An article in the new VIBE magazine looks at ways rappers like Crooked I, Mickey Factz and others have been operating outside the label system and using the internet to create demand for themselves. I just read the online excerpt but am curious to check out the full story. For the past 52 weeks, Crooked I has released a new freestyle via the web every Tuesday to create his own buzz. Factz has released numerous mixtapes online in the past couple of years and is now about to have a video on MTV.

So this is proof that the internet can work for some artists, but the common denominator in these, and other examples, is that it didn’t happen overnight. We’re talking months and years of consistent action and online networking in order to create the critical mass of online buzz needed to garner real attention. As I emphasised in my post on common Myths and Mistakes in Online Music Marketing, a digital strategy has to have a short and long term - it’s not a fast-track to instant success and I think this is where a lot of artists go wrong. This applies offline as well, but you have to be in it for the long haul and have a plan that makes best use of the tools available.