Online Distribution

Of late there has been a trend for bands to initially ‘get noticed’ exclusively via online mediums. Obviously this has a number of advantages for the consumer, as they are for the first time able to dictate to the industry rather than the other way around.

To take the Arctic Monkeys as an example of this new type of marketing, the band initially began to be noticed after handing out CDs at gigs. From here, they placed tracks free for download on their web-site where fans were able to recommend to others and discuss their favourite tracks. The band very much made a name for themselves ‘underground’, until eventually there was enough of a buzz around the official release of their album that it was highly anticipated, and Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history, selling in excess of 360,000 copies in its first week and outselling the rest of the top 20 combined.

I think that one of the advantages of this extremely organic method of promotion is that is isn’t seen as an intrusion in so much as an e-mail from a band you’re assumed to be interested in based on other bands you listen to would be. In this form, marketing can be very pushy, and nowadays I definitely think that this is to the bands detriment. On the other hand, a recommendation through an e-mail to look at a band’s myspace, because that person genuinely thinks the band are good, is much more likely to get my attention as it’s a far more honest and open way of promotion. In this way I think that the Arctic Monkey’s success was also down to the fact that they were plain and simply good. You cannot force an online buzz to happen around something which no one believes in, it’s too forced and not likely to gain any momentum. On the other hand if that band were genuinely making good records, a buzz naturally occurs which takes off off it’s own back.