Music industry watchers can learn from OK
Go's experience, which shows that Web users can catapult a
band to fame, challenging the popular assumption that videos
need to cost thousands of dollars or be directed by
Hollywood filmmakers.
The industry is undergoing a slow, at times painful change
from the old way of marketing CDs and TV music videos to
going digital with music distribution and online videos,
which fans view on the Internet or via media players like
Apple Computer's popular iPod.
Sites such as YouTube, MySpace, PureVolume and others allow
aspiring artists to post videos, usually grainy lo-fi
productions, at little or no cost.
OK Go, which is signed to EMI Group's Capitol Records, says
its two most popular videos "A Million Ways" and its new hit
"Here It Goes Again"--popularly known as the "treadmill
dance"--were first uploaded to YouTube by fans who took them
from the band's own site.
"We're lucky we've had some great ideas," says Damian
Kulash, 29, lead singer of OK Go.
"The treadmill video, for instance, was my sister's
idea...and it didn't require a lot of money," he said.
"A Million Ways," made in just five takes, is not only one
of the most-viewed videos on YouTube, but also one of the
most-imitated. Hundreds of spoofs of the dance moves have
been added to the site by fans performing everywhere from
high school proms to wedding parties.
The success of OK Go and other bands on YouTube has
encouraged the start-up to open a dedicated musicians
channel for up-and-coming artists. YouTube says 120,000 acts
have signed up since its June launch.
Michael Powers, senior product manager at YouTube, says the
company took the lead from bands that were already using the
site to promote themselves.
Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Terra Naomi is the “most
subscribed” act on the new YouTube channel. Naomi's YouTube
page says she's currently unsigned, but YouTube told Reuters
she is already attracting the attention of major record
companies.
While OK Go and Terra Naomi try to engage fans using
Internet music videos, along with clips from live gigs,
blogs that invite comment, and pictures, established names
are also getting in on the act.
Music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs is a heavy user of the site,
according to YouTube. His postings include various short
behind-the-scenes clips of the hip-hop star, rather than
videos of his own music or acts on his Bad Boy label.
In many ways YouTube is riding the wave of News Corp.
social-networking site MySpace and smaller specialist band
and fans site PureVolume.
MySpace spokeswoman Dani Dudeck says music has been a key
part of its success as a networking site since its September
2003 launch. Bands, very early on, used MySpace to build a
fan base and promote gigs. MySpace now works closely with
record companies as well as the bands themselves.
YouTube told Reuters recently it hopes to one day offer
every music video ever made and said it is in talks with
record companies to make that happen.
Warner Music Group is one of the major record companies
working with YouTube, MySpace and others and says it doesn't
mind that videos from its artists, including superstars like
Madonna and R.E.M., might soon be right alongside videos of
unsigned artists and the usual comedy fare that populates
YouTube's archives.
"We see the social video environment that YouTube has
created and the category of user-generated content as being
extremely important," says Michael Nash, senior vice
president of Digital Strategy and Business Development at
Warner Music.
Nash believes that the next stage is for fans to be able to
influence or interact with mainstream music videos.
"Inviting fans into the creative process of making videos
could really deepen the relationship with the artist," says
Nash.
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