All girl rock trio The Kut, get another pre tour boost as they take over the front page of the long awaited music store Gigaboxx. Initially set to run under a subscription model, the Gigaboxx store soon switched to a free service and has since been reaping a growing number of customers. Home to a large number of major and independent artists, the Gigaboxx store selected all female band, The Kut, to have pride of place on the store after seeing fan numbers rocket on the band’s mobile site. This is brilliant news for the girls, who have just sold out over half of their upcoming tour dates including shows at the Barfly in London and the Roadhouse in Manchester late July. It is expected that the band will benefit from approximately 1 million extra views over the next year as a result of the arrangement.
Gigaboxx allows labels and bands to create mobile music stores that allow fans to purchase music directly from their phones at gigs. Users text a simple SMS shortcode, or scan a QR code to be connected to the bands mobile store. This then allows users to buy content and the cost is deducted from their mobile phone bill or pay as you go credit. Gigaboxx is certainly the first store of its kind, reaching a far wider demographic than the growing norm of credit card download stores. It is a strikingly similar model to that operating in Japan, still one of the biggest music markets in the world and allowing fans of all ages access to music quickly. Interestingly 94% of all downloads in Japan are purchased via mobile handsets, and it probably won’t be long before fans and bands ditch MySpace for such next generation technology.
This is another big win for The Kut, demonstrating that the industry still has room to break independent label bands even in the current climate. The music video by The Kut, ‘Closure’ will also be for sale on their mobile site, as well as live footage that is to be gathered on the Love Hate Vampire Shotgun System Circus Tour. The news follows the band’s recent partnership with Ents24 that will see them reach 1.5 million new music fans over the next 2 week and an endorsement from Dr Martens, who kitted them and The Horrors out with new boots for their upcoming tour earlier this month. The band are due out to LA later this year to celebrate their deal to feature in the game Rock Band alongside a handful of other artists including Steve Vai, Gwen Stefani, and Metric.
Criminal Press: Latest News 