With all of the controversy over MP3s and Napster, there's another outlet for music over the Internet that's hoping to catch on in a big way.

The now six-year-old Digital Club Network (www.digitalclubnetwork.com) is optimistic that it will make its mark in the world of digital music and become something like an online MTV. The DCN broadcasts over 150 live shows a week from 54 clubs nationwide and features an ever-increasing archive of previous shows.

One of the clubs involved in this service is Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave., which has been broadcasting shows for nearly a year. Bands that have been broadcast live on the Web from Crowbar include The Clarks and New Found Glory. Wu-Tang Clan, Static-X and Fighting Gravity were also broadcast from Crowbar for the Digital Club Festival 2000, which included acts such as Widespread Panic, Blink 182, Gov't Mule and Patti Smith in 30 venues. Recently Dragon Fire, who was featured on the USA network program Farmclub. com in November, and Stept On have had their shows shown live online from Crowbar.

The 54 clubs involved with the DCN include well-known venues such as Arlene Grocery in New York, Metro in Chicago, 9:30 Club in Washington D.C., and Legends in Las Vegas. The venues stretch the entire way across the country and also include Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. Currently the DCN is in the process of expanding overseas, wiring clubs in England and Ireland.

When a club joins the DCN, it is installed with a camera and audio component and a computer capable of broadcasting the feeds. Then the offer is made to each band to have its performance shown live online and archived at the DCN. If the band accepts the offer, the show is then broadcast and archived.

The DCN is hopeful that the archive will garner attention. "I saw Creed in a club five years ago. Having something like that in the archive would be huge. That's what it's all about, getting that today," said Bobby Danelski, a venue coordinator for the DCN, overseeing 15 venues including Crowbar. The archived performances are available online and recently two of the top five were performances at Crowbar by The Clarks and New Found Glory.

Upcoming shows at Crowbar that will be featured on the DCN include Stept On on March 10, Agents of Good Roots on March 12, and UUU on March 23.

With expansion projects underway and an archive increasing rapidly, the DCN is hopeful that its goal of a 24-hour online music channel is within reach. The ever-optimistic DCN feels it has the ability to spark the biggest revolution in music since MTV by providing music fans with live and archived music from around the globe. Only time will tell if it's right.