What the Major Labels Don't Want to Hear: 2,000,000 Celtic MP3s Downloaded Free

Austin's Original Celtic Renaissance, the Brobdingnagian Bards Become 15th Most-Popular Band on the World's Largest Free Music Portal

Austin, TX--The two millionth MP3 was downloaded from Austin's Brobdingnagian Bards' MP3.com website on Thursday, July 25th. This landmark achievement makes them one of the Top 15 bands out of over 200,000 one the world's largest free music portal. It also shows that the Celtic musical tradition of The Chieftains, Clannad, Enya, The Corrs, and countless traditional and not-so-traditional bands is no passing fad. It is the wave of the future.

While record labels are struggling to stay afloat while fighting the growing number of illegal downloads, the Brobdingnagian Bards adopted a more innovative method by giving away over two million downloads advertising "Download One Free Celtic CD" from their website. While this may seem outlandish considering sluggish record sales, The Bards see it as a means to an end.

"I love giving away music," begins Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards. "Not only is it rewarding to hear the response of 1000s of people every month, it also sells CDs. Sure we only sell maybe sixty CDs a month online, but that's a hell of a lot more than most bands! If we didn't would we still sell as many? Maybe, but at least were building a solid fan base in the process."

The Brobdingnagian Bards biggest success stems from one of their first uploads to MP3.com, a Celtic instrumental piece that they entitled "Tolkien (The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings)". It was first released on their second album "Gullible's Travels". It has spent months as the number one Celtic song on MP3.com and even climbed in and out of the Celtic Top 40. The song is so successful that the Brobdingnagian Bards plan to re-release it on their sixth album, a tribute CD to JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" which is due out in September.

John Wilmott, author of Celtic Ways, a webzine that features free Celtic music, see the Brobdingnagian Bards success to be just the beginning, "What is now called 'Celtic Music' today satisfies the fantasies of many people. To do this it has to be more than just singing the songs of old. The Bards perform traditional songs alongside contemporary, original musical arrangements that appeal to the pop culture. That is what's needed for Celtic Music to break into the popular genre as it has with The Corrs, Enya, Seven Nations, and Great Big Sea."

To help satisfy the growing demand for Celtic music, Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards began publishing, "Celtic MP3s.com: Song of the Week".

"I see it as a way to introduce people to other great Celtic bands," says Gunn. "My list sorta sprang up from zilch to 3000 subscribers over night. People are looking for music from bands like Enya, The Corrs, Lunasa, Clandestine, Black 47, The Rogues, and Clannad, who incidentally, are working on the music for the "Return of the King" the final installment of the "Lord of the Rings. People are flocking to the site as they discover this great music genre."

See more Celtic music on August 3rd when the Brobdingnagian Bards perform as musical MCs for "Mother Egan's Summer Ceili" with Two O'Clock Courage and Cluan for an event sponsored by Gaelic League of Austin, Mother Egan's Pub, Austin Celtic Association, and The Celtic Cultural Center of Texas. Find out more about this show at http://www.AustinCelts.org/ .

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For interviews email marc @ thebards.net or call 512.470.4866
For more information, articles and downloadable color and black & white photos, www.bardbooking.com or listen to Brobdingnagian Bards Lord of the Rings music.

Find out more about John Wilmott of Celtic Ways at http://www.CelticWays.com/ .

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