2011 was another extremely eventful year for the music business, with the U.S. launch of Spotify, the introduction of Google Music, and services like iTunes Match bringing cloud storage to the masses. Artists have more revenue streams than ever before, and more things to keep up with – it’s a busy time to be an independent musician!

YouTube continued to be a huge music discovery tool, and many artists have found new fans and new revenue on the site. Along those lines, social networks still remain great places for fans to connect with their current audience and reach out to potential fans, and artists have taken to Facebook and Twitter more than ever before. Artists willing to work hard and provide fresh content through these channels made big strides in the past year.

Overall music sales actually increased in 2011, too, which has left industry insiders cautiously optimistic. Has the music biz finally got a handle on the new ways fans are consuming music? Only time will tell…

Speaking of, what do you think are going to be the big stories of 2012? Will Google Music become as dominant as its namesake? Do you think “lockers in the cloud” are the future of music storage, or is it a lot of hype? Do you think Spotify is going to be good for the music business, or do you share some of the same concerns that some artists have expressed about the service? Share your predictions with us in the comments section, and let us know what you’re most looking forward to in the coming year.

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Photo of Nostradamus