Ugly Rumours are going to be the first unsigned act ever to make it into the top twenty using 7 Digital's previously reported indiestore download service. You know who Ugly Rumours are, because we did a CMU-Tube Of The Day about it - they're a parody of Tony Blair's university band of the same name, with a TB lookey-likey as lead singer, and they've done a cover of 'War (What Is It Good For?)' and it's already sold enough downloads through its indiestore to be guaranteed a chart position.
The track was recorded, of course, in association with the Stop The War Coalition and has been released to highlight ongoing opposition to the conflict in Iraq. At the rally following the anti-war demo in London last week, the band played, and the crowd were encouraged to pre-order the single by texting 'peace1' to 78789. When the single went on sale on Monday, thousands of downloads had already been sold. As previously reported, indiestore allows artists to sell their tracks via phone as well as through the web. The song costs £1.50 and you can get it from www.indiestore.com/uglyrumours. Profits go to Stop The War.
Ben Drury, MD of 7digital.com says: "Unsigned bands are incredibly savvy, they realise that by mobilising their online fan base they can have a crack at the charts. Being able to sell and offer pre-sales by SMS is a really powerful tool, allowing you to store up sales for a certain release date - just like a signed act - and also reach people that don't have a credit card. indiestore is the only service offering this so far."