A few years back, I wanted to find out if my press releases got any media coverage. Media folk don't have the time to tell you if they're publishing a story about you. So I was excited when I heard about services that monitor publications and notify you when you make the press. The problem was it cost way too much money for the average unsigned band.

Enter Google.

Google has a couple o'killer services that do the same thing, but they notify you by email... as often as you want... and for free!

Google Alert is the primary service. You can set it up to do a search for "Brobdingnagian Bards" and will notify you daily or weekly whenever that term is added to a webpage online. Google News Alert does the same thing, but focuses on web-based media publications, which just about includes every daily or weekly magazine online.

It's simple to use and absolutely free, another part of the Google magic. Course, the basic service allows to only search for a few keywords. But if you want more searches and services, you can always sign up for their paid service like I have.

Google Alerts are a great way to find out who's linking to you, and find out how effective your publicity efforts are.

Or more practically, you can
find out if MusicSubmit's music submission service is helping your online music promotion efforts,
find the latest reviews Bob Baker's Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook
to learn about the latest breaking MP3 news, or
find out if other musicians are turning a viral music marketing secret into a goldmine.

The possibilities are endless. So give it a shot. You have nothing to lose, but wasted time.