2. Introduction Humbug is the third album from the hugely successful British alternative rock band, Arctic Monkeys. It was first release in Japan on the 19th August. Followed by Australia, Brazil, Ireland and Germany, on 21 August 2009. It was then released in the UK on 24 August 2009, in the US the following dayand in Greece on 31 August. They released the CD before the bands headlining performances at Reading and Leads Festival at the end of that week. They also released the cover of the album on their website before the release, on 22 august. In both the UK and Ireland the album went straight to number one within the first week of its release reaching sales of 96,000 in the UK, outselling the rest of the top 5 combined. Worldwide the album reached sales of 191,000 copies in the first week.
3. Release The first single off the album was "Crying Lightning". It was released on 6 July, when it was played on BBC Radio 1 and was available for download from iTunes after midnight that day. The album was leaked onto the Internet shortly after its initial digital release. Arctic Monkeys and Domino Records have been working with Web Sheriff to curb the number of pirated copies. On October 4, 2009 the bands official website announced the second single from the album would be "Cornerstone". The Cornerstone B-side's were announced as being "Catapult", "Sketchead" and "Fright Lined Dining Room".
4. Response Humbug was well received by critics many saying that it was their best album yet. Billboards stated that the band, ‘justifies the hype by shifting it’s best qualities into different, equally dazzling shapes’. Although it received mostly positive reviews, some criticised the album for not containing some of the hooks and cleaver lyrics which the band became known for, with Spin calling the album ‘accomplished but not particularly infectious’
5. Press Releases Here’s some examples of press releases from the Uk and around the world: http://www.billboard.com/news/arctic-monkeys-lean-towards-darker-rock-1004005833.story#/news/arctic-monkeys-lean-towards-darker-rock-1004005833.story http://www.ravemagazine.com.au/content/view/16830/180/ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article6802232.ece http://www.dailycal.org/article/106426/arctic_monkeys_humbug http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/popwrap/arctic_monkey_perform_humbug_tracks_JH2bKNZk5cE5en25CZu6LL
7. Bands MySpace and Website http://www.myspace.com/arcticmonkeys http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/
8. Festivals To promote their album Arctic monkeys appeared as headlining acts at Reading and Leads. This gave audiences a chance to hear some of the tracks before buying the CD and allowed them to sell their music to people who maybe wouldn’t have otherwise brought it. By doing these festivals it drove their sales up and gave them a chance to see what reaction it is getting from the audiences. Which turned out to be very positive.
