Bob is so, so right! That's why my put my vids on YouTube - so that it counts. Take the vid of my song "The Zorpia Girl" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7N1StAKmVM
17 views in just over 2 months. Can you hear it, baby? Like a swarm of killer bees comin up from the south and enveloping your town? That's buzz you're hearing. The buzz about me. Oh yeah.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bob Lefsetz <bob@lefsetz.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 7:26 PM
Subject: Colbert's "Friday"
To: mattlove1@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/hV82Dw
If it doesn't happen on YouTube, does it count?
That's exactly the point. There's no counter on this video, therefore it's forsaking a huge percentage of its impact. Have you read any articles about Rebecca Black's video that have not included the play count (82,751,513 at this moment)?
We live in a society that embraces rankings, no entity as much as television, with its Nielsen ratings. Why have they forsaken ratings here?
One must not see virality as a profit center, but as an image enhancement feature. As big a star as Stephen Colbert is, and he's gigantic, there's a huge section of the populace that is either unaware of him or has no idea of his impact upon popular culture. By including a counter, this video could help enhance his career, as well as that of host Jimmy Fallon.
In other words, if you think the modern era is about control, you're missing the point. YOU CAN'T TRULY SUCCEED IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY UNLESS YOU'RE WILLING TO GIVE UP CONTROL!
It's not as simple as piracy, it's not as simple as profit, it's first and foremost about marketing. Your marketing is done by the audience today, via electronic technologies, and you must do everything in your power to help them spread the word. Old wavers think it's about spamming, having street teamers send e-mails and post about a project. But new wavers know it's about quality. Catch lightning in a bottle and then you have a chance of random surfers picking up on it and spreading the word because what you've done is so damn good!
OK Go is known for the most innovative music videos. People will watch the clips.
Unfortunately, they're not known for their music. One incredibly catchy tune would make people pay attention, but in order to cement a career, you need a few. In other words, OK Go has an incredible marketing campaign for a so-so product. Focus first and foremost on the product.
Colbert has an A+ product. And Fallon's musical parodies are cementing his place in the entertainment firmament. Not many people may be watching at 12:30 AM, but the virality of his Neil Young clip and this have made him important, whereas Conan has faded into the woodwork. No one passes along Conan O'Brien clips anymore. I'd be more worried about that than the short term ratings.
In other words, you have to do it for the art. Conception is primary and execution comes thereafter. What people love about this clip is they're all in it together. It's the opposite of the Top Forty ethos, evidenced in too many hip-hop songs, "I live a fantastic life and you're a loser!" If you're not including the audience, you're missing out.
In other words, you play to your fans. Not to your label or network or radio or advertisers. Those come last. Kind of like in the sixties. The music on the radio was so good, premium advertising prices could be charged. The music on the radio today is so bad there's got to be twenty odd minutes of commercials per hour to make it all work. You want to have fewer commercials at a higher price. But commenting on radio's failures is like criticizing Bon Jovi for blaming Steve Jobs for the decline of the music industry, way too easy.
Radio wouldn't play "Friday". They ceded it to the Net. Where it's the biggest story going, with even late night TV personalities weighing in. Radio is out of touch. You own something. They could have owned "Friday", taken negative phone calls whenever it aired, made a party, but research didn't tell them this so they didn't do it.
"Friday" is a cultural phenomenon. Everybody online is in on the joke. Everybody's having fun. It's a way for us all to feel together, part of a vast human continuum, when normally we're listening to different music, watching different television and videos, and reading different books. We need moments like this to zip up society, to counter the Tower of Babel the landscape has become.
If you're just saying "Friday" sucks, you're missing the point. It does suck but it teaches us that the audience is sophisticated, in on the joke, and that the music industry is selling lowest common denominator crap at its peril.
Colbert on Fallon was the biggest viral story of the weekend.
But NBC won't let anybody know, because they refuse to play on YouTube, they refuse to have a counter, they want to undermine their success. Are you doing the same thing?
--
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From: Bob Lefsetz <bob@lefsetz.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 7:26 PM
Subject: Colbert's "Friday"
To: mattlove1@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/hV82Dw
If it doesn't happen on YouTube, does it count?
That's exactly the point. There's no counter on this video, therefore it's forsaking a huge percentage of its impact. Have you read any articles about Rebecca Black's video that have not included the play count (82,751,513 at this moment)?
We live in a society that embraces rankings, no entity as much as television, with its Nielsen ratings. Why have they forsaken ratings here?
One must not see virality as a profit center, but as an image enhancement feature. As big a star as Stephen Colbert is, and he's gigantic, there's a huge section of the populace that is either unaware of him or has no idea of his impact upon popular culture. By including a counter, this video could help enhance his career, as well as that of host Jimmy Fallon.
In other words, if you think the modern era is about control, you're missing the point. YOU CAN'T TRULY SUCCEED IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY UNLESS YOU'RE WILLING TO GIVE UP CONTROL!
It's not as simple as piracy, it's not as simple as profit, it's first and foremost about marketing. Your marketing is done by the audience today, via electronic technologies, and you must do everything in your power to help them spread the word. Old wavers think it's about spamming, having street teamers send e-mails and post about a project. But new wavers know it's about quality. Catch lightning in a bottle and then you have a chance of random surfers picking up on it and spreading the word because what you've done is so damn good!
OK Go is known for the most innovative music videos. People will watch the clips.
Unfortunately, they're not known for their music. One incredibly catchy tune would make people pay attention, but in order to cement a career, you need a few. In other words, OK Go has an incredible marketing campaign for a so-so product. Focus first and foremost on the product.
Colbert has an A+ product. And Fallon's musical parodies are cementing his place in the entertainment firmament. Not many people may be watching at 12:30 AM, but the virality of his Neil Young clip and this have made him important, whereas Conan has faded into the woodwork. No one passes along Conan O'Brien clips anymore. I'd be more worried about that than the short term ratings.
In other words, you have to do it for the art. Conception is primary and execution comes thereafter. What people love about this clip is they're all in it together. It's the opposite of the Top Forty ethos, evidenced in too many hip-hop songs, "I live a fantastic life and you're a loser!" If you're not including the audience, you're missing out.
In other words, you play to your fans. Not to your label or network or radio or advertisers. Those come last. Kind of like in the sixties. The music on the radio was so good, premium advertising prices could be charged. The music on the radio today is so bad there's got to be twenty odd minutes of commercials per hour to make it all work. You want to have fewer commercials at a higher price. But commenting on radio's failures is like criticizing Bon Jovi for blaming Steve Jobs for the decline of the music industry, way too easy.
Radio wouldn't play "Friday". They ceded it to the Net. Where it's the biggest story going, with even late night TV personalities weighing in. Radio is out of touch. You own something. They could have owned "Friday", taken negative phone calls whenever it aired, made a party, but research didn't tell them this so they didn't do it.
"Friday" is a cultural phenomenon. Everybody online is in on the joke. Everybody's having fun. It's a way for us all to feel together, part of a vast human continuum, when normally we're listening to different music, watching different television and videos, and reading different books. We need moments like this to zip up society, to counter the Tower of Babel the landscape has become.
If you're just saying "Friday" sucks, you're missing the point. It does suck but it teaches us that the audience is sophisticated, in on the joke, and that the music industry is selling lowest common denominator crap at its peril.
Colbert on Fallon was the biggest viral story of the weekend.
But NBC won't let anybody know, because they refuse to play on YouTube, they refuse to have a counter, they want to undermine their success. Are you doing the same thing?
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists?p=unsubscribe&uid=88b8678a3d7c42bcbd2e501dabb13042
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I want to play in your town for you and 2 of your friends.
http://eventful.com/performers/matt-love-/P0-001-000156481-4/demands
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MARKETPLACE
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