Fame, money and girls – several local bands may get the promotional chance of a lifetime; and it all depends on who you know.

Independent bands such as Stuck With Arthur are starting to grow their fan bases through iTunes, which allows local bands to reach fans all over the globe.

The store, which boasts millions of visitors daily, offers a special section called the Indie Spotlight that features different groups of bands, usually for about a week.

Fritz Jnker, publisher for the Greater Des Moines Music Coalition Web site, is trying to get Des Moines bands featured on the Indie Spotlight.

“This whole thing stared when I sent a DMMC compilation CD to a buddy of mine who works at iTunes,” Jnker said. “He has been following what we’ve been attempting to do here, and so I asked if he could help push our cause and he said he’d do it.”

The Greater Des Moines Music Coalition is a non-profit organization that, according to its Web site, is also collaborative movement of musicians, promoters, venues, businesses, community leaders and live music fans who are committed to building a stronger and more diverse live music economy in greater Des Moines.

“We’ve worked with Fritz [Jnker] a long time, so when he called us and asked if we would like to be on the list for iTunes, we agreed,” said Chris Ford, drummer for Stuck With Arthur.

Stuck With Arthur (seen above) has a CD on iTunes. Although it is not a huge seller, every copy sold turns into pure profit.

“What is great is that while it takes a lot of money to buy actual CDs, on iTunes everything is digital,” Ford said. “So it is a much better way to get out music out at a lower cost.”

If Jnker succeeds and the deal between the coalition and iTunes goes through, it could mean national promotion for more than 20 local bands that are currently signed up. Although some bands, such as Stuck With Arthur, have already received similar publicity through other online music sites, this could prove to be a big break for lesser-known groups.

“We’ve already been featured on Purevolume.com two different times, but this iTunes thing would be the largest national publicity we have gotten because of the fact that people will be buying the album instead of just listening to it,” Ford said.

Other bands on the list include Keepers of the Carpet, Pookey Bleum, Like Knives, Why Make Clocks, Ben Eaton, Index Case, Floodplane, The Autumn Project, Slipknot, Aeon Grey, Frankenixon, The Nadas, Public Property, Small Towns Burn a Little Slower, Towncrier, The Josh Davis Band, Black Market Fetus, James D. Stark, Diplomats of Solid Sound, Lost Cause, and To My Surprise.