Ms. Digby’s simple, homemade music videos of her performing popular songs have been viewed more than 2.3 million times on YouTube. Her acoustic-guitar rendition of the R&B hit “Umbrella” has been featured on MTV’s program “The Hills” and is played regularly on radio stations in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Portland, Ore. Capping the frenzy, a press release last week from Walt Disney Co.’s Hollywood Records label declared: “Breakthrough YouTube Phenomenon Marié Digby Signs With Hollywood Records.”
What the release failed to mention is that Hollywood Records signed Ms. Digby in 2005, 18 months before she became a YouTube phenomenon. Hollywood Records helped devise her Internet strategy, consulted with her on the type of songs she chose to post, and distributed a high-quality studio recording of “Umbrella” to iTunes and radio stations.
WSJ’s Peter Lattman explains how musician Marié Digby represents traditional media conglomerates’ attempts at generating word-of-mouth buzz via the Internet.
Ms. Digby’s MySpace and YouTube pages don’t mention Hollywood Records. Ms. Digby certainly isn’t the first professional to feign amateur status on YouTube. The YouTube home page for singer Marie Digby.
Ms. Digby says she chose the songs. Hollywood Records bought the Apple Inc. laptop computer and software that Ms. Digby — who lives with her parents in Los Angeles’s upscale Brentwood neighborhood — used to post her YouTube videos. In late 2005, Ron Moss, Rondor’s executive vice president, connected Ms. Digby to a Hollywood Records executive named Allison Hamamura, who was immediately taken with the singer. Before the year was out, Hollywood Records had signed Ms. Digby. “I was coming out of nowhere,” Ms. Digby says. A YouTube Star’s Secret
Marié Digby’s homemade YouTube music videos, in which she covers popular songs and sings her own compositions, helped launch her career. But the 24-year-old singer and guitarist had help from a record label. “Umbrella” by Rihanna
As Ms. Digby’s star rose, other media outlets played along. The station’s programming executives now acknowledge they had booked Ms. Digby’s appearance through Hollywood Records, and were soon collaborating with the label to sell “Umbrella” as a single on iTunes.
At the show’s taping, Ms. Digby gave a backstage interview that was posted online by NBC. Even with the club’s handful of tables reserved for Hollywood Records executives and their guests, Ms. Digby continued to play the ingénue.
Question 1. Do you think more unknown talent will be found on You Tube?
