Viral or Successful?

Here's an article from the Guardian that looks at whether YouTube darlings OK Go are a successful band, or just a viral video sensation.

Yes, you know their videos "Here It Goes Again" and the new big smash "This Too Shall Pass". But do you know their music? That is to say, other than these two songs, how well do you know OK Go's stuff? Did you know their new album, Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky, came out in January?

Did you know it's sold fewer than 25,000 copies in the U.S.?

So everyone heralds OK Go for representing the magic of YouTube and viral video. But that formula hasn't turned into financial success for them. I have a feeling there are more fans of OK Go's video than their music. So is the YouTube generation going to work to the benefit of the artists?

Or do we just want it all for free, and for the time being?

The Web Generation

First of all, if you know the person who invented exams, sit them down and have a good long chat, and ask them why. WHY?!

Now that that's out of the way... if you have a Twitter account, or maybe you've noticed on Facebook or elsewhere, that Ashton Kutcher and CNN's breaking-news feed are currently racing to see which will be the first to reach 1,000,000 followers. And it's going to go right down to the wire - follow the race here if you're so inclined. It's slow-motion suspense, amazing stuff. Besides lending strong credence to Twitter being the new fad, this race is also saying something else. Something that I think is more positive.

Here is Ashton talking earlier tonight about what he's apparently trying to say with this popularity contest. He's not the most eloquent speaker, and he still sounds like Kelso to me -

- but that's the point. He's not reading from a teleprompter - not only that, but he's right. Twitter's letting people filter their news for themselves, firsthand. You don't have to watch televised broadcasts or listen to syndicated radio or read newspapers anymore (though seeing those go under saddens me). Hell, you don't even have to follow CNN's Twitter feed if you'd rather go somewhere else. These social-networking sites are, like it or not, going to figure very heavily in the future of public discourse and information-sharing. I'm not saying you should get your news from Ashton Kutcher or, God forbid, Miley Cyrus, but you can choose. I could go into how this might be a bad thing - if you ask me to, maybe I will, O dedicated masses of readers. Just... if you're interested in the future of media and how the world is going to communicate, keep an eye on this story, it could be pretty significant.

But wait a minute, what does all this have to do with music? I am, after all, a one-trick pony here at Audiophonics, Inc. Well, in the spirit of this social-networking explosion we have on the Internet these days, I was directed to check out the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. And I was fully blown away.

Please watch this video before checking out the channel above. Yeah, I linked them in the wrong order - deal with it : )

I'm not going to say much, because I've talked and talked so much already. Just watch the videos on the channel - start at the beginning if you'd like. It's inspiring, it's impressive, it's a great song, and it's just about the best union of music and the Internet I have ever seen.

Enjoy!