The net is not just the music promotion vehicle of the future; it's the preferred promotion engine of today. Hypebot has written a lot about MySpace and internet success stories like Hawthorne Heights. And much has been written here and elsewhere on how bands like Bright Eyes and labels like Vagrant and more recently Victory use the web to spread the word as radio once did.
An LA Weekly piece gives another nice behind the scenes look at the phenomenon of viral net music promotion which by most accounts has reached the tipping point:
"The year 2005 marked a clear shift from the era of airwaves to the era of iPods. The digital landscape has been laid; the critical apparatus necessary to govern its borders is settling into place. It’s a hierarchy of Web zines, MP3 blogs, podcasts, and message boards with peculiar names like Music for Robots, Coolfer, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan and Tracks Up the Tree. An artist can make or break a career via a thousand different sites that are insignificant on their own, but together quite powerful. Even the majors have realized this. New albums by Neil Diamond and Madonna debuted on MySpace.com. The Strokes’ new record has been strategically leaked to the Web, and they are playing a full slate of “secret” shows this December, with the primary intention of generating Internet buzz.."
Read the full LA Weekly article here.
