- Who
- The Future Sound of London
- What
- first first
- Where
- United States ()
- When
On 22 June 1994, electronic duo The Future Sound of London (UK), aka Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans, premiered their single "Lifeforms" on the New York-based internet bulletin board SonicNet. Featuring vocals by the Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser, the free, promotional track was an edited version of the song that went on to peak at No.14 on the UK's Official Singles Chart.
According to a Rolling Stone article dated 25 August 1994, "Lifeforms" was distributed on SonicNet a week before Geffen Records offered up Aerosmith's (USA) "Head First" on the CompuServe network (on 27 June 1994).
In a Billboard magazine report from 16 July 1994, it was stated that the digitised file of the "slightly edited" version of "Lifeforms" that premiered on SonicNet took "nine-and-a-half minutes to download on to a user's home PC". The song was released on the label Astralwerks, an imprint of Caroline Records.
SonicNet was a subscription service costing $10 (£6.36 as of 22 June 1994) a month for "unlimited access and a free internet address". The "multifunction system geared to serve the needs of both the business and consumer ends of the indie music spectrum" opened to the public in June 1994 and initially featured music from labels such as Matador (Pavement/Liz Phair) in addition to Caroline Records.
