LONDON, England - 24-year-old Sandi Thom, who managed to draw an audience of more 100,000 people to web casts performed in her living room has been snapped up by RCA/Sony BMG record label.
Ms Thom, who had an audience of just 70 on her first performance, increased it to 70,000 as she embarked on a 21-day "world tour" from her basement in Tooting in southwest London. Commenting on signing her, RCA managing director Craig Logan said, "I'm thrilled that Sandi is the first signing to the RCA Label Group. She is a very talented artist with an already unique story. We're very excited that we're now going to be a part of that story as she develops into a major artist."
The record label heard of Sandi Thom as the news of her performances spread on the Internet. Thom said she got the idea of web casting her gigs after the car that she used to tour broke down often and left her unable to reach her venues on time. After her 21-day performances, Thom was approached by many record labels, but chose to go with RCA/Sony BMG. "I don't think I have quite realized it just yet," Thom said after the agreement, which was telecast live on the Internet.
"It has obviously changed for the better. I have managed to get massive amounts of exposure through using the Internet and that is something that people have struggled to do for years." Her debut album Smile, It Confuses People, will be released on June 5. "It's been a whirlwind,' Sandi said. "We never realized we'd be in this position just a few weeks after deciding to stick a webcam in the basement. We were basically too poor to tour."
