Genesis' online success rocks the web

Old timers Genesis, along with George Michael and The Beatles, have joined Il Divo and Keane as the fastest growing bands online, new figures show.

Statistics released by web monitoring firm Hitwise reveal that visits to the Genesis website have increased by a factor of 50 in the past eight weeks. The band’s site directs fans to online ticketing firms, with 42 per cent of downstream visits going to websites in Hitwise's Ticketing category last week. More than one quarter of downstream visits from the site went directly to Ticketmaster UK.

Il Divo’s release of the album Siempre resulted in a surge in interest, both for the new album and the group's upcoming tour. Searches for 'Il Divo' increased by a factor of six in the past eight weeks, while visits to the band’s website trebled. A prominent link on the band’s homepage to pre-order the upcoming album at Amazon UK seems to be receiving significant attention, with nine per cent of the site’s downstream visits going to Amazon UK last week.

The websites for George Michael and The Beatles were also among the fastest movers over the past eight weeks. Hitwise estimates that visits to the bands' sites increased by three times and four times respectively following the release of the albums, 25 and Love. Keane’s entry into the top 10 Music and Bands category followed the announcement of an upcoming tour in February.

Visits to HMV's online music store jumped 83 per cent last week year-on-year. The site received two thirds of its visits from search engines last week. Traffic was driven by searches for popular games consoles, including the Nintendo DS, Playstation 2 and 3, the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox 360.

“HMV’s gains so far this year are part of a broader trend of high street retailers gaining online in the run-up to Christmas,” said Heather Hopkins vice president of research for Hitwise UK.

“Last year, many high street brands were playing catch-up to pure-plays. This year, we are witnessing a resurgence for high street retailers, who have adapted pricing, customer service and marketing to the reality of the way consumers now shop.”