While similar to traditional record labels in many respects, netlabels typically emphasize free distribution online, often under licenses that encourage works to be shared (e.g., Creative Commons licenses), and artists often retain copyright.
[1] Netlabels may have a considerably lower staff count than traditional record labels, in some instances being only a single individual in control of their music, maintaining sole ownership.
[2] Physical LPs, for example, are rarely produced by a netlabel, relying entirely on digital distribution and means of the Internet to provide the product.
[citation needed] Online music groups date back almost as far as the history of personal computers, and share close ties with video games and the demoscene.
Netlabels began to branch out from the tracker scene when the lossy MP3 file format became popular in the late 1990s.