The Sheffield rock band the Arctic Monkeys release their first fully marketed single today but the group has already built a hugely devoted following by becoming one of the first to harness the power of the internet to reach young fans. Last week the band played to 2,000 fans at a sold-out London Astoria, with touts asking up to £100 a ticket. The audience sang along to every word of the single, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, which has yet to be released.
The speed with which they have developed a large and committed fanbase is being put down to the viral marketing effect of the internet, with fans swapping tracks with one another with the blessing of the group.
According to one estimate there are already 142 different versions of various Arctic Monkeys songs floating around on the internet, some recorded by fans at concerts. The band has only officially released one very limited edition single called Fake Tales of San Francisco.
Through community websites such as MySpace.com, likeminded fans have been finding one another and accessing songs. A Guardian/ICM poll this month showed that internet users between 14 and 21 were spending most of their time online communicating in this way.
As a result, the singer, Alex Turner, the guitarist, Jamie Cook, the bassist, Andy Nicholson, and the drummer, Matt Helders built up a huge following before they had even registered on the radar of the record industry. They eventually signed to Domino Records, the home of Franz Ferdinand.
"This is the first generation for whom the internet has always been there," said the NME editor, Conor McNicholas. While the record industry has struggled with online piracy, bands such as the Arctic Monkeys are using it to their advantage, communicating with fans almost daily on their forum and posting tracks and lyrics.
Mr McNicholas said they were carrying on where the Libertines, the first band to harness the internet to communicate casually with fans and make unreleased songs available, left off. "They'll be bigger than the Smiths and could be as big as Oasis. This band are going to knock the country sideways, I can't tell you how excited I am about them," he added.
Mike Smith, senior vice-president and director of A&R at EMI Music Publishing UK, who signed the band, said the internet had allowed the band to bring fans "into their world".
