AOL users

erik · Post by **erik** » 16 Mar 2002 1:45 pm

I have never had AOL. I'm thinking of switching to AOL maybe in a few months. The reason for this is better access to the general populous. My question is: Are there more outlets for posting your music within the AOL community. Can you be visible to more people with your music by using their service? Does AOL have their own mp3.com type area? If you wanted the most people to hear your music would you be on AOL? Or does it not matter?

Other questions: If i were to use a CDrom for free trial access, would the account i create then become my permanent account? Or, if i terminate my free access and go back at a later date am i stuck with the original account i created? How many user names with email do you get? Thanks.

Michael Holland · Post by **Michael Holland** » 16 Mar 2002 6:51 pm

Hi Erik,

Sounds like it's time for you to get your own domain and host a site. AOL is not going to offer anything that your current ISP does not offer, except longer load times for non-AOL users accessing your site and higher monthly costs.

You can get your own domain name like eriksongs.com (it's available, I checked) and create and host a site of your own. The domain registration is $75 for five years and the web hosting will cost about $100 a year, and that's in addition to your regular dial up account with your ISP.

erik · Post by **erik** » 16 Mar 2002 9:16 pm

Hi Michael,
Thanks for the idea. I was merely thinking that AOL being a closed community might have more outlets for connecting their users with my(or anyone's) music. I wasn't thinking about a web site itself. That can be hosted anywhere. Plus there are many mpeg sites for musicians. I did a search around AOL and it appears they are more in tune with commercialism not individualism (unless i am not accessing some unseen community.) So perhaps i will save myself from that move. I don't think mp3.com is musician friendly anymore. They pay a pittance for downloads but want the rights to publish your music. Sounds like a win win for them. Maybe i'll just find a service that will let me load my own mpegs.

eriksongs.com, that's a good one. Never thought of that. But let me tell you Mike, i know where to get the *cheap* deals on domain names and hosting. Thanks for your help.

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 17 Mar 2002 7:11 am

A great "Cheap Deal" for web hosting can be had at www.netfirms.com

I use them for my www.pedalsteel.tv site.

I paid for the domain registration elsewhere, but you don't need one.

Netfirms fee is FREE. The catch is they place a banner ad on your pages.

For $60 a year they'll remove the ad and add some more features. Still a good deal.

[This message was edited by Joey Ace on 17 March 2002 at 07:13 AM.]

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 17 Mar 2002 10:54 am

Actually, posting to the AOL community limits your audience. AOL users have full access to the Internet. Some features within AOL are not available to Internet users who aren't AOL subscribers.

I dropped my AOL account over 5 years ago. There used to be a steel guitar forum on AOL. After I dropped my AOL account, I started this Forum so that people outside of the AOL community could participate as well. We all know which idea worked better.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic) Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

Bill Crook · Post by **Bill Crook** » 17 Mar 2002 3:05 pm

God bless you b0b.....
and we thank you for this "Steel Forumn"

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 18 Mar 2002 7:08 am

What you'll get with AOL that you don't get with another ISP is tons of spam mail offering penis enlargement, hot teen chicks doing animals, low cost mortgages, offers to spy on everyone on the Internet, and tons of other dubiously useful stuff.

I recently went DSL with my local cable provider and am quite pleased with it. Unfortunately, I have to keep my AOL account because I won't be able to access my herbsteinermusic.com website, hosted by Bigstep.com., due to a tie-in with my AOL screen name. In 3 months, when my Bigstep account expires, I will be changing website providers and AOL will go bye-bye.

I use Road Runner and found that almost every product offered by AOL has an equivalent with another provider, and without the 24 bucks/month charge.

AOL Instant Messaging is now offered to everyone online and its free.

AOL makes it real easy for newbies to get online and learn to surf, but once those skills are learned and the user is familiar with what's out there, AOL's value plummets, IMHO.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

erik · Post by **erik** » 18 Mar 2002 4:18 pm

Ok, i guess i erred in judgement. I just figured that with tens of millions of users that they'd have a music community. Thank for the advice.

Herb, yes, i get those ads with my webtv account. But i rarely get any spam on my computer. And my current email listed here is a throwaway, not my main.