San Francisco, CA (Top40 Charts/ Sick of Sarah Official Website) As representatives of the digital generation, indie band Sick of
Sarah made an audacious move today: the all-girl punk band embraced the power of the Internet and distributed a recently released album, called "2205", direct to BitTorrent's online community of over 100 million users worldwide.
Partnering with BitTorrent Inc., a San Francisco-based innovator of advanced technologies to efficiently move large files across the Internet, the Adamant-labeled band released the full rock-infused album at no charge as an experiment with new models of online distribution. BitTorrent is spotlighting the album through Web and software install promotions, as well as with a custom interactive app in the company's BitTorrent Mainline and µTorrent software.
"Releasing an album on BitTorrent is an incredible opportunity. We wanted to reach our fans on the Internet, and our fans use BitTorrent," said Jamie Holm, Sick of Sarah's bassist. "Imagine exposure to the same number of people as a Super Bowl ad. While album sales will remain a critical element of success, we also believe BitTorrent will help us drive new fans to live concerts and purchase our merchandise."
Continued Holm, "Our industry is changing fast, and it's time for bands to experiment with new types of Internet distribution and discover the future of fan engagement. We're excited to work with BitTorrent to learn what works."
"Sick of Sarah's progressive thinking and modern approach to making their music available to online audiences is inspiring," said Eric Klinker, CEO of BitTorrent. "The band's efforts align with our vision of an open ecosystem. Rather than act as a middleman between creators and consumers, our engineers are building technologies to connect the two communities directly. Our users have proven enthusiastic to our spotlight artists thus far, and we're confident that Sick of Sarah will be embraced as well. Quite simply, the album is awesome."
The new album, 2205, is infused with dirty guitars, heavy drumbeats, all strung up by lyrics that beat away all "chick-rock" cliches. Sick of Sarah has been described by critics as the next big girl band, and the album has been lauded by some of the godmothers of rock music, including Nancy Wilson of Heart and Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles - both of whom took Sick of Sarah on the road in 2010.
The free app features the album download with 10 songs plus liner notes, plus tour dates, and links to the band's social media properties to empower the band to build relationships with fans for long-term success. While the album is free, BitTorrent encourages fans to show their support for Sick of Sarah's efforts via donations, Facebook and Twitter.
BitTorrent first launched the App Studio last August. Other notable artist-endorsed spotlight releases have included The Yes Men Fix the World, Four Eyed Monsters, PAZ, Beyond the Game, and Pioneer One. Sick of Sarah is BitTorrent's first label-backed band release.
