Lower entry barriers for local bands.

Local artists who do not have access to the massive media budgets provided by record companies will be huge winners thanks to online distribution. For example a band in Boston could put their most popular song online and sell it directly to customers worldwide.

By making use of viral marketing techniques small time players can market themselves effectively at virtually no cost. Email forwarding campaigns combined with postings on sites like MySpace and YouTube allow individuals to promote their content free of charge.

The barriers to entry created by marketing and branding efforts as well as access to traditional distribution channels have been significantly diminished by the introduction of online distribution.

For example I highly reccommend the Mario Brothers Theme Song by a band called 4" Stud. It's on iTunes.