Arcade Fire provides first glimpse of new album on Twitter

Friday, 19 July 2013

Letting your fans know on Twitter that you have a new album coming is one thing. Spending hours talking directly to them as Jay Z did recently is another. Giving one follower an exclusive look at your new album cover and the date it drops? Unheard of. But that’s exactly what Arcade Fire (@arcadefire) did.

Arcade Fire, in an unprecedented move, released news about its new album to one fan on Twitter.

 When @fifferwright tweeted to one of his favorite bands, he might not have expected a reply. What he got was much more:

 By replying directly to him, Arcade Fire bypassed the traditional method of utilizing the music press to get the word out. But it didn’t stop the press from picking up the story, which was replayed in the LA Times, USA Today and many other media outlets.

The end result? Arcade Fire’s album details were shared widely on Twitter and @fifferwright got his 15 minutes of fame (and dozens of new followers):

Do you know of any more innovative uses of Twitter in music? Mail us at mediablog@twitter.com