Submitting music to Pandora radio

Weird, not sure why the link didn't work, but should be fixed now, thanks Spacealf.
 
Sharke - It's true that Pandora is not much of a money maker on royalties, as you may of read. There are big debates over that right now.  I have several songs that get play on internet radio and at the end of every quarter, the royalties would barely pay for a weeks worth of coffee.  But Pandora is just one of several avenues for people.
 
People want their music heard.  I mean heck, we post them to our friends on the Cakewalk songs forums all the time. So regardless of money, I think there are a lot of people who would still enjoy having their songs heard over the public airwaves.
 
One positive to having your music heard on Pandora or elsewhere, is it attracts interest.  Attracting interest in your music is really the first step to monetizing your musical ventures.  Most of us will never "hit the big time", but it's very doable to make a side income with music, assuming you can produce good quality recordings.  Lot's of people would be happy to bring in "coffee money" on a quarterly basis.  Granted, it will take you 25 years to pay off the Manley pre-amp you bought, but heck, it's something.
 
As far as "self release", I agree it seems like the ideal situation.  But like anything else, you need some way to attract people to your music.  Unless by some grace of god you get a viral YouTube video with your music in it.  

Again on the subject of that David Byrne book, "How Music Works," apart from being a fantastic read overall there's a great chapter on the state of the music business today which goes in detail into the various licensing deals and distribution models available to today's musicians.  It has a breakdown of the pro's and cons of each one and some real world examples (including breakdowns of the money involved in some of his own projects). It really is an eye opener, both depressing and optimistic at the same time. It's well worth a read if you're thinking about how to get your music out there. 

Great info!
 
The times, they are a changing.
 
I think  internet music is leading to a place of specialization by necessity. Many of the free music down load sites are becoming almost useless to the average person simply looking for good music because people upload to the wrong categories. Uploading to the wrong categories goofs with the searches of potential listeners and that hurts everyone. Probably the best example is Soundcloud. On any given day you need to sort through hundreds of tracks to find one you might consider listening to more than once. One time I tried to use soundcloud as background easy listening music and every few songs I would get something that sounded like heavy metal or dance music...the result of music uploaded into the wrong categories. That site apparently has a poor system in place to make the music relevant to the category.
 
It's all about focus on the internet and having the right tags...something like Pandora at least lets you listen to tracks that are actually something you wanted to hear.
 
 
Specialization,focus, marketing smarts and  good music  put you in the game,  to stay in the game all of those things are ongoing. It's never a thing where you do it once and draw a paycheck the rest of your life.
 
One of the best things I've seen for the small time musician is something like CD baby...get a good album recorded, put out a shingle and see if you get any bites.Pandora could be helpful to market that music. A few here have done that. Still probably not getting rich, but they have put their material out there and focused it into the hands of those who might buy it.  Getting involved with record companies and their marketing budgets means they want you out there, and I don't mean a coffee house a few times a week.There's a lot of talent out there, but it takes a special person to go on stage in  a venue 3000 miles  from home with the flu and it's raining at your outdoor event, because you signed to be there.
 
Why would I listen to or buy something from someone I never heard before? If I went to a site and look specifically for, say, classic rock and your name comes up and I clicked your track and I like it a lot, so I listen to another track and like that too...I might venture to pay .99 a song and I might follow you. If I signed up for your email newsletter I might be a future buyer, but human nature being what it is I would never stop looking for more classic rock...not many are satisfied with one artist..the competition never ends. Once you jump on that boat you work hard for every small gain. Wanna hear the bad news :)
 
Thanks for the article!