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HITWISE‚ UK ENTERTAINMENT UPDATE
Arctic Monkeys most popular band online; visits to MySpace.com up 555%
London, 31st January 2006, In the week that the Arctic Monkeys achieved the fastest-selling debut album of all time, Hitwise - the leader in online competitive intelligence reports that the band who originally found fame online continues to be as popular among UK Internet users. The Arctic Monkeys website became the most visited Bands and Artists website last week, and the band was also the most searched-for in the UK.
The Sheffield band, who built up a substantial fan base through the internet in the last year, saw searches noticeably increase in the weeks leading up to the release of their debut single “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor”, which went on to take the #1 spot in the singles chart the week of 29th October 2005. Since then, Hitwise data reveals that searches on the band have gone into overdrive, increasing by 62% ahead of the release of their debut album last week, “Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I am Not”.
Hitwise analysis reveals that when the band was virtually unknown, visits to their website, www.arcticmonkeys.com, came from chat rooms and blogs most noticeably from MySpace.com. However, search engines became a more important source of visits in June 2005 as the band's name recognition grew.
“Viral marketing is both a challenge and an opportunity for online marketers” said Heather Hopkins, Director of Research for Hitwise UK. “Blogs and chat rooms can be a venue for consumers to rant about a negative experience but can provide opportunities to build awareness of a product, service or, in the case of the Arctic Monkeys, a band.
Cut to January 2006, and the Arctic Monkeys are not just the most searched-for band on the internet but are also the most popular band online, accounting for 3.25% of visits to the Bands and Artists category for the week ending 28th January - up from 1.89% market share just a week earlier. The second most popular website belongs to that of The Ordinary Boys, www.theordinaryboys.com, which first entered the Hitwise rankings just 3 weeks ago coinciding with the start of Celebrity Big Brother.
MySpace, Bebo, and Spaces.MSN.com Experience Staggering Online Growth
Hitwise analysis further reveals that UK consumers are increasing their use of online communities with some sites enjoying staggering growth. Market share of UK Internet visits to the Hitwise Net Communities and Chat category grew 10% year-on-year in December.
Last week, visits to MySpace had grown 555% year-on-year, visits to Spaces.MSN.com had grown 1056%, visits to Bebo had grown by 6009%, and visits to Piczo had grown 2173%. These sites were all among the top 10 Net Communities and Chat websites last week based on market share of UK internet visits, while only one (www.myspace.com) was among the top 10 one year ago. MySpace.com is currently ranked #16 of all sites online.
“Online marketers should proactively monitor online conversations around their brand, product, and industry” said Heather Hopkins. “These online conversations provide raw customer feedback in real time and can identify future competitive threats and opportunities, whilst Hitwise clickstream data identifies sites that are growing in popularity through viral channels.
About Hitwise
Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Each day, Hitwise monitors how more than 25 million Internet users interact with over 500,000 websites across 160 industry categories.
By monitoring more people, more websites, more often, Hitwise provides marketers with timely and actionable marketing insights on how their online presence compares to competitive websites. Companies use this information to maximize the return on their online investment, in efforts such as affiliate programs, search marketing, online advertising, content development and lead generation.
Hitwise collects Internet usage information via a combination of ISP data partnerships and opt-in panels, and complies with local and international privacy legislation as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Founded in 1997, Hitwise is a privately held company, headquartered in New York City and operates in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
More information about the Hitwise Competitive Intelligence service is available at www.hitwise.co.uk
For up to date analysis on online trends, please visit the Hitwise Intelligence-Analyst Weblogs at weblogs.hitwise.com.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Jannie Cahill
jannie.cahill@hitwise.com
Tel: 020 7378 3619