Orson Across The Ocean: Reverse British Invasion

(image courtesy of MySpace.com/Orson)

"We don't have a record deal in America. We are not even signed to an indie label there. We are basically a band on My Space in America and we are fairly happy with that." -Jason Pebworth, Orson

It's hard to believe that Orson, a pop-rock band from Hollywood, California, is essentially foreign to the American audience. How does an award-winning, critically-acclaimed band like Orson not make it big in its home country? As Pebworth, lead vocalist of Orson explains, the band's stateside fans appreciate and enjoy Orson's music via websites such as MySpace. The use of the Internet and Web 2.0 has revolutionized the way bands develop their marketing tactics and the way fans connect and interact with each other (O'Donnell, 2006). Some bands, for various reasons, use Web 2.0 to superficially enter a market, especially when the focus of the marketing team is not in that region. Why do Americans choose to be Orson fans if the band itself isn't interested in promoting itself in America? Why does the band merely rely on a site like MySpace to connect to fans in the United States?

(image courtesy of Zimbio.com)

Web 2.0 and MySpace

Web 2.0 is a development that, in regards to music, allows bands and fans to upload and share material with others on webpages like MySpace (Baym, 2006). On Orson’s Myspace page, fans are able to access blog posts from the band, music videos,

videos from concert tours,

and streaming songs.

A page like this is more accessible to fans due to its free-of-charge nature; going on iTunes or buying a CD from Amazon.com doesn’t allow fans to listen to full songs without a fee. One of the concepts of Web 2.0 is its “support for niche markets and interests which aggregate globally,” (Knowles, 2007) which results in the ability of Orson fans in America to maintain their interest and continue being up-to-date with the band. Many bands and record labels have taken advantage of the Web 2.0 set-up “due to the low cost of distribution and the absence of physical overhead costs.”(Knowles, 2007) This allows for bands to dabble in riskier music markets such as the United States without suffering from potential marketing losses. Also, it provides insight into the fan base’s interests in the band; from here, music marketing teams can strategize future tactics or depend on fans to voluntarily promote musicians.

Unofficial Orson, a MySpace page created by Orson fans, grants fans access to band member biographies, pictures, and blog updates. Dubbed “UNO” by its MySpace friends, the site provides a “personal touch” to the official site and also promotes related acts such as Praying Hands, a band fronted by the lead guitarist of Orson, Kevin Roentgen. Although UNO does not have as many Friends as the official site, there is more fan-to-fan interaction visible on Unofficial Orson’s Comments board, considering that UNO is run by two devoted fans interested in “spreading the gospel that is ORSON.” However, this communication does not compare to what is seen in Orson’s Facebook group pages.

(image courtesy of unofficialorson.co.uk)

(Facebook) Fans

The Orson Facebook group has at least 590 members and grows every day. Here, fans post on the Discussion Board to find out more about each others' interests in Orson. I posted my own discussion topic and managed to get three responses. From here, I was able to gather information on the various ways people from all over were able to catch on to Orson. I found out from members through questionnaires that some found out about Orson after traveling to the UK, while others personally knew the band members before the band officially formed in Hollywood. By examining the available information from all the group members, the majority of them hail from places other than America (mainly the UK and Europe) and tend to be over the age of 25. A fan that I managed to interview, Annie, is 15 years old and discusses her take on Orson's "presence" in America. Unlike the virtual goth scene described by Hodkinson in Music Scenes, the online scene for Orson tends to be less tight-knit (Hodkinson, 2004). This is possibly due to the fact that Orson rarely performs in America (although it appears that Orson performed once in L.A. in 2006) and doesn't allow for American fans to come into contact often enough to build strong face-to-face interpersonal connections.

As an Orson fan myself, I never had the urge to seek out other people who know of the band, but felt comfortable sharing music from Orson and exposing friends to new sounds. I discovered Orson through a London radio stream on CapitalFM.com, and was instantly hooked after hearing "No Tomorrow." If I wasn't an Anglophile, I probably would have never come across Orson. Although Orson performed at the 2007 Concert for Diana, which aired on American public television, its performances were cut, most likely due to time constraints as well as relative American anonymity.

(image courtesy of unofficialorson.co.uk)

Conclusion

If the "music itself" (McClary, 1994) is examined, Orson's sound does not differ much from other bands in the same genre that have become popular in America, such as the Kaiser Chiefs and The Kooks. Their lack of popularity is more due to the band's disinterest in entering the American market at full force rather than its lack of "American-friendly sound." Being satisfied with "MySpace band" status also means that its fans in America mainly show their support of the band through online resources, such as MySpace, Facebook, and other radio-streaming websites. Although some of these sites foster communication between members who share a similar interest in Orson, many fans choose to remain independent from one another and expose their interest with those physically around them and most likely unaware of Orson. Based on the research and observations done for this ethnography, many online American fans of Orson do not seem to have an urge to communicate with those who already know and like Orson. If there is communication, it is usually brief and superficial. Perhaps this is due to Orson fans in America viewing their awareness of the band as a symbol of pride since discovering Orson was not as easy as discovering a band that is on constant play on MTV, VH1, or the radio. Because of this mentality, Orson fans may feel more of a desire to impart their knowledge and music taste to new listeners rather than others who already share the same status that they have. These are topics that allow for further research on Orson fans in America.

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Works Cited
Baym, Nancy K., 2006. The new shape of online community: The example of Swedish independent music fandom. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.
Hodkinson 2004 (in Music Scenes)
Knowles, Julian D., 2007. A Survey of Web 2.0 Music Trends and
Some Implications for Tertiary Music Communities. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.
McClary 1994
O'Donnell, Patrick W., 2006. Users and the Marketing Efficacy of mp3 Music Blogs. Florida State University.