You’ve probably noticed that social media is on the rise.
You may not have noticed that it’s at full-speed, and it’s taking over.
You, like many others including myself, are probably
struggling to understand it. It’s overwhelming to even consider answering the
flurry of questions that come to mind.
One particular question has been poking me in the sides more
vigorously: how are artists taking advantage of these tools and claiming their
fame so efficiently?
Here’s what made me wonder. Here’s what randomly, yet pretty significantly, inspired me.
Two weeks ago: My friend shows me a YouTube video on his
iPhone of five people that produced a song with only one guitar.
Five days ago: I’m
at a get together with a group of friends when someone plays that same video,
but this time, I sit down, listen and watch closely. I realize that the group
is amazing. They’re five unique pieces to one incredible puzzle.
I noticed that each person had a special job, whether it was
singing a verse or the chorus, using the body of the guitar to establish a
beat, or even adjusting the machine heads to tune the guitar accordingly as the
song progressed.
We ended up watching the video about four times throughout
the evening.
Today: I’m on my
way to a coffee shop to do some homework and I turn on the radio. You know
exactly what was playing.
I needed to know more. Homework could wait.
It turns out the video has almost 60 million views and it’s
only been hosted for one month. Who are these people?
It turns out that the song I heard on the radio was the original song, called Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye. The cover video, done by Walk Off The Earth caused so much hype that the original song has gotten some extra spotlight.
I’ll go as far as saying the cover is very different, and in my opinion, better because of the variety in character and overall quality of the song. I
think the YouTube community will agree, considering the original only has about
80 million views. Yes, it's a lot more, but the cover has gained 3/4 of the views in a much shorter amount of time.
With a bit more research, I’ll admit that I was disappointed
to find out that their fame has stemmed from a compilation of cover videos—I
was really hoping for more original music from the fivesome.
On the bright side, watching their videos is still
enjoyable. It’s easy to see that they love their fans and that they keep them
in consideration when they produce their music (although I can only take so
much of recycled music.)
Usually covers are hit or miss and if you produce so many,
you’re bound to have a few misses, which drives people away. In this case, the
success of Somebody That I Used To Know
has carried the audience past that.
Finally, I haven’t figured out why this WOTE group is so
famous. My only guess is that people love their character. Each individual has
a distinct style and plays an important role when they participate in the
videos. Personally, I’ve subscribed to
them and I’m going to follow their journey, but that’s only temporary. If I
don’t see any original music soon, I’ll slowly drift away and go back to my
iTunes library… I just can’t help it. They’ll become some indie band that I used to
know.
