Kaiser Chiefs New Social Media DIY Album

British rockers Kaiser Chiefs have always been at the forefront of rocking new tunes, but the release of the band's latest album, The Future Is Medieval, has seen them pioneering a new business model rooted firmly in social media…

For years the music industry has been trying to find a novel way to monetise the power of social media, and it seems the Chiefs may have stumbled onto a winning formula. Their latest album is on sale through the band's website for £7,50 as a download. Nothing too ground-breaking there… but here's where they've got clever. First of all, they have allowed their fans to custom-make their own album by selecting 10 of the 20 songs available, and also by allowing them to design their own album cover artwork.

Further to that - and this is where they are leveraging social media - the band will pay their fans £1 for every album they sell to one of their friends, thus incentivising their fans to become their sales force. It's a novel approach, and a step in an interesting direction. It'll be interesting to see how the concept affects sales and the music industry as a whole. Whatever your take, the Future is far from Medieval…