Internet puts unknown band on fast-track to fame

30 December, 2007, 10:44

Four million and counting – that’s the number of times a music video put on the Internet by an unknown Russian band has been downloaded. It's catapulted Peter Nalitch and his friends on the fast-track to fame.

Even though their homemade music video is a little rough around the edges, it has brought Peter Nalitch and his band from obscurity to the masses in a relatively short time. Their music is now available to millions on an internet file sharing website, and many users are choosing to listen.

Peter says that the internet gives them a great opportunity, enabling people in different countries to listen to his music and watch the band’s videos.

Their popularity on the net is attracting waves of interest from record companies. International firms are competing to take Nalitch's music from the information superhighway to the high street. And all that’s because of a homemade demo the band put online.

The group are now preparing for the biggest tour of their short careers, which includes dates at some of Moscow's more prestigious nightclubs.

However, they say they always felt they were destined to break through, even without the web.

“Everyone who knew us loved our music and welcomed our decision to go a step further. We are planning to tour Europe and we also have invitations from the United States,” Konstantin Shvetsov, the band’s guitarist, said.

The dreams are now of recording studios and stadium gigs. But the seeds of success were sewn in cyberspace.

Peter Nalich has already managed to become something of an Internet phenomenon. But the big test now is whether he can turn those brief moments of fame into a career in the music industry.