British rock band Koopa entered this week’s UK top 40 at number 37 with their single, “Blag, Steal & Borrow.” It’s a groundbreaking debut on the charts because Koopa has no CD and is not signed by a label. New rules allow a song to make the charts based on the number sold through approved download services even if there is no CD or other physical format, which necessarily requires a record deal with a label. The downloads are the result of seven years of hard work at live performances, notably on the club circuit.

The attention could lead a label to approach the Colchester-based band about a deal, but the prospect doesn’t excite singer/bass player Joe Murphy as much as it might have in earlier days. Quoted by the BBC, Murphy said…

If someone comes along and gives us an offer, we’ll talk to them. But it depends whether we need it. If we can get enough exposure and get in the top 40 by the end of the week, do we necessarily need a large label? Probably nowadays, no you don’t. We’ll get the exposure ourselves just from being in the charts.

If the record labels aren’t quaking in their boots, they’re in a state of complete denial. Other media channels also should take note. “Embrace and integrate” should be the mantra, just as the American television networks CBS and NBC are doing. Perhaps they’ve learned from the disaster the music industry has brought upon itself. CBS—which has the rights to Star Trek‘s television presence—is building the Starship Enterprise in Second Life with the intention of allowing residents to create their own fan-based episodes using avatars. CBS President/CEO Les Moonves told a Consumer Electronics Show audience:

It’s a great way to give back to the fans who make the show as successful as it is. Who knows, maybe some day we can even broadcast one of their virtual works on one of our television networks.

You can hear Second Life honcho Philip Rosedale and Moonves talk about the initiative—and see some clips—in this YouTube offering. Meanwhile, NBC is using Second Life to promote an upcoming film, “Smokin’ Aces,” with an in-world game. Beginning Wednesday, you can visit the Nomad Hotel in SL to get instructions, then try to kill Buddy “Aces” Israel (and wipe out your competition). If it sounds violent, you haven’t seen the promos for the movie about the attempts by multiple hitmen to take out one target.

In both instances, marketing is driven by experience using alternative channels that are attracting increasingly large audiences. Concurrently, some record label that could have made a bundle on Koopa—had they adjusted their model to account for the new realities—won’t make a dime while Koopa gets rich without them.

Hat tips to Chris Anderson and Linda Zimmer.