Week magazine

The follow up singles Breath and Smack my Bitch up caused even more controversy than the first release, with as much media retaliation. This did nothing but promote the band to their target audience as rebels In the 18 months prior to the release of Fat of the Land, Prodigy toured the UK and played at most of the major festivals, including their first appearance on the main stage at Glastonbury. At these shows they previewed tracks from the forthcoming release, making Fat of the land a studio version of their live set, rather than the other way round. When the album came out, the fans already knew the songs, so the groundwork was already done.

Another major factor in the sales of the Album is the wait for it to be released. It wasn’t till almost a year after Firestarter was released that the album became available. Richard Russel, Managing Director of XL-Recordings says, ” The wait has definitely worked in our favour, it would have been different if the band had been out of the public eye, like the Stereo MC’s, for example. But they have been putting singles out all over the world. Now everyone is desperate to get their hands on the album.”

The band logo has remained constant since the first release, Experience. It consists of an ant within a circle with Prodigy written in bold beside it (appendices iii.) This is a known technique for promotion, giving a clear message to the fans buying a record that they are purchasing the band they saw at the gig, or saw on TV with their logo. Overall, the band present commercial music with an underground feel and disobedience reminiscent of the sex pistols. Playing by their own rules has benefited the band simply because a generation found something to relate to. Finally there is no doubt the Prodigy’s unique sound sells itself, and has influenced many other acts.

Success/Failure statement. It is hard to find people in the UK who have not heard of the Prodigy. The fat of the land was released in July 1997 and went straight to no1, where it remained for six weeks (source: Music Week Magazine). Sales over that time reached 201, 000 (source: www. eonline. com) Singles Firestarter and Breath made it to no. one in the singles charts. Since then they have released another single, Baby’s got a Temper. This was not as successful, Possibly because the prodigy strayed too far from the sound of Jilted Generation. However Fat of the Land has become a classic and can be heard worldwide. In America the band signed to Madonna’s label, Maverick and have had similar success over there

Bibliography

Progidgy, Martin James, Sanctuary Publishing, 2002-11-11 David Hesmondhalyth, Popular Music, Cambridge University Press, 1998 BPI Statistical Handbook 1995 Music Week, Various, Jan 1997-Dec1997 The Prodigy Official Site, www. theprodigy. com The Prodigy org, www. theprodigy. org