IP Democracy: The Web Replaces Radio in Vaulting Bands Ahead

Reuters’ Yinka Adegoke has this piece today that underscores how the web has usurped radio in making or breaking music bands. Chicago-based alt rock band OK Go has become a big hit because of its YouTube video “Here It Goes Again,” which features a widely imitated “dance” on treadmills.

The band’s videos were uploaded by fans from its web site and are now among the top-ranked videos on YouTube. The success of OK Go and other bands has prompted YouTube to launch a dedicated musicians channel for new bands and to aim for putting every music video ever made on its site.

YouTube is not the only source of band-making magic. UK-based band The Arctic Monkeys owes its chart-busting success to the Internet. The little-known Sheffield band produced the fastest selling album in UK history after fans uploaded the group’s demo CDs to the Internet.

In this sense, the Internet has supplanted radio as the main way for bands to break through. But now the cream has a better chance of rising to the top because both OK Go and The Arctic Monkeys owe their success not to gatekeeping record companies but to fans.

With the rise of direct-to-fan reach, and with YouTube hoping to become the premiere source of music videos, AOL picked either an inopportune or perfect time to launch its music store, AOL MusicNow. AOL MusicNow is open to any visitor (as opposed to only AOL paid members) and features 2.5 million songs.

But it carries a monthly subscription fee of $10 to $15 to access the music; AOL is just one of a dozen top contenders for online music sales.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on August 29, 2006 9:17 AM to IP Democracy