Shortly after buying the MP3.com domain name and announcing that its sprawling music archive would close, CNET Networks said recently it will start its own free service in early 2004 for independent musicians online. At the peak of the Internet boom, several sites, including MP3.com, Riffage.com and Garageband.com, offered huge, free database and distribution services for musicians who wanted to make their music available online. MP3.com’s existing database, which contains more than 1 million songs, largely from unsigned and independent musicians, was shut down as of December 2. (more...)