There's a special name for music that's not produced by the big labels and that can't be easily squeezed into a genre: "indie," short for independent. Indie bands have an image of being authentic and non-commercial. Fans presume their favorite bands achieved their success through their great music and hard work alone. That's why many were shocked to find out that the hype surrounding indie bands like Geese, as well as singer-songwriters like Sombr, Jane Remover and Mk.gee turned out to have been fabricated, at least in part, by social media manipulation.
A kick-start for bands
The uproar began with an interview in Billboard magazine with Andrew Spelman and Jesse Coren — heads of American marketing company Chaotic Good Projects, which represents Geese and Sombr.
In it, the two spoke openly about how they help artists' hits go viral. "A big part of what we're doing is posting enough volume across enough accounts with enough impressions to try to simulate the idea that the song is trending or moving," Spelman explains.
After that happens, the artists' own posts also see higher engagement.
