Youtube and free music promotion

Last summer, an acoustic cover of Rihanna's "Umbrella" catapulted up YouTube's video rankings. Today this video stands at over 4.5 million views. The artist who covered the song was Marie Digby. She was a gorgeous, multiracial musician who apparently had no record label. On the strength of her YouTube video, she appeared on the late night talk show Last Call With Carson Daly.



Shortly after the video achieved mass popularity, major label Hollywood Records announced that it had signed Digby onto their label.

Was this the story of another Terra Naomi, who received a record label contract on the strength of her homemade videos of her songs?

Unfortunately it wasn't. The Wall Street Journal revealed that Digby had already been signed to Hollywood Records 18 months before the video appeared on YouTube. The idea of Digby covering songs by famous artists was the brainchild of Hollywood Records senior vice president Ken Bunt.

Hollywood Records led the Internet to believe that Digby was just another amateur waiting for her big break. But actually, the entire "Umbrella" scheme was a marketing campaign by Hollywood Records.

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Hollywood Records even gave Digby the computer she uses to record her videos.

In an age where people no longer pay attention to commercials of new releases, how is the Internet transforming the publicity these usually unsigned artists receive? Will YouTube one day no longer be a viable means of publicity for these artists? Is it ethical to misrepresent yourself as an amateur when you actually have a major label?