It's really refreshing to see something reach this kind of blockbuster status and not be from America, or Western Europe.
Not because I'm anti-American, but because this is the kind of experience non-Westerners must get everytime a Lady GaGa/Baywatch/Hollywood Movie dominates their cultural airwaves...whether or not they actually like it, they only still have a vague understanding of what the thing means, and its origins and backstory. It's nice being on the outside looking in...which is something you'd expect to happen more often given the demographic of the world.
It's refreshing. I'm not really sure if it's just a blip though. It seems like every few years there is this "Not US/West European" phenom that rises fast and disappears. Macarena anyone? 99 Red Balloons? There must be a couple more I'm missing?
EDIT: 99 Red Balloons is in fact Western Europe but was in German for more than a year (and widely successful) before being released in English. An oddity. Should have said "Non English" as more accurate than just Western Europe.
I don't think this demerits your comment, but it should be known that Psy went to school at Boston University and Berklee College of Music (both in Boston, USA).
People everywhere grow up with western pop culture, so it's not strange and foreign the way PSY is to Americans. It can get a little strange though, when pop culture and fashion travels across the world but the social context behind it is lost on the way.
Do you guys have any favourite spin offs of Gagnam Style ?
The structure is always the same like taking some memorable
moments of the video eg at the start the plane or the guy shaking his pelvis in the lift , then take some other stereotype or celebrities in it. So I actually wonder how many more views came from the parodies.
Last similar wave I remember was the "shit says " series maybe 6 months ago that had a similar formula.
The very best remix of Gangnam Style was done Steve Streza. It seems
the video was yanked from youtube due to copyright issues, but the
audio files are still available on his site.
This is what is so great about remixing other people's ideas, and why the current copyright laws get it so wrong. Allowing this to happen means it is only going to benefit the original creator, as there will be a whole culture formed around it, which will make it ever more popular.
This is also why George Lucas got it so wrong in the past, when he sued his fans for expanding on his ideas. If anything the remixing Star Wars culture formed despite him, not because of him.
My 66yo father, who once asked incredulously, "who is this 'Lady Goo Goo'?" recently told me how he got the airline to bump him to 1st class for free. He then wryly remarked "Oppa Gangnam style".
That, right there, is what I call global penetration.
Not to belittle your point, as it is a rather amusing anecdote, but Lady Gaga came to prominence in 2008 almost 4 years ago. In 2008, my older relatives from the rural midwest where still trying to figure out e-mail. Now, they all have facebook accounts.
Except here in Germany, where the local fuckwads at the GEMA [1] made Youtube block the video because "they hadn't granted the necessary rights". For a fucking copyright-waived video. Argh.
And people actually wonder why more and more (German) people have absolutely no qualms about piracy. I'm actually not sure whether or not I should thank the GEMA for that.
Funny how proportions are lost. They're assuming the billion views yet they're still 200 million views away. There was a time not so long ago, when Avril Lavigne and the Evolution of Dance battled themselves out fiercely to reach 200 million views. Clickbots, fanclubs and all.
What does 1Bn views equate to in real money if you have the normal amount of youtube advertising? I know this may vary depending on the audience but I'd love a ballpark if someone has any idea. I was under the impression 1m views = ~$3300 but I could be mistaken.
$1 CPM is what pretty much everyone can get, $3CPM and beyond are possible but generally reserved for people that are members of well managed Youtube networks. Gangnam style is probably a unique case in that it's a single video that advertisers will want to associate with, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's making $5 CPM ($5k/1m views) -- $5CPM average, probably peaking at 10 - 15.
The "World's Most Watched Video" may be an exaggeration -- am I to believe that Gangnam Style has been watched more times than the Zapruder film or the moon landing footage?
The headline isn't the article. The former is meant to summarize the article and convince you to read further. It does that perfectly. The latter makes it clear that the headline refers to views on YouTube.
Is it really hard to believe? I personally have seen Gangnam Style more often than the zapruder shots or the moon landing. Heck, i've seen the clip "Aaliyah - are you that somebody" more often. This is not about the number of unique viewers but rather total views. Gangnam Style is easily the most viewed videoclip ever. Overall i think it can only be outclassed by long running commercials and tv show intro's.
It reached 1 Billion views without any support from the 4th largest market for music[1].
Germany has a market share of 7–8% for albums and 9–12% for singles. In 2005 market value was 887.7 million USD. And yet no one in Germany has ever watched Gangnam Style on Youtube.
All this and it's not counting places like China which has it's own youtube like service. And my understanding is that countries like Germany, with overly aggressive IP laws blocks the music from the video so it doesn't get nearly as many views. (it'd be great if somebody could confirm)
[+] [-] danso|13 years ago|reply
Not because I'm anti-American, but because this is the kind of experience non-Westerners must get everytime a Lady GaGa/Baywatch/Hollywood Movie dominates their cultural airwaves...whether or not they actually like it, they only still have a vague understanding of what the thing means, and its origins and backstory. It's nice being on the outside looking in...which is something you'd expect to happen more often given the demographic of the world.
[+] [-] jusben1369|13 years ago|reply
EDIT: 99 Red Balloons is in fact Western Europe but was in German for more than a year (and widely successful) before being released in English. An oddity. Should have said "Non English" as more accurate than just Western Europe.
[+] [-] rcavezza|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TorKlingberg|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] amcaskill|13 years ago|reply
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/10/12/162740623/gangnam-...
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] mkr-hn|13 years ago|reply
There's a lot embedded in Gangnam Style.
[+] [-] missy|13 years ago|reply
The structure is always the same like taking some memorable moments of the video eg at the start the plane or the guy shaking his pelvis in the lift , then take some other stereotype or celebrities in it. So I actually wonder how many more views came from the parodies.
Last similar wave I remember was the "shit says " series maybe 6 months ago that had a similar formula.
here some examples:
Mitt Romney style
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTs_TKk5S2M http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6830834/mitt-romney-style-...
Eastern Europe Style http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY1MVQeeStY&list=UUFjCy-D...
Eton Style http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaJl_qOVcf0
[+] [-] rayhaan|13 years ago|reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJtHNEDnrnY
[+] [-] Surio|13 years ago|reply
London Mayor Boris Johnson has gangnam'd too: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/video/2012/oct/09/boris-j...
Here's a another one: http://opalang.org/gangnam.style.html
EDIT: Just curious, really, why the downvotes?
[+] [-] jcr|13 years ago|reply
http://stevestreza.com/2012/09/08/so-i-made-a-mashup
Although the mixed audio alone is great, the video mixing was also fantastic. The whole thing was discussed here on HN:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4493280
[+] [-] anonymoushn|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrud|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nicholassmith|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Surio|13 years ago|reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDficEfonAE
[+] [-] trendspotter|13 years ago|reply
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4825846
[+] [-] Groxx|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mtgx|13 years ago|reply
This is also why George Lucas got it so wrong in the past, when he sued his fans for expanding on his ideas. If anything the remixing Star Wars culture formed despite him, not because of him.
[+] [-] noonespecial|13 years ago|reply
That, right there, is what I call global penetration.
[+] [-] pyoung|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] _debug_|13 years ago|reply
Not sure what you mean? Can you please elaborate? How is the Gangnam Style video related to your father getting to fly 1st class?
[+] [-] slowpoke|13 years ago|reply
And people actually wonder why more and more (German) people have absolutely no qualms about piracy. I'm actually not sure whether or not I should thank the GEMA for that.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesellschaft_f%C3%BCr_musikali...
[+] [-] TazeTSchnitzel|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cyphersanctus|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Herring|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skizm|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] citricsquid|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] trendspotter|13 years ago|reply
"Gangnam Style Link Spurs DI Surge" http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-17/-gangnam-style-link...
"How Much Did It Cost YouTube To Stream Gangnam Style?" http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2012/10/29/how-much-did-it...
Psy only made $32,000 USD from domestic online sales of “Gangnam Style”? http://www.allkpop.com/2012/10/psy-only-made-32000-usd-from-...
[+] [-] AdamGibbins|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cfinke|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mkr-hn|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ErikHuisman|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] trendspotter|13 years ago|reply
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=happatai+-+yatta...
[+] [-] shardling|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TazeTSchnitzel|13 years ago|reply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yatta_(song)
[+] [-] trendspotter|13 years ago|reply
with a bear http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B1J73Ag3hU
Nelly Furtado http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehs-vZ1uF-k
Metal/rock cover http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czJAGGoaYtw
[+] [-] weinzierl|13 years ago|reply
Germany has a market share of 7–8% for albums and 9–12% for singles. In 2005 market value was 887.7 million USD. And yet no one in Germany has ever watched Gangnam Style on Youtube.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_industry
[+] [-] dbaupp|13 years ago|reply
Are you missing "million" or "billion"?
[+] [-] Surio|13 years ago|reply
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4826022
[+] [-] lifeformed|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bane|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Surio|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] santocki|13 years ago|reply
http://GangnamStyleNews.com
[+] [-] nyg_hakeem|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SpikeDad|13 years ago|reply