notes on "Marketing music on the web" by Matt Keating

• websites are the best way for labels to keep in touch with fans
• it can be used to build up a band’s fan base eg. the Arctic Monkeys success can be attributed to their website
• Arctic Monkeys – second number one single and a debut album tipped to be
  the fastest-selling album in more than five years
  - have the most popular band website in Britain
• fans download tracks or burn demos and file-share with other fans = word of mouth
• over a million tracks are downloaded legally each week
• “websites are now central to marketing in the music industry” – Chris Hassell, the founder of Ralph, the agency that handles the digital activity for Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs
• websites allow bands to build relationships with fans
• even unsigned bands can have a national or international fan base
• bands can keep regular live web-chats and online video diaries on their websites to keep their fans informed
• bands, particularly on smaller labels, are taking a more active online role
• bands stipulate in their recording contract that they have control over how their website is run
• what a good website repays a band and a label in knowing who their audiences are
• incomparable in terms of any other marketing and research channel
• websites are an artist’s ongoing communication with the audience between record releases and tours