One of my favorite weekly features on music blog “Idolator” is called Track Marks. Basically the editors track how blog buzz started rolling for a new band.
The band Illinois (nothing remarkable but in regular rotation on my iPod) is their latest specimen. Here is an example of how they do it:
First blog mention: A Nov. 1, 2006 entry on Exitfare.
The Build-Up: In February, Ace Fu released a handful of free MP3s into the blogosphere–a tactic the label used last fall to build up steam for Annuals, and one that no doubt helped Illinois earn write-ups on the likes of Where Is Helsinki? and Wolf Notes.
The Dam-Break: March 12th kicked off a week-long rally, with Illinois garnering mentions on Muzak for Cybernetics, Side One: Track One and Some Velvet Blog; as of this morning, the group sits on both the “Hot Artists” and “Hot Tracks” lists on Elbo.ws.
Idolator then goes on to discuss the odds of a “blog backlash” (hint: odds are usually pretty good) and then Idolator contemplates their own personal take on the music in question.
It’s kinda cool to see how the snowball starts for an “indie music darling”. Naturally, this buzz is done in tandem with a new album, tour, or large industry music festival like SXSW or something.
Can you notice some commonalities between the bands methods of creating blog buzz?
Can you see yourself taking your songs and doing something similar?
Ideas?
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