Sept. 9, 1999 has come and gone. The MTV Music Awards are over, the reruns are showing tirelessly, and bands have a found new musical arena in which to slug it out — the Internet.

Stepping up its status in the world of music, the Web has established itself as one of the key players in the music industry. Overrun with download sites, Internet magazines and online music merchandise stores, the Internet is packed with music fans 24 hours a day.

With the flood of listeners cruising the Web, looking for the next Limp Bizkit, Madonna, or hot boy band, more Web sites dedicated to uncovering and promoting these bands have emerged. Among these new pages are a wave of sites allowing any band to gain access to the net.

Leading the all-access Internet charge is on-line entertainment giant Artist Direct Network. Hosting several major Web sites and a plethora of minor sites, the Network offers free Web promotion to bands, big and small.

The Network is broken down into three major sites: Artistdirect.com, UBL.com, and iMusic.com, along with several teen sites and merchandise stores.

The Artist Direct page offers a summary of all of the Network’s sites, along with direct links to major record labels, bands, and other sites. The page also features an elaborate MP3 section, featuring weekly downloads, contests, CD previews and a featured band of the week.

Featured in Artist Direct’s direct links is a wide assortment of band information, available with a single click. Direct pages are pages specializing in band merchandise and other paraphernalia. The list contains everything from Korn to Backstreet Boys and the Rolling Stones to Sublime.

Links to merchandise pages are not limited to the list of about 35 bands that appear on the Artist Direct main page, however. With a couple clicks, Web shoppers and listeners can move their search to the Ultimate Band List (UBL).

On the UBL, surfers are given a number of options. The main page contains updated stories on music news, weekly downloads, and contests.

The best part about the UBL, however, is its extensive band archive, which contains thousands of bands. Bands can create their own pages within the archive with links to their homepages and merchandise pages.

Along with links to a band’s assorted Web sites, each UBL site contains a short biography that can be written and updated at any time, a download link for bands to upload MP3s and videos, and a lyrics/tabs link. Other options such as links of press reviews, mailing lists, and individual band chat rooms are also available.

Chat rooms are found in the iMusic.com site. This site is dedicated to fan communication. In the spirit of the UBL, iMusic’s chat rooms are free and any band can sign up. Thousands of sites exist along with message boards for fans to post messages about their favorite band.

Elements of both the Artist Direct Web site and the UBL Web site are found within iMusic. Daily music news is combined with fan responses on iMusic’s main page, encouraging readers to react and post their own messages.

On all three sites, web surfers are encouraged to vote on their favorite band, Web site, fansite, unsigned band and more for this year’s Online Music Awards hosted by Artist Direct.

The event is held in the spirit of the MTV Music Awards.

But they don’t have reruns.