The great thing about democracy is everyone gets a voice, though clearly the Founding Fathers couldn't have anticipated Macy Gray. For a democracy controlling which voices get to sing, check Crowdbands.

Led by a former MCA/Arista A & R exec, CB's a crowdsourced record label bucking tradition by letting site users vote on creative and biz decisions, chiming in on everything from collab ops, to how much to charge per song download, because if the Internet's good for one thing, it's finally getting people to pay for music. For a small annual fee, members can rule over "established" bands the exec team's brought on board, voting on what cities/festivals to play, what singles to release, what TV shows to pitch songs to, album cover art, and even the criteria used to evaluate new talent, with options including commercial value, experience, reputation, and looks -- though just because a dude's ugly doesn't mean people won't Lovett. Other perks include listening to in-progress tracks, receiving gratis copies of new albums, deals on merch, VIP access to events with the band, plus TBD "special rewards for the most active members", so...herpes?

Being just launched, the only band currently up for domination is The Donnas, and though they try to hide it, it's clear, their career crumbles when you are not near.