As more and more people wonder how Sandi Thom was able to stream a webcast of her performances in her basement to as many as 70,000 people (ie. who paid for the $$$$ bandwidth), chartreuse (BETA) examined the singer’s rise to fame, which seems to have been spurred by press releases and media buzz related to her internet claims, not any organic buzz. They write, “Her P.R Firm is Quite Great who specialize in innovative PR techniques – such as ‘ghost marketing’ (leaving CDs lying around in coffee shops, etc. for people to pick up, by seeming accident, and thus be introduced to artists.)” And a Velvet Rope poster found that Thom signed a contract with Windswept/Pacific Music Publishing… last year. More details at chartreuse, Daily Kos, hypebot, and SpinMe.com.

CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips spoke with Sandi Thom about her big break in music thanks to web cam performances on the internet. “We just put it in the basement and started putting out the gigs, and I think the appeal for people was just the simplicity of it all,” Thom said. Read more.

Contributed Anonymously:

Last week Sandi Thom from the UK signed a deal with RCA/Sony BMG after they saw her performing a web cam. Today an 11 year old boy from Indiana found out that his webcam performance of 'Breaking Free' from the double-platinum High School Musical soundtrack had been viewed by the lead singer of the song, Drew Seeley. Tommy2.Net has more details about the boy and a short quote by Drew.

Sandi Thom spoke with The Sun after landing a record deal from RCA/SonyBMG after her Twenty One Nights From Tooting webcam tour from the basement of her London flat. "I studied at Paul [McCartney's] Liverpool Institute Of Performing Arts," the singer said. "I asked for his advice and he told me to keep it simple. You can't get more simple than performing in your own basement. What has happened is amazing. I only went on the internet because I was too skint to put on a proper tour." Though with a reported 70,000 streaming her performance, skeptics may wonder how she footed the bandwidth bill. Read more.