Um, I'm with the band
I just got an email from one of my favorite local bands (local being a relative term), saying that they are playing their last-ever show this Friday night. The email caused me to reflect on how the Internet and its various trappings have affected my life in quite random and certainly positive ways.
I discovered the Fredericksburg, Va. based Folded Under (www.foldedunder.com) through Napster. Sort of. I actually downloaded some of their songs along with dozens of others in one fell swoop from mp3.washingtonpost.com, when I lived in Arlington, VA.
One night while logged on to Napster, someone messaged me and asked if I was going to the Folded Under show. I replied "who are they?" and was informed that I had three of their songs in my visible library. Silly me. Turns out the person messaging me was the sister of one of the band members, and was trying to drum up support for the upcoming show. I listened to the three songs I had, liked them, and 48 hours later made the hour drive to see them play. Several trips to various venues were made over the next few years and we got to know some of the members a bit.
And it all started because of a little viral marketing by someone I "let" into my home who was able to "peek" at some of my stuff.
Media companies are always searching for ways to attract younger readers/users/etc. I downloaded this band's music from the Web site of my Big Local Paper. But I was CONNECTED to them thanks to the software of a college kid from Northeastern with a funny nickname. Something to think about when looking out for the Next Big Thing.