Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not has outsold the Beatles and Oasis in this regard and is likely to push its opening week sales past 400 000 copies.

Arctic Monkeys built a huge fan base long before the big record companies had a clue about them — and did so almost without trying. The band promoted by posting songs to its website, performing live and giving away demo CDs. But it was fans who uploaded its songs to MySpace, a website for many hopeful new acts, that propelled Arctic Monkeys into worldwide popularity. 

A Global audience adored the Arctic Monkeys' frenetic melodies, which spread with firestorm veracity. They signed to independent label, Domino, while the big wigs of the British music industry were left clutching air. 

The Arctic Monkeys model, which allowed fans to freely distribute their early recordings via the Internet, will no doubt now be closely observed by the recording industry as a tool for breaking new bands. 

See: www.arcticmonkeys.com