Podcasting over the past couple of years has become the number one medium of choice for many people around the world to catch up on news as well as indulge in content that pertains to their interests. It is very difficult to find a topic that is not covered by a podcast and so, allows for us as listeners, a huge array of content to our disposal.

Music podcasts have become very popular with producers especially due to their radio-like production as well as the discovery of new talent, amongst others. There have been many music podcasts pop up and one asks the question - if there are so many music podcasts, where are these producers getting their music from?

Podcasting is a downloadable medium and that in itself, poses many challenges when it comes to the using of music and other material in a podcast. The law of the land is simple. You can only use music and other material if you have obtained permission from the copyright holder of the material. This does not mean that you can use music if you're paying royalties to a collection agency. The music in question is generally owned by the artist, record label or song writer. Somebody owns that copyright and it is crucial to obtain permission, unless you wish to subject yourself to the possibility of a lawsuit or hefty fines.

The type of music you'll hear on a typical music podcast will be from artists that you'd generally would not hear on mainstream media. It is the power of podcasts that have promoted many independent artists who today, are selling downloadable tracks or albums by the dozens due to podplays on many podcasts around the world. Artists in many different genres from pop, rock, classical, country and even new age, are getting the much needed "airplay" and sales and thanks to the Internet and new media in general.

So where are all these producers getting their music from? The first port of call is the Podsafe Music Network. The PMN has over 50,000 tracks to date spread over many genres of music from all corners of the globe. It would be an impossible task to not find a suitable track for your podcast from the PMN. There has also been a huge drive to get many South African artists uploading their tracks to the PMN.

Another option that many producers are using is to get in contact with the artists themselves. This helps a lot in educating artists about the benefits of podcasting and how making their music available on sites like the Podsafe Music Network, can benefit them in the long run. Needless to say, the very small barrier to entry, spin-offs and free promotion are huge draw cards when it comes to using podcasts and new media to promote music.

There are many other resources like Creative Commons's CCMixter, Magnatune and IODA's Promonet available too.

There is a lot of music out there, just waiting to be discovered.