With the development of programs such as SnoCap which allow artists to sell their songs directly via their MySpace page, the necessity of record labels is slowly becoming obsolete and the all-digitial, do-it-yourself promotion is becoming increasingly popular with artists. Artists are able to record their songs and then through self-promotion via their MySpace websites, can set their own prices for their songs and collect the money themselves without a deduction of any of the profits. Take a shot of Tila Tequila for example—the self-made MySpace celeb has turned down two record label offers, claiming that she would rather have complete control over her music and her image rather than just another artist who is just a part of “the system”. She currently sells her songs via using indie911's Hoooka application on her MySpace page as well as on iTunes, but she has yet to release a record. Her fame has been built digitially alone, and her songs are downloaded directly 
to her consumers in a digital format. The singer has over 1.7 million friends and she is in the top 50 of MySpace artists for her genre. She has lots of fans, but the question lingers—is she making money? The growth of paid downloads is on the rise—up 54% this year. But still, the track is available solely online, and while the direct access from the MySpace pages is effortless, it may be just as easy for consumers to turn to P2P software when they are already at their computers. But SnoCap is still promising for struggling artists and it’s partnership with MySpace and the creation of MyStores is a promising venue—a recent study revealed that this year MySpace was recognized as a music outlet by 54% of survey respondents, up from 16% awareness level just 12 months earlier. And last week SnoCap signed a number of independent labels for distribution through its software, so it is expanding to artists who are signed to labels as well as unsigned artists. If the major record labels were smart, they would keep this Sno ball rolling and allow their music to be distributed through MyStores as an alternative venue to profit from legal, online downloading.
