So you have an album or maybe just a song or two and you want to sell it on the web. You've got a number of options.

1. You could sign a contract with a major label. This will work if you have a label offering you a contract, but you’ll need to make sure you get your fair share. Historically, major labels have been known to skimp on the share thing. With a contract that has fair terms, you will be given everything you need to become a superstar because that’s what the label wants, even if it is not what you want. You will be given fantastic musicians to back you up, talented producers with state-of-the-art recording equipment, a new wardrobe, design services, and promotional materials. After all of that, you’ll be given a product that will be distributed in the labels’ vast network of retail sales outlets. Starting only a few years ago, labels had the option of creating a digital version of your album for distribution via digital download. It can be a really good deal — if you can get that contract.

2. You could do it with a big online store like iTunes. Large numbers of musicians produce their own albums every day. Their goal may be superstardom, but they are paying the musicians, the studio, the producer and the clothing bills. Many independent musicians even pay to have all of the graphic design done for them. This is the independent entrepreneurial spirit taking America today. Grab your own boot straps and get it done. The investment can be large, the time consumed is even larger. And none of this includes distribution.

You may have a great sounding album with creative artwork, but now you have to burn the CDs, print tons of tray cards and start selling them. The problem is, franchises aren’t going to put your stuff on their shelves unless you are a major label. Yet another hurdle is the cost of CD duplication and distributing those CD’s to your fans. This is where digital downloads come into play. Digital music is easy to distribute, portable to different devices, and has a lower overhead.

For digital distribution there is iTunes, but guess what, it's not that simple. In order for you, the independent artist to be sold on iTunes, you’ll need to submit your music through a digital middle man. A popular choice for this is CD Baby; they’ll submit your music for you, but they’ll do it for a fee and they can’t even tell you if it was successful or not. You can’t set your own price, and if you want to update or change something, you’ll have to go through the whole process all over again. And when it comes to payment, you’ll get a check semi-annually. Hope you weren’t waiting to pay bills with that.

3. You could do all of it yourself. So lets say you’ve got the album done with the digital files ready to be distributed. Being in business for yourself, you want to control the price and availability of your album. You could hire a web designer to build you a website that includes a secure shopping cart with a secure downloader. The one problem with that: it will cost you at least $10,000...and possibly even $30,000. That could have been more than you spent on the production of your album!

4. So what’s your answer? A digital download store. There is a new wave of digital download stores that for a small monthly fee, will provide a customizable website that includes a secure downloader, and they’ll send your profits straight to your bank account each month. You can set your own price, run specials and discounts when you want, or even make a special compilation that adds your tour poster as a PDF with each purchase. With a digital download store, you’re in full control of your album and your download site.