Viral On.

Posted on by
Reply

After being exposed to a million and one different versions of the latest internet video craze over the past week, “The Harlem Shake”, I have decided that now would probably be a good time to blog about my thoughts on viral videos and their (questionable) appeal. If I were to write some sort of analysis on viral videos, the question I would probably seek to find the answer to would be “why?” – more specifically, what is it that attracts people to watch these videos and then share them with their friends? But since this is a blog post and not a term paper, we can spare the dozens of scholarly references as I attempt to articulate my own quick opinionated answer.

I can’t even recall the first viral video I saw or heard about, but it had to be somewhere around the time Youtube was just becoming a thing; think 2006 or 2007. However, I can recall a few that’ve spurred in the last few years and for whatever reason they all seem to garner enough interesting and emotion for people to want to share them with their friends, family, coworkers, etc. Perhaps it’s a need to collectively enjoy something in unison. Whatever the case, aside from the reason viral videos go viral, the impact of such videos is also noteworthy, particularly in the music industry.

The power that social media platforms like Youtube have had in generating buzz for artists and bands has become increasingly evident in the past five or so years. Besides the fact that music videos are almost exclusively premiered on the internet nowadays, omitting any need for channels like MTV or VH1 as main sources of music video promotion (R.I.P TRL), the fusion of viral videos and music have also sprung about, making room for songs like Psy’s “Gangnam Style” and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” to become internet sensations before even making proper rounds on the radio. In fact, if I recall correctly, it was actually Justin Bieber who gave “Call Me Maybe” momentum after he tweeted about the song and then made some sort of cutesy lipsync video to it and then everyone proceeded to make their own versions. It seems a similar thing has happened with the latest craze “Harlem Shake”, and consequently the song sits at #2 on the Itunes Top 10 Songs chart as I type this. Or consider Greyson Chance, who got a record deal and a guest appearance on Ellen after uploading a video of him singing a Lady Gaga song at his middle school talent show. That is a pretty awesome success story if you ask me.

Whatever the content or reason, viral videos and their impact are just an example of the enormous power of social media, especially now in its fresh and young phase. It’s interesting to think about how these instances will be viewed in 10 or 20 years, and if social media will remain a major player in popular culture or if something else will come along by then and replace it. For now, only time will tell. But at least we’ll probably produce enough viral videos to preoccupy us until then.

Wanna Share Your Music?

Posted on by
Reply

Ever since I was about 13, I’ve loved making music – writing, guitar, piano. Throughout high school I was always playing with other like-minded kids, but never got around to actually forming or playing in a legitimate band. But this past summer, after having had a semester long break from school, I finally got bored and inspired enough to make it a mission to find other musicians to jam and hopefully start up a band. My hunt was successful, and we did create (somewhat) of a band. We even played a few shows which was a pretty fun experience and, not gonna lie, I felt super cool. Unfortunately, my coolness factor went back down when I had to leave my rock star lifestyle behind for school at the end of the summer. However, I did walk away with an awesome social media discovery.

During the course of playing with the band, I discovered the awesomeness that is SoundCloud. Granted, I had heard of the site before, but I was never fully aware of what it actually was or curious enough to find out. I can now say I wish that wasn’t the case. The site, which started up in 2009, is basically a music-sharing hub, where all types of musicians, amateurs and professionals (even Rihanna has one, which is cool) alike can record sounds and music, anything from samples of a few measures to full, finished songs, and upload them onto the site and share them through Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, or even embed them on a website or widget them onto a blog. What’s even cooler, there’s an option to make your music downloadable so anyone who likes your stuff enough to play it on their iPod can do just that. There’s also a comment feature where registered users can leave comments to specific sections of your audio and give feedback and (hopefully) praise.

Here’s a SoundCloud widget of a song by the band Icona Pop, who are users of the site:

Needless to say, the site comes in handy for artists and musicians who rely solely on social media to help get the word out about their music and garner up a fan base. But, as I experienced, it’s also helpful for artists who want feedback and critique on their music, and even collaborate virtually with other musicians. The band and I would individually upload our own ideas onto SoundCloud, send them to each other, and then when we had practice we’d play each other’s stuff. It was a pretty cool system and it worked out insanely well. We were able to learn each other’s parts and essentially practice virtually.

So whether you’re an aspiring musician looking for fans and label attention or you just like to record yourself making weird noises and want to share them with your friends, you should check it out. The site probably had a ton more features than I’m aware of and have listed on here, so it’s worth exploring yourself!

A Second Coming?: The Relaunch of Myspace

Posted on by
Reply

Unless you were too young, too old, or just simply hibernating under a rock between 2003 and 2009, you probably remember a little online social hub called MySpace. As a young person who used the site throughout middle school and into a good portion of high school, the memories of top friends, bulletin posts, and the infamous “Online Now!” symbol are none too distant. Whether you actually had an active account or not, the knowledge that the former No. 1 social networking site was all the rage proved pretty inescapable.

Not only was MySpace the go-to spot for connecting with friends, but the site is credited with having had a significant impact on the music industry, revolutionizing the way artists self-promote and self-distribute their music. Unsigned bands and artists could sign up for free, upload their music and have it stream on their pages and connect with listeners, building up fan bases and drawing interest from potential labels. Such phenomena helped launch the careers of many popular artists today – think Adele, Lily Allen, Sean Kingston, Colbie Callait. At the time it was the only site that conveniently allowed users to discover and share new music, something now easier done through sites like Pandora and Spotify.

Last month, an effort to compete with such platforms became evident when MySpace unveiled their highly anticipated redesign. Under the creative control of current owner singer/actor Justin Timberlake, the site has reemerged as a sleek, minimalistic, music based platform, as seen in this teaser video released last September:

As stated before, the new MySpace is music based, with a goal of merging the online social experience with the excitement of discovering new music and sharing it with your friends. Aside from the new design and simplistic features, there is nothing particularly revolutionary about it, leaving the conclusion that it’s meant to serve as an addition to what’s already out there. Drawing from that, it’s clear that MySpace will most likely never return to its glory days. As this article points out, it seems the power of the site in respect to music industry influence is long gone, existing now as only another one of a zillion places on the web where artists and bands can promote, distribute, and connect. MySpace may have started it all, but time has made way for other developments to better what the site already had.