ur lookin at $15 a year for the domain name.. around $200 a year for space.. i know u can get free space out there on the net.. but most of that stuff is limited.. most of the time you wont be able to use php, manage databases, have pop email, have cgi access, perl, install a forum directly onsite, set user permissions, ftp, etc with those free sites.. another thing you'll have to worry about is bandwidth.. with a $200 site ur lookin at a decent amount of bandwidth, however, if you are storing sound files on the site ur bandwidth is gonna sky rocket, and u'll end up paying more.. the $200 sites are good if you pretty much want total control of what you are doing.. the free sites, you are limited.. depends on what exactly you are trying to do..
if you are gonna have a "professional" site, you really dont want to link your sound files to other websites, i.e. soundclick, it's just not user-friendly, and it doesn't feel professional
since ur just starting out tho, i recommend getting free web space and maybe one of those url re-direct services for now.. that way, you get familiar with how everything works, then go for the big stuff later.
i currently own 3 websites including domains, and i created and maintained a business reporting website for sony for five years with heavy heavy php, database, and perl programming, if you have any questions PM me and i'll give u the email addy i check regularly..
