Like any new technology, the Internet needs time to incubate. For a Song MP3 is software that lets the music from a CD be transferred to a personal computer, where it can then be played through speakers or shared with others over the Internet. There are now scores of MP3 sites on the Internet, all providing a variety of services. Some are used by established bands, which release free MP3 versions of one or two tracks of a new album as a marketing tool to stoke CD sales. Their goal is usually to get people to go to the band's own private Web sites, where self-produced CDs by the act are available for sale.
Bands also use their sites to promote their live shows and offer merchandise for sale.
One day, this world of MP3s might evolve into an alternative distribution system for music, one where artists can achieve the kind of fame and make the kind of money that traditional pop acts do today. For now, though, aspiring musicians are using MP3s as a steppingstone to a traditional record deal. Mr. Fuentes was making little headway until early last year, when he started sending around MP3s of his music to the many MP3 Web sites that were just then starting to pop up. Without it, no one would know who I was. The big record labels are also paying attention to this growing digital grapevine, since it is quickly becoming a source of new artists like Mr. Fuentes.