About
Arctic Monkeys is a British indie rock band formed in 2002, consisting of members Nick O’Malley, Jamie Cook, Matt Helders, and Alex Turner.
Early Career
The Arctic Monkeys signed with their first label, Domino Records, in 2005.[1] Their first and second singles, “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” and “When The Sun Goes Down” both reached number one on the UK charts.
In 2006 they were nominated for two Grammy Awards, Best Rock Instrumental Performance and Best Alternative Music Album. [5] The band has recorded a total of five albums: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006), Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007), Humbug (2009), Suck It and See (2011), and AM (2013).
Online History
As of February 2014, Arctic Monkeys’ Facebook Page[2] has over 4.6 million likes and their Twitter account[3] has over 800,000 followers. There are also over 6,000 fan art submissions for the band on DeviantArt[8].
On Tumblr
The band is very popular on Tumblr, where in one month alone there were 57,000 posts tagged Arctic Monkeys. Popular fan runs Tumblr dedicated to the band include fuckyeaharcticmonkeys[6] and arcticmonkeysus.[7] In addition to Tumblrs focusing on the Arctic Monkeys’ music there are blogs that focus on fan fiction and fan art about the band. Tumblr blog arctickanefanfiction[9] published its first fic on April 24th, 2012. Followers may submit their own fan fiction to be posted by the blog. Arcticmonkeysart[10] was created on June 10, 2012, and focuses on fan art for the band including sketches, painting and mixed media. There are also blogs dedicated only to the band’s lead singer Alex Turner, including arcticalex[11] and alexturner.[12]
Reputation
Popular in the UK since their first single, they performed during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics. Their popularity in America was cemented when they sold out a performance in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on February 8th, 2014. Their concert fell on the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles performance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and the cover of The Beatles’ song “All My Lovin’” they performed that night was uploaded to YouTube the next day. In less than a week it gained over 100,000 views.
Following the show Nate Auerbach, Tumblr’s music evangelist, told the newspaper The Guardian[4] that “This[the Arctic Monkeys] is bigger than Lady Gaga on Tumblr right now.” Auerbach went on to explain, “The internet is the new Ed Sullivan show,” meaning he believes American audiences are discovering Arctic Monkeys on Tumblr like Americans discovered The Beatles through TV.
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]Contact Music – Arctic Monkeys
[2]Facebook – Arctic Monkeys
[3]Twitter – Arctic Monkeys
[4]The Guardian – Arctic Monkeys take America, finally: ‘It seems like some sort of victory’
[5]CBS News – 49th Annual Grammy Awards Nominee List
[6]Tumblr – fuckyeaharcticmonkeys
[7]Tumblr – arcticmonkeysus
[8]Deviant Art – arctic monkeys
[9]Tumblr – arctickanefanfiction
[10]Tumblr – arcticmonkeysart
[11]Tumblr – arcticalex
[12]Tumblr – alexturner