O.T. - Where do you host your music?

[pokeefe]

Sorry for a very off-topic question, but I don't know of a better place to ask this.

I have a few pieces of music (and hopefully more coming) that I'd like put somewhere so that friends came hear them. I'd like to know more about the choices before selecting a hosting service.

I see in the Listening Room that a lot of people that don't have their own web site host their music at Box.net; some host it at Soundclick. What are the advantages of each? Are there other choices?

It looks like I would get a personal page for my music with Soundclick, but it's got ads I wouldn't want to inflict on friends, and they have size limits I might run into. Also, I'm not interested in the social networking aspect of Soundclick. (I'm more of the antisocial networking sort.) I like the look and feel of Box.net better, but I'm not sure how people would ever find my stuff.

Any suggestions, recommendations, etc? You can contact me directly if this is an inappropriate topic for the forum.

Thanks.

Pat

[Larry G. Alexander]

I use a service called 1 and 1 (http://www.1and1.com). It is inexpensive and you have a lot of web space to use. There are no ads. Your space is yours alone.

I have 150 gigabytes of space for $6.99 per month. Your first six months are free.

Regards,

[pokeefe]

I forgot to mention that I would prefer to have both streaming and downloading available, not just downloading ... but 150 GB for $6.99 a month could prompt me to forget about streaming. :)

Pat

[rwayland]

I forgot to mention that I would prefer to have both streaming and downloading available, not just downloading ... but 150 GB for $6.99 a month could prompt me to forget about streaming. :)

Pat

I (and many others here) use box.net, a free service. 1Gb free storage. Very plain, just lists of your music or whatever. Access can be limited or free. More than adequate bandwidth. All music that I have posted here, for a few years, has been box.net. Streaming or downloading are both easily available.

If you want something like a full featured web site, don't consider this. But if you simply want a place to make your music available, look into it.

Richard

[pokeefe]

I (and many others here) use box.net, ... All music that I have posted here, for a few years, has been box.net. Streaming or downloading are both easily available.

If you want something like a full featured web site, don't consider this. But if you simply want a place to make your music available, look into it.

Richard

Richard,
Box.net was initially my choice, and I'm still leaning that way. I absolutely don't need a full (or even poorly) featured web site, but I would like some kind of obvious navigation available. For instance, I see in the Listening Room that http://www.box.net/shared/1s4jfjgya6 is a link to one of your works. Knowing that (or some other convenient piece of information) does Box.net allow me to find the rest of your compositions filed there?

Pat

[Larry G. Alexander]

I forgot to mention that I would prefer to have both streaming and downloading available, not just downloading ... but 150 GB for $6.99 a month could prompt me to forget about streaming. :)

Pat

All of my compositions can be streamed or downloaded from my website.

[rwayland]

Richard,
Box.net was initially my choice, and I'm still leaning that way. I absolutely don't need a full (or even poorly) featured web site, but I would like some kind of obvious navigation available. For instance, I see in the Listening Room that http://www.box.net/shared/1s4jfjgya6 is a link to one of your works. Knowing that (or some other convenient piece of information) does Box.net allow me to find the rest of your compositions filed there?

Pat

The links that I post refer only to a specific file. There is a way that I could enable you (or anyone I choose) to access any file. I don't remember how, as I have not used the feature. I think you can enable select individuals or public access to download or stream, and if you wish, to add files. For me, this is a very beneficial service. It allows me to upload a file once, and anyone who has the link can use it as much as they wish. I am considering making it public access. From the free box program, I probably can't sell any scores, but I have that covered elsewhere, although sales are barely enough to buy an occasional gallon of gas for my guzzling BMF.

Richard

[wst3ae]

like so many things... it depends!

Do you want a place to point folks for download? Then box.net, dropbox, or half a dozen other services will provide you with space for free. Both box and dropbox let you send out plain old URLs, couldn't be simpler, and the dropbox integration with Windows and Mac is really well done.

Do you want to get fancier and add streaming? There are service that still offer free space for streaming, but they tend to come with baggage. MySpace comes to mind, and I understand that Facebook has joined the fray too.

Do you want something that might attract the attention of someone that might be interested in hiring you or licensing your catalog?

Now that's a horse of a different color. I haven't looked lately, but the NSS composers forum looked pretty promising. (Memo to self, take another look!) MySpace is specifically geared towards promoting music, and somewhere around here I have a list of about half a dozen similar services, most of which were geared more towards music editors than fans, but that's ok too.

And then there is the idea of just building your own web site. I prefer that approach myself because then it will look like I want it to look, and it'll behave the way I want it to behave.

1and1 is an outstanding provider that I've used for several years to host development environments and production sites. Dotster is another one that I recommend, and in fact I usually tell folks to just grab the better deal between the two on any given day.

But even there you have to pick between options... do you want 'root' access where you quite literally have a server with which you are king? Do you want a site that is relatively low maintenance? There are even a couple of layers in between.

The downside of your own web site is that you have to drive traffic to it, which is maybe even a step below the box.net/dropbox solution, maybe not. The other thing to remember is that you will have to do some work to keep it secure. (My personal server, which at this point looks like my basement, was hacked last fall, and I have not yet cleaned it up - too much to do that is more interesting or important at the moment.

There used to be a handful of companies that offered hosting services to musicians - I still use PAN (The Performing Artist's Network) as my service provider. Way back when these places attracted so much traffic that it was almost a crime how little they charged! But the ever expanding world wide web has made most of them go away I'm afraid. Too bad. Among other things, PAN has proprietary watermarking and a really cool shopping system that come with most of the hosting plans. But I suppose that's a tough sale when you can (if you are so inclined) build your own from open source tools. (And I'm a big fan of the whole open source movement!)

If you can dig through all that and have questions just holler.

[pokeefe]

I guess I should have mentioned that my music making is purely a retirement hobby - no intent to sell; no need to attract business offers. In fact, nothing I produce would likely sell. But I would like friends to be able to find my stuff without having to send them a new URL. And as I said before, I'm not into social networking so I've avoided Myspace and Facebook. Maybe I'll take a look anyway.

If I were to do a web site of my I would definitely want it low maintenance. I'll take a look at what 1and1 and Doster have to offer.

Thanks for all that have responded.

Pat

[SeanHannifin]

I use WebHostingBuzz.com - http://www.webhostingbuzz.com/web-hosting.php - $4.95 a month for 400 GB and plenty of bandwidth. You would have to do all the setup yourself, though. The advantage is that it can be as uncluttered (or as cluttered) as you wish.

At the bottom of my music page (http://www.wizardwalk.com/home/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2) I have a little music player, which is what I guess you mean by "streaming" ... where the user can play the music right in the web page. There are a few free Flash programs out there that will do that, but again, you have to do all the setup yourself. It can be very low maintenance once you set it all up though.

Otherwise, the only other service I can think of is YouTube (if your pieces are under 10 minutes). Quality isn't the best (though they're getting better) and users can't download, but it's completely free, and allows strangers to find your music more easily. I've grown quite fond of it.

[sunbird]

I use Weebly.com (http://www.weebly.com/features.html)

You can host your files and also create a web page where you can
show all your compositions and you get the direct links to each.

You can have a free account or have a reasonably priced account.

See at the bottom 'My Music' web page.

~Yudit~

[dudefromthebronx]

Try Indaba.com. That's where I showcase my tunes. And it's free. *()