Arctic Monkeys billed as first superstars of iPod era

They hold the British record for fastest-selling debut album, have been labelled the next Oasis and are hailed as the first superstars of the iPod age.

Yet the real proving ground for the Arctic Monkeys, the young quartet who have made it big through the marketing of their music over the internet, is the stage.

Judging by the reaction at the start of their sell-out tour, the rockers who sing about the seedy side of life are living up to the hype.

The combination of cheeky lyrics about prostitution, drunkenness and run-ins with the police, all delivered with a distinctive Sheffield twang, and the role web-savvy fans played in promoting the band, sets the Arctic Monkeys apart.

The publicity-shy Monkeys became famous almost by accident.

The four musicians, aged 19 and 20, handed out free CDs of their music at early gigs in 2004, which were in turn downloaded on to the internet by fans and sent out across the cybersphere.

They were as surprised as anyone when, at concerts at that time, crowds began singing back the words as they performed.

Their success suggests that the internet is changing not only the way the world listens to music, via iPods and other download devices, but also the way bands break into the mainstream and market themselves.

"I think the bands are probably in a stronger position, as they are not so desperate for the record company to magic up the audience," said Laurence Bell, head of Domino Records which signed the Arctic Monkeys.

"It's about so much more than technology or whatever people think it was," said lead singer Alex Turner, emphasising the music instead.

- REUTERS