by Laurence Trifon

What do they say it is?
PayPal Storefront is an online store widget that anyone can use to sell products from their website or blog. Simply go to the Storefront website, customize the design of your storefront, and upload your product information and store policies (shipping information, contacts, etc.). When you’re done, PayPal provides you a bit of HTML code that you can use to publish your storefront.

All you need to start using Storefront is a PayPal account. The Storefront widget doesn’t cost anything to use, aside from the standard PayPal transaction fees for sellers.

What do we say it is?
A convenient way to sell products if you don’t mind handling inventory and shipping yourself.

What’s great about it?
PayPal makes it very easy to customize the appearance of and information on your Storefront. Among other things, you can upload a store logo as well as individual images for each product, set the price and write a description for each product, and provide detailed information about your store policies regarding shipping, tracking, insurance, etc.

Each Storefront includes a “Help sell these products” link that lets other people put your store on their own website. You still get all the proceeds from sales - there’s no affiliate fee for those who choose to help sell your products.

What could be better?
At the moment it seems that Storefront (which is currently in beta) only accept payments in U.S. Dollars. The PayPal Labs site indicates that Storefront will be available for MySpace in the future, which will be a nice addition. Hopefully Storefront widgets for other social networks are on their way as well.

How can I use this?
Storefront provides a great opportunity to sell merchandise directly to your fans. Simply embed the widget on your website — and get your fans to put it on their websites too! — and let the orders roll in. Bear in mind, however, that Storefront is simply a tool for displaying your products and processing payments. You are responsible for actually fulfilling the orders. If you have no desire to manage inventory or you detest trips to the post office, Storefront isn’t for you.

Should I pay it any attention?
Many independent artists will find it more efficient to sell products through sites like Amazon and Zazzle, where order fulfillment and inventory management are provided. But when you’re ready to cut out the middle-man, give Storefront a try. It’s a fantastic widget.

Bridging the divide between digital and physical, DiscRevolt provides a tangible solution for selling digital media. Artists upload songs to DiscRevolt’s website and design their own artwork for a plastic download card. The cards are then printed by DiscRevolt with a unique redemption code on the back. Artists sell the cards to fans at live shows, and the fans can then download songs or albums from the artist’s online page.

Many independent artists make most of their revenue at merchandise tables after they play a live show. Audiences connect with a band or song, and are most likely to pay for music during the post-gig buzz. As bands are moving from CDs to digital downloads, they need something to hook potential customers when they can, instead of asking them to download later. Which is a challenge DiscRevolt aims to solve. The start-up describes its download cards as a cross between a gift card, a backstage pass and a baseball trading card. They’re designed to be collectible items, attachable to lanyards or backpacks or rear-view mirrors. The fact that artists design their own artwork, and often make cards in limited runs, adds to the appeal.

Pricing is set at 500 cards for USD 250. Artists set their own prices, but DiscRevolt recommends USD 5 per card, which brings the price per song to 33 cents for buyers, and gives artists a 90% profit margin. Since artists buy the cards upfront, profits are received as soon the cards are sold. Which can be useful while bootstrapping a tour It also provides a user-friendly download avenue for bands that haven’t yet made it to the front page of the iTunes Music Store.

TuneCore is a music delivery and distribution service that gets artists’ original music (even cover versions) and record label releases up for sale on iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, Rhapsody and Napster without asking for your rights or taking any money from the sale or use of your music.

Basically, for the cost of a pizza, bands can get their music delivered worldwide and keep 100% of the profits.

TuneCore is only the easiest, the cheapest and the fastest way (in as little as three weeks) to get your music sold on iTunes, Amazon and other online stores worldwide. No hassle, low cost and no back end charges.

TuneCore has set out to revolutionize the music industry by educating and empowering the independent artist.

Thousands of artists and labels have been putting their music up for digital sale quickly and easily with TuneCore.