Catch the viral music bug (part 1)

I've felt a little lost lately due to my favourite music blog getting the boot for posting copies of unreleased tracks from artists worldwide. Of course, there are tons of other music bloggers but this one was special. Of course, my blog crush won the hearts of many others, eventually attracting the not-so-happy attention of major record labels who were pretty adamant about getting my favourite and only source of illegal downloads (more illegal than video-sharing on YouTube?).

This is always frustrating for me...I know labels and artists need to protect their material but it still shows a lack of awareness in the power of viral and the loyalty of fans. I, for one, download the unreleased songs, play them for friends, and get excited about the official release date. That's right, I then buy the material to support the artists that deserve it. Obviously, that's because I'm a goody-goody and an iTunes addict.

Plenty of artists have bootleggers and file-sharers to thank for their popularity and the spread of their music. A leaked song here or there can create excitement, discussion and community among your fans and ultimately those people buying your records. I'm not just talking Radiohead here either. The best current example is Robyn, the swedish firecracker who took over the pop scene overseas for the past year.

She's no stranger to North American charts; she cracked the top ten a few times in the mid-nineties (anyone remember Show Me Love?) and then disappeared. After getting pissed off at the industry trying to control her, she founded her own label in 2005 (Konichiwa Records), created her self-titled dream album, and has been hailed as one of the greatest things to happen to music in years.

Her voice is featured on Britney Spears' Piece of Me, a remix of Snoop Dogg's Sexual Eruption, and she has been courted to write for other artists including Kylie Minogue. Her song With Every Heartbeat has been included on Best of 2007 lists from all over the world and has been covered by top recording artists in England.

What am I getting at? Her album hasn't been released in North America yet but that hasn't stopped her from tearing up the blogosphere and playing three sold out concerts in the U.S. where she remembers being surprised that the entire audience knew every word to her still unreleased songs. Not only that, but Universal Music Group signed a deal with her record label for the chance to promote her music worldwide.

Viral technology gave her the head start to relaunch her career in North America and continue to receive the acclaim she deserves for one of the most inventive pop efforts in a very, very long time.

Will I buy her album despite having first downloaded it onto my computer months ago? If it means more material from her and artists who know how to work the web, yes, yes! A thousand times yes!

More Robyn: Handle Me, Be Mine

Related:
Catching the viral music bug (part two)