Record label marketeers are nervous. They should be terrified.
The Times (London) offers a great peek into the implosion of the rickety RIAA promotion machine. A band of nobodies called the Arctic Monkeys knocked much-hyped media vamps the Sugababes (think Spice Girls without the artistic integrity) from the UK's #1 slot.
The unsigned Monkeys set up a Web site and gave the songs away for free. They also used their site to steadily chat with their fans, destroying the artificial barrier between artist and listener. Fame and fortune followed as their legion of fans began taping live shows, concert tickets were being scalped for about US$175, and a record label snapped them up.
Meanwhile, RIAA sues its customers. Oh, it'll be a pity to see these clowns in the unemployment line.
PS: It is always a wise move to include the word "monkeys" in your band name.
PPS: The Arctic Monkeys play "grok rock" ("grok" meaning "dirty" in Brit slang). I've only heard a couple of songs, but they sound a bit like the White Stripes in a crowded Yorkshire pub.
PPPS: The article also quotes Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins, Zwan) as saying music Web sites have created “a new paradigm". Wouldn't you expect a tool like Corgan to use the word "paradigm"? Gads.
technorati tags: WOM; Arctic Monkeys; RIAA; Music industry
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If you can take a moment out of your hectic, globe-trotting lifestyle, this month's Wired takes a break from it's usual hyping of the latest Hollywood blockbuster to talk about how Hawthorne Heights used MySpace.com to become a hit group.
Information (and PR) want to be free.
(And btw, I'm Hawthorne. Sorry about the confusion. :-) .)
Hola Hawthorne! Well, my jet just landed after a whirlwind tour of De Soto, Kansas, where I was doing a packaging press check. Sure, my gridskipping lifestyle is quite glamorous, what with my feted jaunts to Walton, Kentucky; Duluth, Minnesota; Monroeville, Ohio; etc. "Have Applebee's, Will Travel" is my motto.
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