Say what you will about iTune's new social network Ping, but it's going to be a great place to market music.  So imagine the frustration of the many indie artists - many of who are selling music on iTunes - when they learned  that there was  no obvious way to create an an artist profile in Ping.

Apple Responds: "By Invitation Only"

We asked Apple to explain and just heard back from a spokesperson that "artist profiles were launched by invitation, but we'll keep adding more and more."  No information was provied on who is handing invites or what criteria they are using. But bands do have another option ...kind of.  "Any iTunes user can create a profile on Ping, artist or otherwise," reminds Apple.

Has anyone tried to create a ping profile using a band name (i.e. The XYYZ Band) rather than a personal name (i.e. John Smith)?