Case Study: Blackstratblues top the iTunes India Charts with their latest album
Release Date: 28th August 2017
Activity: Album release and distribution
Key Outcomes: Number 1 album on iTunes India Charts within 1 day of release
How We Did It
In August 2017, we worked with Blackstratblues, which began as the solo project of Auckland / Mumbai based guitarist, songwriter and producer Warren Mendonsa.
Blackstratblues, named after Warren’s first guitar, play primarily instrumental guitar music that incorporates a unique and stylish blend of Blues, Rock and 70’s Psychedelia, with occasional electronic influences. Rolling Stone India described Warren as “One of the best guitarists India has ever produced”. We began working with Blackstratblues to distribute their fourth album ‘The Last Analog Generation’ to our network of hundreds of stores and platforms around the world.
Releasing ‘The Last Analog Generation’
Once the album was distributed to stores and then released, it shot to No.1 on the iTunes India album chart, making it the first Indian independent release to top the charts.
This success shot Blackstratblues to stardom and led to frequent sold-out gigs across India during their album launch tour. For an unsigned Blues band to top the Indian iTunes charts in barely a day, proves how unique and appealing Blackstratblues’ music is across India. Their fanbase built up steadily and relying on Warren’s reputation as a “Wizard on six strings”. When asked about the great response to the album and how an independent band came to top the charts, Warren says he’s “pleasantly surprised at the band’s success” and how he never saw Blackstratblues as a “popular band”.
This remarkable achievement showcases how artists can still achieve great success through building their own firm fanbase and making their own promotional choices for a record, without the need of a large record label.
Currently, Blackstratblues are still promoting ‘The Last Analog Generation’ and have appeared in articles published by some of India’s most popular publications such as India Today and The Pune Mirror. Blackstratblues have also recently finished their incredibly successful album launch tour in September.
