Buzz Watch: The Hottest bands on Social Networks and Music Blogs in Europe

Authored by Robin Goad on July 10, 2008 - 5:55am.

A few months ago we posted a list of the top 10 band / artist searches sending traffic to MySpace, the primary destination of searches for new artists. We’ve decided to expand the list to cover our whole Social Networking and Forums category, which includes the likes of Facebook and Bebo as well as YouTube (the fourth most popular destination for new artist searches after the MySpace, the band’s homepage and Wikipedia). So, here is a list of the hottest bands in the UK during June, based on the top 50 band / artist searches sending traffic to our Social Networking and Forums category (with their May position in brackets).

1. Coldplay (New!)
2. Jonas Brothers (43)
3. Pendulum (1)
4. Mgmt (New!)
5. Elliot Minor (6)
6. Basshunter (New!)
7. Tristan Spencer (New!)
8. Gabriella Cilmi (9)
9. Ting Tings (2)
10. Foo Fighters (46)
11. Mystery Jets (New!)
12. Mint Royale (New!)
13. You Me At Six (New!)
14. Biffy Clyro (29)
15. Cage the Elephant (8)
16. Rihanna (8)
17. Vampire Weekend (5)
18. Fleet Foxes (New!)
19. Glasvegas (New!)
20. Newton Faulkner (New!)

As you can see, with the exception of Coldplay - who shot to the top of the list thanks to their new album - most of top searches sending traffic to social networking sites are up and coming new bands / artists. In addition to social networking sites, another key source of information on new music is the blogosphere. We’ve created a custom category of 1,000+ music blogs and, using the same principles as above, identified the top 20 band / artist searches sending it traffic:

1. Jonas Brothers (17)
2. Fleet Foxes (New!)
3. Dizzee Rascal ft Calvin Harris (New!)
4. Vampire Weekend (11)
5. N-Dubz (37)
6. Girls Aloud (19)
7. Lily Allen (New!)
8. Mint Royale (33)
9. Todd Rundgren (New!)
10. Frightened Rabbit (2)
11. Crystal Antlers (New!)
12. Snoop Dogg Crowded House (New!)
13. Morrissey (New!)
14. Slipknot (New!)
15. Heroes Fall First (New!)
16. Little Comets (New!)
17. Seth Lakeman (New!)
18. Jaguar skills (New!)
19. Lostprophets (18)
20. Black Kids (New!)

Comparing these 2 lists is interesting. There are a number of bands / artists that appear on both (Jonas Brothers, Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend), but in general the blogs list seems to contain more new bands, or at least ranks them higher. And, no, we haven’t made a mistake with Snoop Dogg Crowded House – that search refers to a recent bootleg / mash-up. We’ve only included the top 20 searches in the post, but if you would like to receive the full list of 50, please email us here.

Robin Goad

Robin Goad is Research Director, Hitwise UK. This piece was originally published on Hitwise analyst blog here.

Image by Paparazzo_Presents