Article Title: Dolly Parton Releases Album on Own Label

Excerpt: "I'm looking at it like an investment," she told The Associated Press. "I thought, 'I've made enough money. I can afford to invest a little in myself.'" She has self-released the disc on her own label, Dolly Records, and hired a seven-member promotions team.

Excerpt: She has watched with interest as new technology has created opportunities without the big labels. "Now the majors are what they used to think I was: history," she said. "I thought this is a good time, but I need to make an all-out effort. ... Whatever it takes, you fight for it. You do what you have to do to feed your habit, and I'm a music addict."

Article Title: Chris Thile

Excerpt: Q: Are you feeling like you need some cuddly creatures in your life after the past few years? A: Let's see: There was the dissolution of my ill-fated marriage. There was the riding off into the sunset of Nickel Creek. But I was actually glad that something finally started to happen. My life had gone so well the first 22 years, it was high time something happened that made me feel something aside from the pleasure of getting the metronome up to 180 beats per minute.

Article Title: Turning to fans to finance CD

Excerpt: In making six CDs, singer Jill Sobule has worked for two major record companies that dumped her and two indie labels that went bankrupt beneath her.

Excerpt: Sobule, whose witty and poignant writing first attracted attention with the song "I Kissed a Girl," has set up a Web site asking fans to donate money so she can make a new CD. She set a goal of $75,000 and, in a month, she's made about $54,000.

Excerpt: One positive, unexpected result from her campaign is getting to know her fans a little, beyond just the faces that stare at her onstage. Many have written messages that are posted on Sobule's Web site and offer suggestions.

Article Title: Indie Artist Named VH1's Next Artist

Excerpt: New York songstress Ingrid Michaelson has been selected as VH1's next artist "You Oughta Know," making her the first unsigned artist to be featured in the high-profile program. The station will also debut the Autumn de Wilde-directed video for her radio charting single "The Way I Am" this coming Monday, November 12th.

Excerpt: "The Way I Am," featured in Old Navy's "Fair Isle" sweater commercial campaign in October, is currently the #24 Most Played Song at HOT AC – rare and significant exposure for an unsigned artist. Support for this infectious first single off her album Girls & Boys (self-released on her own Cabin 24 Records) has also come from AAA radio, including Philadelphia's WXPN where she is the "Artist of the Month" for November. Michaelson has the #1 most played song on WTMX in Chicago, where she is also being spun on WXRT and WLIT, making her the #1 artist in the city. "The Way I Am" is also among the top 10 most played at KYKY (St. Louis), KPLZ (Seattle), KRSK (Portland), and WKRQ (Cincinnati).

Excerpt: After her management company – which specializes in film/TV licensing – discovered her via MySpace, four of her songs were featured in ABC's hit drama Grey's Anatomy (including "Keep Breathing," which played during the concluding scenes of last season's finale and is featured on the season three soundtrack), the CW's One Tree Hill and ABC Family's Kyle XY.

Article Title: Lyrically driven: In the music industry, nothing is a sure thing

Excerpt: But Hilliard is persistent. The 39-year-old has been writing rock, country and Christian songs in his spare time since he was 18. He hopes to become a full-time songwriter and has considered moving to Nashville like his co-writer Eddie Keith Wilson. While their big break is yet to come, Hilliard and Wilson have recently come close to a possible breakthrough. Neither really wants to say it, but the thought pulses through both of their minds: "Could this finally be it?"

Excerpt: "That told me that we had something," he said. "In the last 10 years we've just really been digging into songwriting and learning as much as we can and writing as much as we can. It's like anything else. There's a learning curve. You set your head to it and learn a little every day."

Excerpt: Despite their setbacks, the two have been toiling away since they met 10 years ago when they ran into each other at a songwriting showcase and then at a small church the next day. They bonded over songwriting and now, "we're like brothers," Wilson said. The two feed off each other when they write.