I think net labels might evolve into collections of links to bandcamp (or whatever follows it) pages. Then artists get the advantage of a nice easy way to get paid for their work while being able to track downloads / plays and being able to manage all their content really easily. Downloaders get a nice collection of curated links for the type of music they like. Bonus for everyone.
I think the most traditional net label in our scene is bleep street http://www.bleepstreet.com/ . They have great artist bios, a constantly maintained list of upcoming shows, merch, extra videos and mixes, a very slick webpage, music available on most digital download sites, a very high quality bar and a fairly clear type of music they favor. I think they are pretty much the bar for chip netlables to aspire to.
However, I think the trio of labels I like most is Metrodub, Ubik and Pause as they seem to value a few things which I rate pretty highly
- Very high quality bar.
- Pretty clearly defined idea of what music they like.
- All releases visible and downloadable on one page. Im fairly unlikely to click through one of the blog style release pages.
- Easy track previews.
Love all three of them!