Book excerpt: The Best Music Resources Online: The Musician's Directory to the Web (Updated!) MUSIC RESOURCES ONLINE is a collection of the best websites online for entrepreneurial musicians. If you're trying to leverage Web 3.0 to promote and sell your music, connect with fans, teach online, write books, sell merchandise, and just make a living as a musician, then this is for you. Collected here is THE list of the most amazing sites, tools, and -- in some cases -- largely untapped resources that can change your career as a musician forever. I put this together because musicians need a simple way to leverage the web effectively. This book is the resource guide every 21st-century musician, singer, songwriter, composer, recording engineer, and lyricist needs. It contains links, descriptions, ideas, case studies, and strategies to hundreds of amazing and useful websites all across the web that will help you do more with your music. These are the TOP music-related sites that everyone should know about -- and this list has been compiled through countless hours of research and from first-hand use of many of these resources. -Do you know where to sell your digital recordings online, including cover songs? -Do you know where to start a blog to promote your music? -Do you know how to monetize your blog or musician website? -Do you know where to register your music for worldwide broadcast royalties? -Do you know where to crowd-fund your next music project or recording? -Do you know where to teach online where millions of students can find your course materials? -Do you know where to publish a music ebook, paperback, or audiobook online? How to Use This Book This book is designed to be very useful from the first time you use it. You can browse through the listings in alphabetical order, or feel free to skip around, but the real power comes from visiting some of the sites listed here. For cross-referencing purposes, I also listed some music topics with specific suggestions on which entries to read. (You can also use your e-reader's search function to find others.) I tried to give you an extensive list of resources, but it can never be complete in this format. I have added many sites that I use often, but inclusion in this book should not be considered an endorsement. Please make sure to do your research and due diligence before signing up with any of the sites listed in this book. For those who don't know the names of many of these music-related websites and resources, alphabetical listings don't help. So feel free to start with the 'Category List' chapter if you have a specific interest. That's where some similar, related sites are listed together so that you can find targeted sources to begin your online explorations. And for those musicians looking for an actual ACTION PLAN, I decided to include a few hypothetical "Case Studies" at the end of the A-Z Resource List. I wanted to give you an idea how various readers and musicians might approach these various sites and tools and put some of this new information and knowledge into immediate use. Directory of web resources for music sales, distribution, music business, performing rights, writer royalties, music production, teaching music online, PR, crowdfunding, music marketing, independent publishing, professional development, e-commerce, networking, social media, and more for all musicians, vocalists, composers, lyricists, and songwriters.