Wouldn't it be nice if there was a place online where music artists, musicians and songwriters could meet with industry professionals? Of course it would! And that's where Artistopia.com enters the equation.

      Artistopia gives artists the freedom and flexibility to establish an online presence and uniquely pitch their respective music talent. Artistopia is an independent music community built on the basis of artistic freedom, and not on guidelines. This is a real plus for a website such as this one since no artist wants restrictions of any kind.

      Members have access to the most comprehensive and productive tools any online music community has to offer. Aside from the standard functionality like creating profiles, uploading music and entering event/gig information, members can reflect their industry experience and educational background, set up slide shows, publish news releases, establish a fan base, build professional press kits and manage business relationships.

      Artistopia's homepage is very simple and is divided into several different sections. The first one you'll notice is the Featured Music Artist section with six artists listed. This section is dedicated to independent artists. Following each name is their musical genre and their rank on the site. Additionally, you have the option to browse the section by top ranked, last activity, most viewed and music genre.

      There's another section, Hot New Songs, that is exactly what it sounds like it is. You have a quick link to click on that lets you hear the track, too.

      One section is devoted to professional artists and is set up very similarly to the indie music artists section, with options to browse through it by popularity or by music genre.

      At the bottom of the page, there's an area where they post press releases from the site or from their various artists. This is particularly helpful since it's an easy way for you, as an artist, to communicate to a huge audience.

      Your personal webpages are full of useful information, again, broken into tabbed sections: overview, music, education, press, photos, Web links and message boards. In the overview section, you have the option to write very freely about yourself.

      The music tab shows all of the music that you've posted, along with album artwork and the option to listen and even download the tracks. Education is where you can show off your professional training (or lack thereof), and the press section gives you the ability to post your own press releases and news to keep your fans informed about what you're up to. The photos section, obviously, lets you post photographs of whatever you want, followed by your Web links page where you can post your other websites or just recommend some of your personal favorites to your fans.

      Artistopia has their own chart system broken into several different genres covering anything from alternative to Christian music. They list the top five, but a link takes you to the entire list, which is the top 15 on the site.

      There is also a music events section that not only allows you to do searches for music in your area, but also can help you find gigs. You can view the calendar per day or per month.

      Additionally, Artistopia offers a classified section, ticket-buying section, a directory that breaks the entire site down into very specific categories, and they've also introduced their own e-mail system.

      Artistopia also offers a very unique promotional opportunity. They invite organizations and businesses of all sizes to propose partnership ideas and initiatives that will result in substantial benefits across industry art forms or to a targeted sector of the music industry. Alliances and partnerships help promote the advancement of independent music and contribute to the development of a culture or community.

      To submit your proposal, e-mail it in an RTF file format to alliance@artistopia.com. For more information, visit artistopia.com.