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A lot of net labels operate with the support of scene.org and the Internet Archive. Both sites host all kinds of files and material, so this may not be such an easy way to browse. The fastest way to dip into scene.org directly is through the forum where net label announcements are posted. The main net label page at the Internet Archive has a message board as well, below a complete list of their hosted labels with descriptions of each. Under each label there are also user reviews of different releases and so on.

Web magazine Phlow hosts the Net Label Catalogue which has a large list of labels that can be browsed by genre. I found the labels’ ideas of what genre they fitted into were often at odds with my own, but nonetheless, if you want a big list of sites, this is the largest I found.

Elektrobong maintains another database of net labels, as well as having an easy to view news page outlining new releases from around the world with detailed write ups.

The list of links provided by Rowolo is a little more idiosyncratic, as they have taken on a policy of only putting up links to music they like. One of the things I appreciate about this site is the key to genres included in the labels list. Easy to browse.

The net label Subsource streams mixes which are often exclusively net audio, with comprehensive track lists and credits. So if you like net radio this is a great option for dipping your toes into a variety of artists and labels. The label and their mixes tend towards the ambient end of things, but within that general area there is still a raft of material on offer, ranging from smooth synth based IDM with soft beats, through slightly abrasive beatless material, to processed environmental recordings.

There is also a Yahoo group where labels publicize their new releases and a free audio Yahoo group where both message archives are publicly accessible.

Once you have got started check out any links you can find. Your new favorite net label may well point you to other labels that will suit your tastes. Likewise, a fair number of artists have releases with more than one net label, so checking out the artists’ pages can be a good way to discover material by like-minded artists.

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You may just be looking for a wide range of electronic listening music as a starter. Somewhere you can browse through and hear a whole lot of different sounds. Observatory Online has heaps of great EP releases, with a bit of a focus on more mellow sounds, but still very varied and often a little edgy. Interdisco also has a wide range of worthwhile tracks, but with more than a couple of four-to-the-floor EPs, including something by Murcof collaborator Fax. The standard and breadth of music published by Autoplate is quite remarkable. Their compilations are a good way to get a feel for what is available through the label. A wide range of what can be classed as IDM, as well as ambient, microsound and music which mixes acoustic instruments with electronic processing.

There is a lot of what I think is called melodic IDM out there. You know the drill: soft drum machine rhythms that sometimes go a little crunchy but are never angry, lush synth chords, chiming melodies, maybe a little acoustic guitar or piano here and there. I must admit it’s not my favorite kind of music, but I figure a lot of Igloo’s readers live and breathe the stuff, so it would be remiss not to give some pointers. By all accounts, the undisputed champions in this arena are Monotonik, Sutemos, and Kahvi. Monotonik tends towards EPs, Sutemos towards LPs and Kahvi towards one or two tracks per release. The two Sutemos Invisible Toys compilations have a good range of artists, most of whom are old hands to the net label game. In fact a few of the artists are on all three of these labels, from memory.

Even more popular than melodic IDM among net labels is minimal techno, particularly the dubby variety of post-Chain Reaction sounds. The sheer volume of material available in this one genre is exhausting. My tastes tend towards the softer tracks, but if you like something driving try the Stadt releases on the interesting split label Stadtgruen. Thinnerism has a huge catalogue of quality dubbed-out stuff, but the relatively new Filtro has some even better releases which span minimal techno, microhouse and ambient. Epsilon Lab is another good contender, sometimes tending more towards the bounce and click of microhouse tracks as well.

Textone also releases minimal techno, but my favourite releases there were some great microhouse sounds similar to what you might find on labels like Perlon, Playhouse and Force Tracks. They also have a great release by Kero, who makes the kind of kinky electro associated with artists such as Two Lone Swordsmen.

If you like the idea of deep electronic dub without the doof doof beats, I would recommend a couple of small labels. Monohm has some beautiful music, particularly from the act that shares the label's name, and is well worth checking out. Kyoto only has three releases up at the time of writing, but Kyoto 3 and 4 are excellent EPs containing tracks perhaps a little too similar to Rhythm & Sound. Still, if you like that sound, why pass up on getting some for free? Kyoto 2 is more Chain Reaction style techno, a little like older Porter Ricks.

It's a little harder to recommend a label as a whole for post rock, folktronica and what have you. I'm thinking here of music based around the electronic processing of acoustic instruments. There is certainly Starving But Happy!, which bills itself as "The Ambient & Indietronic Music Netlabel", but there aren't actually many releases there. Autres Directions In Music is my suggestion for your first port of call. They have some fantastic releases with beats and acoustic guitar and so on, in the territory of artists like Minotaur Shock and Four Tet, as well as a superb half hour slow building piece by Harpages that might be at home on somewhere like Kranky or Constellation. Race Will Begin offers a selection of virtual 7"s, including a bunch of mutant electronic pop songs, net audio stalwart Bauri remixing a slow indie song, and a twisted electro cover of Kelis's "Milkshake!" If you are looking for something more free and improvised sounding then try Komplott. Their releases are largely beatless, and although a lot are largely electronic quite a few mix in other instrumentation. Jim O'Rourke's electronic work or the more improvisational work Fennesz has done (eg. his collaboration with Polwechsl) are good guideposts for what to expect.

Following on from labels like Komplott, there is a surprising amount of microsound, electro-acoustic and what gets called dark ambient music available on the web. As with the melodic IDM, this is an area of only passing interest to me, so I'm not sure what to recommend in particular. From the four or five labels I checked out Tiln seemed to be the most varied and interesting.

If you are at all interested in hip-hop, broken beats, or jazz influenced dance sounds the best label by a mile is Tokyo Dawn Records. They have expanded into other formats, but there is a lot of music there for free, including some nice mixes which include tracks otherwise unavailable online.

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:: Anders certainly deserves an award for the most transparent track names - "Kärrsilja — Metal Bowls, Electronics, Bouzouki," "Kärrsilja — Electronics, Piano, Guitar" and "Kärrsilja — Sinewave, Bottles, Guitar, Harmonica." The names give you an instant entry point to what the artist is up to. Anders leaves a lot of space in the material and despite the fact that each of the layers is improvised by himself it is easy enough to imagine a quirky little ensemble were playing all of this live.

:: This release is accurately described on the site as "minimal'n'dry techno-inspired superfunk". The four tracks are downtempo, swaggering rhythms with punchy synths adding flavour and fun. I would have tended to consider it instrumental hip-hop, but there is certainly that Detroit feel in the music. I was reminded of artists such as Dabrye and Anthony "Shake" Shakir.

:: Now this is my idea of melodic IDM! Strange textures and creative beats are mixed with a lot of melodic and harmonic variation. The mood is light and often energetic, buoyed up by the shifting rhythms. While there are heaps of digital effects throughout they are never a substitute for great compositions. The results sit somewhere between the good old days of early Plaid and the perverted pop sensibilities of Mouse on Mars. My favorite is the sedate "Watersine." The other two Deework albums on Bedroom Research are much more moody and not so much to my taste.

:: The StadtGruen site is worth a look just for the beautiful design, but if you enjoy contemporary ambient sounds then it would be a travesty to not check out Lomov's releases. While he has releases on other labels, it is Free Port that grabbed me most. Aesthetically, the tracks have some similarities with SND - those tiny tinks and blips that sneak around the upper range of your hearing; the rounded, dry bass sounds - but many of the compositions are much less focused on rhythm and overall Lomov shows a wider stylistic range. The particularly yummy "Charger" is reminiscent of Electric Birds with its record crackle percussion and somber echoing chords.

:: Coming across an EP this distinctive is truly refreshing, when so much digital dub sounds interchangeable. The sounds used here are an inviting mix of sampled piano, bright synths and dusty noise, assembled into slowly shifting patterns. The rich quality of the textures and slightly off-kilter rhythms reminded me a little of the fantastic Kompakt producer Dettinger, but this music is truly Lufth's own. While he also has many releases on Thinner as Digitalverein I must confess that these tracks, where he ditches the doof doof of minimal techno, are far and away my favourites. If you like this EP a good follow-up is the Silent Season Dub album, which collects down tempo tracks by most of the main Thinner contributors.

:: This album is intriguing enough for the rare opportunity to check out 14 different Mexican electronic artists, but as it turns out the music presented here is excellent in and of themselves. The starting point is a contemporary ambient affair with some soft percussion. The remixes take in the whole gamut of contemporary electronics - glitchy IDM, noisey drones, microhouse, and some acoustic guitar in there somewhere - but most importantly the vast majority of them have their own individual character rather than just sounding like tame genre workouts. The fact you have 14 takes on one track does get a bit much, but part of the joy of the digital file approach to listening is it's so easy to listen to one or two tracks at a time or shuffle them up among everything else you've downloaded.

:: The comment on the Test Tube label site says all that needs to be said about these two lengthy tracks: "An ambient work along the lines of those of Akira Rabelais, Rafael Toral and other minimalistic guitar players. Highly recommended."

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