Music fans in the United States will be able to go to one place to buy music from mainstream artists as well as discover new artists through free legal downloads from independent musicians.

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MSN Music, located at http://www.music.msn.com, has teamed up with GarageBand.com, the largest community of independent musicians on the Web, to offer free music downloads, radio and other content from emerging artists.

The alliance with GarageBand.com will help music fans easily discover their next favorite band without spending hours scouring multiple Web sites or local CD stores. Available at http://music.msn.com/ garageband, the GarageBand.com site hosted by MSN Music will feature music and content from GarageBand.com's top-rated independent artists spanning several genres. Today the GarageBand.com page on MSN Music will highlight five up-and-coming musicians, including rising star Geoff Byrd, who has recently dominated GarageBand.com's listener ratings as a top-rated artist.

"There's so much great music produced by independent artists these days, including the music that may be in tomorrow's top 10," said Rob Bennett, senior director of MSN Entertainment. "GarageBand.com's listener-rating system is an excellent filter for undiscovered talent, and teaming up with GarageBand.com is a great way for us to help music fans discover new tracks and emerging artists that they wouldn't find on other music services."

"MSN Music provides GarageBand.com's artists with the one thing they need most to further their careers: exposure to a mass audience," said Ali Partovi, CEO of GarageBand.com. "MSN's dedication to promoting independent music will allow both artists and music fans to realize the Internet's true potential for transforming the music business."

The first artist highlighted on MSN Music's GarageBand.com site is Geoff Byrd. The Portland, Ore.-based singer-songwriter is one of the best-rated artists of all time on GarageBand.com, boasting four songs in the site's listener-selected Top 10. Geoff Byrd's music also has been added to the MSN top 40 and alternative pop radio stations and will be included in promotions featured across the MSN network.

New independent artists spotlighted on MSN Music include Rowdee Black Giants, Anne Heaton, Trip2Go and Sci-Fi Lullaby, whose music ranges from high-energy live hip-hop to folk-infused pop. To help music fans discover this new talent, MSN Music will feature one free track from each artist. Their albums will be available for purchase from their custom artist pages.  

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