Internet Fuels Grassroots Music Boom
A piece published earlier this week on the UK news site The Guardian examines the strange and beautiful music that’s currently making its way onto the British music charts — without the help of the giant publicity machine that powers the traditional music biz.
From the article:
Enabled largely by the internet, bands have been able to record and promote their own music, and fans to revel in it and pass it on - without the aid of major label backing, stylist and towering billboard advertisements. Furthermore, fans are finding it ever easier to interact directly with their favourite bands, rather than seek nourishment from the insubstantial publicist- approved quotes given in interviews. The result, of course, is that the charts in 2005 have become imbued with a rather joyous and friendly anarchy.
This is a UK publication talking about the UK music scene, but it’s interesting to see how the publicity system operates in England, and how we’re starting to see unknown, unsigned artists in America use the net to generate interest in non-traditional ways. We’re not quite seeing the “joyous and friendly anarchy” on the charts that Laura Barton writes about, but 2005 definitely saw a large number of bands gain that first burst of initial momentum from the internet. The word-of-web publicity that eventually gets them noticed and signed usually starts with sites like PureVolume and Myspace.com.
Far more than artists and bands of similar sound and attitude sharing music ans fans, these sites are also the place to go to find underground shows, outside-the-mainstream happenings, and other activities that build a scene. They are also a valuable resource for touring bands, not only for finding the hot venues in other cities, but for finding other bands to play with in far off towns. The music industry took notice pretty quickly, with labels encouraging their acts to put up Myspace pages (and, in some cases for sure, doing it for them).
If anything, the Guardian article illustrates the power of the grassroots web. It is the greatest, most populist communication tool since the printing press, after all. Feel free to battle me on that one.
