Have you ever hoped to make a YouTube video and gain instant fame? You might have. Every day there are hundreds, wait, thousands of people who upload their videos with hopes of becoming famous. This phenomenon is very recent, and we have the Internet to blame for it. Back in the day when I was still in school, computers and the Internet were only ways of becoming more ‘updated’, not of getting famous.
People started taking to YouTube as a form of expression. They could be themselves there and not have to hide. They felt less exposed to criticism, or that at least they could filter the criticism they got. People started to feel liberated when they uploaded their jokes, songs, and music. This became an unofficial stage for up and coming artists to display their talent unfiltered.
Record companies and TV channels used to tell us what was OK for us to listen to. If there was an artist that deserved a break, but that these companies didn’t believe would be profitable enough for them, they would not let them make it. This was one of the simplest forms of censorship, where talent was not paramount. It was more a question of who you knew and what you were willing to do to get there.
When these artists started getting thousands, and then millions of likes, this became a sort of ‘seal of approval’ for the companies to invest in. The artist would then be contacted by the companies and would then get started with interviews and his career would kick off. This form of recruitment basically meant a risk-free option for record companies that had been experiencing losses due to piracy that had been brought about in part by the Internet itself.
Many artists got discovered and still kept their YouTube accounts as a means of connecting with their fans, letting them know when their new albums will get released, and giving them a sneak-peak at a normal day in the artist’s life. It becomes a win-win situation for both. There are times that the artist gives stuff away to their fans or even a chance to meet them in person.
The person in the following video was not really thinking about reaching stardom when he uploaded his video. He just loved dancing and wanted to share it with the world. He recorded himself dancing to a choreographed rendition of Parov Stelar’s “All Night.” I will feel lucky if I uploaded a video and got 100 hits. How did this guy get over 40 million hits? Just watch and learn!