If I Had a Million Web Fans

It's interesting to see how the Barenaked Ladies are embracing all the hot web trends at once. If you go to their MySpace page you can download a version of “Wind It Up” from their upcoming album Barenaked Ladies Are Me, where they are asking aspiring air guitarists to film their most inspired air licks to accompany the song. Once their fingers have stopped bleeding they can upload it to YouTube where the band will pick some of the performances for the song's video. It’s a cool idea.

They are also allowing fans to remix another song, “Easy,” and are providing all the tracks for those with dreams of producing or DJing. They will then pick the best versions and release an EP of the results. There are plans to release the whole album on USB flash memory stick. I’m quite impressed. I expect other bands are embracing the web as wholeheartedly, but this is the first I’ve heard of it.

The band has always embraced a DIY process, making a best seller out of a self-made cassette of their music in the early ‘90s. Nice to see that pioneering spirit remains after all these years.