flout rules and consist of cut and paste passages from music books, or, in a bid to outsmart the online editor that looks for "musical terms and phrases" in reviews, made "legal" simply by adding the word "piano" or "vocals".

* Reviewers are paid, and this fee increases the more accurate they are. By "accurate", STP means how close to what everyone else voted. So just about every reviewer will give even the most talented tracks a five or six, since that's a "safe" vote and won't affect accuracy ratings.

* An artists success on STP is based on commercial viability, so that if you aren't what all the kids are listening to right now, you don't stand a chance of averaging higher than a 5.5 overall. This closes the door to any genre that isn't rock driven (the current fave), and there is currently still no provision on STP for other genres to be compared in single genre arenas, they are all competing against rock tracks.

* Because reviewers are anonymous, some of them are just plain malicious, and there is no way for the artist to report offensive reviews. Additionally, the site seems to attract only a minority of actual music fans (easy to identify by their coherent, constructive reviews) and a majority of younger people (10-14 year olds) and/or people with very little interest in music, keen to make some extra pocket money but with no real understanding of the market.

Examples of reviews I have received:

"Score: 0/10 ER? WHAT?
This is music for the soul.it's pretty cool. I like the beat at the back ground and I love the cool manner with which the lady sang the song. It's pretty impressive." (For Summertime)

"Score: 6/10
the song is very sweet and ever so passionate. its very nice and so enjoyable. i really liked it. its so good and very talented and refreshing. its cool and very upliftinga nd pure" (on Hunted, a dark, electronica murder ballad in which the victim is chased and ultimately killed. Uplifting and pure to Jack the Ripper perhaps?)

So after all that, what is STP good for?

Well, I will say it's a great skin thickener. I've been told I can't sing enough times to really keep my feet on the ground and my head down to size, in case there was any risk of an overinflated ego. It's also a very good way to compare the popularity of tracks with eachother. Of the three I have up currently, Nobody's Hero is the clear favourite, attracting the highest average and the kindest comments, with even a couple of 10/10s. Most reviewers do try to give a balanced view of the track, but unless what you write and perform is pop-produced, unless you have a mainstream voice and unless you are willing to go down the road of ultimate mediocrity, you really won't go far on that site. I've given STP a year now and to be honest, the frustration and lack of movement makes me unwilling to use it as any more than a tool for track comparison. A marketing tool it is not. Although being told I'm rubbish at the Stratocaster (on a song consisting entirely of piano) really made my day :)

So this year, I'm trying Sellaband (www.sellaband.com) and oh my, what a difference.

The premise is even simpler than STP. You post up three songs along with your band bio and information. Your music is then available on the site's player, and if people like you, they give you money by buying "parts" of your band/music, one part costing $10. This entitles them to a range of exclusive benefits (free CDs, profit shares, etc) when you hit the elusive $50,000 and get financed for an album. No reviewing system to pass, no paying people to listen to you, in fact it's the other way around. Consequently, the whole tone of the site is infinitely more respectful, not only have I had 3 utter strangers believe in me (people who invest in you are "believers") since I posted music at 9pm last night, but I've had invitations to have my music played on online radio stations for extra promotion, help and advice from other members and generally been welcomed onto the site.

Sellaband won't do your promoting for you. You have to really plug it on your webpage and anywhere else you can. But Sellaband provide banners free of charge, and the forums are full of heaps of tips on getting more investors. And Sellaband provides a quantitative, practical way for fans to show their support, as well as multiple opportunities for jokes about loving people longtime (10 dollar!). I have also noticed a success rate - there are new artists being financed through there with reasonable regularity. The system works, not on marketability, but on a more accurate allowance of different strokes for different folks. All genres have an equal chance of doing well on there.

So overall, I'll be sticking with Sellaband for a while. I've made $60 so far, enough for about 15 minutes in a studio!