UK buzz bands say 'Don't believe the hype'

UK band Arctic Monkeys.

NEW YORK - It's the latest rock 'n' roll cliche: UK buzz band rides wave of internet hype to claim Next Big Thing status.

But the rise of blog mania is creating fears of too much buzz too soon for a growing number of UK acts looking to establish lasting fan bases in the United States. Savvy bands and their labels, in an attempt to avoid being swept up in an inadvertent media frenzy, are now taking steps to try to manage their hype more carefully.

Add Birmingham, England-based Editors - a blogosphere-adored rock quartet that draws on influences from the likes of Joy Division and U2 - to the list of bands trying to keep its hype under control. That list also includes the likes of the Arctic Monkeys, the Streets and Bloc Party.

Internet marketing experts say that while blog buzz is good, the attention it can draw from the mainstream press can be problematic. Recently, labels and marketers have been taking cues from the initial press avalanche for the Arctic Monkeys earlier this year as a cautionary tale.

"Everyday mainstream media is sourcing stuff off the internet and putting it into a different perspective because their footprint is so large," says Mark Ghuneim, CEO of New York-based digital marketing agency Wiredset. "The Independent in the UK will do a story on blog buzz about a band like the Arctic Monkeys, and then the next day Fox News here is putting it on the 10pm broadcast saying it's the next Beatles. That doesn't do anybody any favors. Once you get into mass media news cycles and those types of trends it's like walking into the undertow. You have no type of control."

The Editors' debut, which has sold 300,000 units worldwide since its bow on Kitchenware Records last July, is off to a more modest start in the United States. "The Back Room" has sold 25,000 copies since March, according to Nielsen SoundScan. According to the band's US home, Fader Label, that slow start is all part of the plan.

"It's very important for me that they are not perceived as a hype band," Fader Label president Jon Cohen says.

To that end, Fader has thus far shunned extensive media promotion and limited the Editors' US TV exposure to a handful of appearances on such shows as "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and MTV's "Subterranean." Cohen claims the buzz was strong enough for the band that it turned down other promotion opportunities, but he declined to name specifics.

The plan is to further drive exposure and awareness in the same way the act built its UK fan base - through extensive touring. The band's next US tour kicks off in July.

"That's one thing we wanted to avoid. We didn't want too much too soon," Editors vocalist Tom Smith says. "We understand that once things start rolling you can't necessarily control it. There are decisions to be made early on that can put you in better stead."

Bloc party successfully used a similar approach last year. The band's album "Silent Alarm," after a slow build that focused on heavy touring, has sold 260,000 copies in the United States. Its Vice Records label is now looking to apply the strategy with the latest album from the Streets. "The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living," which dropped in April, has sold 29,000 units. Vice co-founder Suroosh Alvi says labels need to walk a fine line in building buzz online for bands.

"Things can be overhyped and backfire," Alvi says. "If it's homogenized blanket coverage and everyone is being offered the same exposure to the band, then the campaign can die early because you aren't building loyalty. The way to keep it alive is by giving unique pieces of coverage and video content to the key players."

Wiredset's Ghuneim says even small labels that deal in buzz bands need to have more fully articulated marketing plans and a global release strategy in place before releasing records now.

He says that album setups need longer lead times than the typical 12-week window and that, most important, labels need to establish clear benchmarks of when the next media exposure trigger happens.

"In an attention economy early attention is important. Then less is more. You need to go back to focusing on performing and making sure people have access to the music. I don't know that a band that just started needs to be on 'Saturday Night Live."'

- REUTERS/Billboard