Launched on July 4th, 2005 to represent the needs of the independent music label community, this year A2IM celebrated its fourth anniversary as the sector's pre-eminent advocacy group and trade organization. Currently, the organization counts over 225 music label members and 100 associate members (companies who don’t own masters but rely upon, provide services for, or otherwise support independent music labels). A2IM is a not-for-profit trade organization serving the independent music community as a unified voice representing a sector that comprises over 30% of the music industry's market share in the United States (and 38% of SoundScan digital sales). The organization represents the Independents’ interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. A2IM is headquartered in New York City.

AIM is a not-for-profit trade body established in 1999 to represent the UK independent music industry. Now in its 10th year, AIM acts for over 90% of the independent market, with over 800 members from small start-ups to the largest and most respected independents in the world. AIM promotes this exciting and diverse sector globally, leveraging the sector’s power as a fifth major to enable its members to grow, grasp new opportunities and break into new markets. AIM oversees an independent sector whose artists have claimed four Mercury Music Prizes in a row (2003 – 2006) and earned two thirds of all nominations between 2005 and 2008. Artists signed to UK Independents also scooped a quarter of all available prizes at the 2008 Brit Awards, with an independent-signed act grabbing “Best British Group” for the fourth year running. This confirms the sector’s undoubted lead in A&R. The independent sector regularly accounts for 30% of all UK artist album awards (silver, gold, platinum/multi-platinum). In 2008, independent albums made up over half of the fifty “best albums of the year” according to the UK music press, and independents claimed five of the top ten releases. Artists signed to AIM member labels include: Adele, Amadou & Miriam, Arctic Monkeys, Basement Jaxx, Battles, Bjork, Bloc Party, Bon Iver, Coldcut, Enter Shikari, Franz Ferdinand, Infadels, Jack Penate, Jarvis Cocker, Jay Sean, Jose Gonzalez, Justice, Katie Melua, M.I.A., Maximo Park, Mr. Scruff, Nitin Sawnhey, Radiohead, Reverend And The Makers, Rogrigo Y Gabriela, Roots Manuva, Royksopp, Seasick Steve, Sufjan Stevens, Super Furry Animals, The Cribs, The Futureheads, The Prodigy, The Raconteurs, The Strokes, The White Stripes, Vampire Weekend and thousands of others.

Altsounds.com is an Independent Music Community that's primary focus is Independent Music Journalism through one of our hundreds of music journalists. We help to taste make the up and coming greats and to pin point the music you should avoid. Other portions of the journalistic arm of Altsounds is the provision of worldwide music news which is updated every hour of every day, interviews with the greatest new and established artists, contests and competitions and as if that wasn't enough we are the primary Music News Aggregator in the world that also showcases all the news headlines from all the other best music news resources in the world. We also have a studio arm that is tailored for the Independent artist and we help them with all aspects of their careers from their sound all the way to their look and feel and if that wasn't enough we have an artist profile section showcasing all the best new music and a freshly made label arm that is still in the works. In a nutshell if you are an Independent artist you need to be on Altsounds.com. See you all there!

The ARChive of Contemporary Music is a not-for-profit archive, music library and research center located in New York City. The ARChive collects preserves and provides information on the popular music of all cultures throughout the world. Since 1985 our holdings have grown to two million sound recordings, making the ARChive the largest popular music collection in the World. Members of the Board of Advisors are: David Bowie, Jellybean Benitez, Jonathan Demme, Ellie Greenwich, Jerry Leiber, Youssou N'Dour, Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Nile Rodgers, Todd Rundgren, Fred Schneider, Martin Scorsese, Paul Simon, Mike Stoller and Jerry Wexler.

Canadian Musician magazine is the magazine for musicians and music practitioners. Our readers use Canadian Musician as their resource for everything to do with music. Published bi-monthly since 1979, the magazine covers prominent Canadian artists, the latest gear, technique and the business of music. Canadian Musician features regular columns on Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Percussion, Brass, Woodwinds, Vocal, MIDI, Business, Songwriting, Live Sound, Recording and Digital Music. Also included are classifi ed ads, opportunities for musicians, new releases and new products. www.canadianmusician.com.

Music Books Plus is an online service supplying books, video, audio cassettes, CD-ROMs and DVDs on music, audio, recording, songwriting, multimedia, lighting, production, broadcasting, MIDI, music business, computers and the Internet. Music Books Plus features over 9,000 titles and markets in over 90 countries. www.musicbooksplus.com

Launched in 1996, CHARTattack.com is one of North America's premier music websites. Updated hourly, the award-winning music information website covers both indie and established artists from North America and around the world. CHARTattack.com features music news, reviews, interviews, photos, video content, blogs, contests and over 10 years worth of searchable content. The site also provides a email newsletter that recaps the top content from the past week. Always an innovator CHARTattack keeps music fans abreast of the hottest new bands, albums, and trends. This is all balanced with a good amount of music celebrity gossip so readers can keep up to date on the latest adventures of their music heroes.

CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2009 will take over New York City from October 20-24. Bringing together more than 120,000 music fans, industry professions, filmmakers and artists, CMJ will take over more than 75 of the city's legendary nightclubs and theaters for five non-stop days and nights. Headquartered at New York University's Greenwich Village campus; don't miss your chance to participate in New York City's largest music festival. CMJ ’09 will showcase more than 1,300 artists with career-launching performances. Past chart-toppers to grace the stages of CMJ have included Arcade Fire, The Hold Steady, Eminem, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M, The Killers, Green Day, Foo Fighters and thousands more. CMJ ‘09 will also host exclusive nighttime parties, daytime exhibit areas, registrant lounges, a technology fair, artist and press lounges, meet and greets, panels, seminars, mentoring sessions, community initiatives, networking events, Q&As, film premieres and special events. REGISTER NOW to take advantage of our badge discount specials for CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2009. For more information, visit www.cmj.com/marathon.

The Connecticut Songwriters Association is an educational non-profit organization dedicated to improving the art and craft of original music, combining arts, education and community outreach since 1979. More than 2,000 songwriters, musicians and vocalists from 17 states and 5 countries have joined CSA since it was founded in 1979, making itone of the oldest, most active, and best known songwriters associations in the U.S. CSA sponsors monthly programs, with nationally known guest speakers, song critique sessions, and interactive workshops. The Association, led by Bill Pere, produces songwriter showcases, benefit concerts, and a series of compilation recordings. CSA has been featured in "Songwriters Market", Sheila Davis' "Successful Lyric Writing", Bill Pere's "Songcrafters' Coloring Book", and many industry publications. In partnership with community outreach organizations like L.U.N.C.H., the Association helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for fighting poverty and for providing essential human services. CSA provides some of the industry's best guidance, mentoring, and critiques for today's aspiring songwriters and artists.

eMusic is the world's leading digital retailer of independent music, second only to iTunes in number of downloads sold. The eMusic Web site offers a global catalogue of more than 1.8 million tracks from established and emerging artists in every genre from the world's leading independent labels. Created by music experts for music fans, it features award-winning editorial content, a vibrant online community and unrivaled music discovery tools. A subscription-based service that offers 25 free downloads at sign-up, eMusic gives consumers an inexpensive, low-risk way to explore great new music they wouldn't find otherwise, and unlike other download services, its universally compatible MP3 files play on any device including the iPod®.

After eight years of championing over 600 videos by the best independent artists and bands on the planet, HIP Video Promo has built the most impressive client roster in the industry, promoting videos by such epic talents as Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, Motley Crue and Morrissey, as well being on the ground floor with artists like Death Cab For Cutie, The Kooks, Bloc Party, The Shins, and of Montreal. We haven’t forgotten our roots, though, and new or up-and-coming bands and artists get the same HIP combination of unmatched expertise, unique experience and untrammeled enthusiasm as the superstars. HIP has established and maintained a solid, ever-growing network of contacts throughout the music video programming world; which cuts across all stylistic and geographic borders. Our constant goal is to supply our programmers with the videos their viewers really want to see.

HM Magazine is "The Hard Music Magazine," covering the Christian rock/metal/punk/alternative scene like no other. For 24 years, HM has been bringing the rock, with feature articles/interviews, album/live show reviews, and all the latest music news. HM launched its digital/online edition two year ago, as well as their podcast, featuring more of the same great coverage (and new songs too). They also cover a great deal of independent artists. Send in your music to be evaluated. No games, no payola, no politics. Just listening for quality. Check us out at: www.hmmag.com.

Parent company Isolation Network, Inc. is a digital media distribution and publishing company that provides various distribution and marketing services via its INgrooves and ONE Digital divisions. ONE Digital is a proprietary software platform that provides distribution and administration to large distributors, record labels and film production companies at rates far below the industry standard. INgrooves provides clients customized distribution, marketing, promotion, synch licensing and administrative support to help maximize the earnings potential of specific releases or catalogues. INgrooves clients include: UMG, VP Records, K-Tel International, Fat Possum, Metal Blade, Dolly Parton, Too $hort, Thievery Corporation and Tila Tequila. For more information, check out www.ingrooves.com.

The Intercollegiate Record Label Association (IRLA) is a consortium of student-run record labels and other student-run music-related organizations based at colleges and universities. The IRLA exists to facilitate the sharing of information between our members and to promote business opportunities by establishing a mechanism for music industry entities to communicate with all student-run record labels easily.

Bridging the gap between “the street and the elite” –– and commonly referred to as “the musicians bible” –– MUSIC CONNECTION MAGAZINE is the leading music-trade publication for career-minded musicians. MC has been educating, informing and connecting musicians since 1977. A MONTHLY publication distributed to every major city in America, MC caters to both the seasoned veteran and the fl edgling musician, and to the top executive as well as those trying to break into the business. MC’s broad appeal encompasses the songwriter, producer, studio manager, agent, attorney, publicist, label executive and more. Whether offering survival tactics or insights that can contribute to breakthrough success, Music Connection has a sterling reputation as a cutting-edge resource for anyone who is steeped in the realities of making music TODAY.

Planet Verge is a creative outlet for agenda setting, dream chasing media professionals to do what they love while making an impact on the world, one indie rocker at a time. Through various forms of media (zines, blogs, Web-TV episodes), Planet Verge has established a reputation for bringing its audience the future of music, fashion and entertainment now. PV has teamed up with digital content producers, Ambush.TV for its web-tv show, On the Verge. Through On the Verge, the all-female PV staff produces up-close-and-personal content with acclaimed national touring acts (Butch Walker, The Academy Is, Hanson, Funeral For a Friend, the Matches) and on-the-rise indie bands (Sohodolls, Black Gold) and trendsetters. Along with bringing “What’s Hot,” On the Verge reports on social issues –“What’s Important”- by raising awareness to causes and encouraging impressionable generations to take action. WATCH ON THE VERGE: www.planetverge.com, www.ambush.tv

Origivation is a monthly entertainment magazine dedicated to staying on the cutting edge of music, both locally and nationally. In its quest to showcase the best and most talented of acts, the Philadelphia-based publication has featured buzzworthy national outfits like Henry Rollins, Silversun Pickups, Against Me!, Gogol Bordello, Ida Maria, Melora Creager of Rasputina, Mission of Burma, and Perry Farrell, alongside those special hometown artists, like The Extraordinaires, Love City and Victor Victor Band, that make the City of Brotherly Love so colorful and rich. With a deep admiration and appreciation for music, and a commitment to musical diveristy, Origivation is truly a formidable ally of today's scene.

The Planetary Group is an artist development firm that specializes in radio promotion and publicity. Headquartered in Boston with a satellite office in Manhattan, Planetary has its finger on the pulse of the current scene. For nine years, Planetary has worked with a variety of musicians from all genres, both signed and unsigned. The radio department structures a campaign that targets college radio, AAA, non-commercial and commercial-specialty shows. In addition to generating airplay, the company pursues radio interviews and in-studio performances in touring and other markets. Planetary’s radio and tour support can provide the necessary groundwork to ensure advance exposure in upcoming tour markets. In additionto radio promotion, Planetary conducts hardhitting publicity, street team marketing and special event marketing.

PureVolume is a website for the discovery and promotion of new music and emerging artists. Each artist has a profile that typically contains basic info, updates, photos, shows and music for streaming. Artists have the option of making each of their songs available for free download. Listeners and fans can also create profiles to interact with artists and each other, as well as track and share music they like. Since the site's launch in 2003, PureVolume has been widely recognized as a premier social music site and has received praise in the New York Times, L.A. Times, Newsweek, Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, and beyond.

Founded in 1974 as a hand-stapled newsletter for Grateful Dead fans and tape traders, Relix magazine has evolved over the last 35-years into the leading source for fans of live music. These days the brand, which also includes Relix.com and Jambands.com, offers readers rare insight and exclusive coverage on some of the world’s leading artists. Recent features include profiles on The Allman Brothers Band, The Clash, Neil Young, Black Crowes, Mars Volta, Beastie Boys, Miles Davis, Conor Oberst and Ryan Adams and many others. As noted industry critic Bob Lefestz noted earlier this year, Relix is “more Rolling Stone than Rolling Stone.”

Rock the Vote's mission is to engage and build the political power of young people in order to achieve progressive change in our country. Rock the Vote uses music, popular culture and new technologies to engage and incite young people to register and vote in every election. And we give young people the tools to identify, learn about, and take action on the issues that affect their lives, and leverage their power in the political process. www.RockTheVote.com.

SESAC is one of three Performing Rights Organizations in the United States representing songwriters and music publishers to make sure they are are paid performance royalties whenever their songs are played in public, on radio, television, restaurants or clubs. And, unlike any other PRO, SESAC pays bands live performance royalties when they go on tour, regardless of how big or small the venues. The SESAC roster includes some of the most progressive names in music including Bob Dylan, RUSH, Coheed & Cambria, The Faint, Killswitch Engage, Mates Of State, Voxtrot, MGMT, Flobots, Bryan-Michael Cox and Nate “Danja” Hills, just to name a few.

The Stream of Consciousness Live Interactive Television is the world's 1st and largest network of live interactive TV. Since its inception in 2007, over 600 shows have been broadcast from The Stream’s Los-Angeles based studio. Each episode is available for download after airing. For more information on The Stream and its shows, visit www.thestream.tv and contact Brian Gramo at interact@thestream.tv.

Venus Zine is the leading source for coverage of women in music, art, film, fashion, and DIY culture. Venuszine.com is the daily updated companion to the quarterly, internationally circulated magazine. Venus Zine and venuszine.com feature interviews with legendary artists (Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, and Kim Deal) in addition to edgy and up-and-coming musicians, designers, writers, actresses, and DIY entrepreneurs. www.venuszine.com