Making It Big On Myspace: The Arctic Monkeys Story

Myspace is a great tool for artists to represent themselves, share their music and create a following around their music.  It can also be used as a launching pad for indie bands to transform their band from a garage band into a headlining act at major festivals.  One such garage band to achieve such phenomenal success was the Arctic Monkeys in the mid 2000’s.

Led by their frontman Alex Turner, the Arctic Monkeys were a tiny fish in the giant pond of British bands.  In order to differentiate their band from the rest of the pack, they handed out free CD’s at their gigs for their small audiences.  This small sentiment not only went a long way in establishing a solid fan base but also spread their music exponentially throughout the local music scene.  This word-of-mouth marketing strategy created a snowball effect as more and more people talked about the Arctic Monkeys and their music.

This fan base went online and created an online community where they could share music and information about the band.  The Arctic Monkeys had not even signed to a record label nor released a full-length album and they found themselves playing in venues that were usually reserved for more mainstream acts.

This online community (largely on the Arctic Mokney’s Myspace page) allowed the Arctic Monkeys to release music and information on the band online without the assistance of a record label.  The band embraced this online community and revamped their Myspace page with forums, tour information, photos of the band and online streaming of their music .

They finally signed to Domino Records in 2006 and released their fist “official” album which became the fastest selling album in UK history.  Four albums later, the Arctic Monkeys are one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world.