Future Music Stars Must Prove Themselves on the Internet

Authored by Jay Baage on March 1, 2007 - 12:20pm.

From Digital Music Forum East: Proven internet success is becoming a more important consideration for record companies when signing a new artist. That was one of the interesting take-aways from the panel “A&R in a Digital Age”. A&R (the process by which the record labels are finding new talent) is fundamentally changing, and it’s happening fast.

The new digital landscape in which virtually every band has a MySpace page, as well as access to cheap digital production technologies, are giving new artists better odds than ever before to be heard by A&R executives and music supervisors.

However, it is a double-edged sword. As Maria Egan-Cohen, A&R, Columbia Records points out, the internet is also raising the bar for what is required of an artist. In many cases, A&R executives do a lot of research to see that the artist has a big following on the internet, good local sales history, and marketing savvy, before signing them.

For example, internet sensation Tila Tequila, born Tila Nguyen (pictured), has over 1.7 million friends and half a billion page views on MySpace. She is now putting out her debut single and music video “I Love U” as an independent, digital-only, global release. It was announced earlier this week that Tila has struck a partnership with global entertainment producer Endemol and digital label/distributor INgrooves.

"We have always envisioned one day working with an artist like Tila, whose fan base is almost entirely digitally based," said Robb McDaniels, INgrooves' CEO in a statement.

A more conventional band that the panel mentioned as a good example of understanding how the new system works is The Cold War Kids, a group that now has all the big labels interested.

So, is having a lot of friends on MySpace better than having a record deal for breaking a new artists in the digital age?

“Success on the Internet and the ability to get independently released songs out there help the artists to a level where it makes our jobs so much easier”, said Maria Egan-Cohen.

Joakim Baage

Related Links:
http://www.sootoday.com/uploads/content/TilaTequila.jpg
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/26/technology/26tequila.html

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Comments

Recognition

Submitted by DOTMIG (not verified) on March 2, 2007 - 7:47pm.

Hi, I'm DOTMIG an underground artist that is trying to reach the surface. There is nothing like the internet, when it comes to having your music heard. With a 10 to 1 ratio of artists competing, it get's a little lonely. I feel without solid quality work the recognition will not come around. DOTMIG'S style of work is straight up Pop not to hard & not to soft, commercially driven for the public's ears & eyes to see. This artist is here to stay & make my mark. Take a look at my work. Best Regards, DOTMIG www.garageband.com/artist/dotmig www.myspace.com/dotmig www.dotmig.com