Well done to Sandi Thom for getting to number 2 with her first single. Don't get me wrong I'm not a massive fan of the tune, but the way she's done it is quite unique. By webcasting her gigs from her basement she reached an audience that most new artists can only dream of. And this is without Myspace or anything like that. The Myspace phenomenon has been accredited to a lot of things, including the success of the Arctic Monkeys, when in truth they were huge on the underground indie scene a long time before they were on Myspace.

The advantage for new bands now is that there are so many more ways to reach your audience- we no longer have to only listen to whatever dirge Radio 1or the commercial stations want to play. We can find music pretty much wherever we want to, and I think we'll find that more and more artists will become successful through less traditional methods.

Also, check out the Pigeon Detectives. Quality.