If you're tired of the same 'ol music from big industry record labels, tap into
Jamendo.com. I believe the name is a combination of "Jam" and "Crescendo", hence, Jamendo.
At Jamendo, music can be streamed or downloaded for free under the Creative Commons license. If you have your own local band, you can go global by giving away your music on Jamendo.
The artists on the site, who are often indlependent, get needed exposure, and music listeners are able to find these artists that sound like their favorite commercial artists, who are referred on the site as "external artists".
The beauty of Jamendo Pro allows businesses to license the music on Jamendo for background music, multimedia project, and performance rights. Prices start at $144 per year.
I think they need to make a more obvious way of being able to monetarily support artists. I myself like to support independent artists, and this would be a great way to create a much more intimate connection with the band. Facebook fan pages allow for that, and MySpace was the original place for musicians, but it would be nice to recognize true "fans" as people who have made a donation to support a band. This would provide a way for musicians to show a trend that they have a paying fan base, in hopes of a major label deal.