Friday, February 19, 2016
Youtube's Effect on Music
Youtube has created a new outlet for aspiring singers and other musical artists. Did you know that Kevin from Pentatonix was discovered on Youtube? Artists with unique sounds that wouldn’t generally be played on the radio can express themselves on Youtube, where fans of certain types of music can enjoy the music for free. One artist, Kina Grannis, had her music video played during the 2008 Super Bowl, and was signed to a record company when she won a contest. Soon after, she left the label to be an independent artist. After, she released three albums, and went on a world tour. Youtube gave her a larger fan base and she is a popular personality in the Youtube music circle (she regularly collaborates with Kurt Hugo Schneider and recorded Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car with Boyce Avenue). Other artists may not have as much success, but their voices are no less valuable than a famous singer’s voice. It is simply a matter of being discovered, and what the artists choose to do with their fame. Daniela Andrade is a good example of this. Her covers are mainly stripped down and calm, something that isn’t elected to play on the radio. But, her voice is wonderful, and she has almost 1,000,000 subscribers on Youtube. She is popular in the music cover culture on Youtube (La Vie En Rose is enchanting). Can you tell I’m a fan? Both Grannis and Andrade collaborated on one song together, and Youtube brought new types of music to listen to, and more opportunities for aspiring musical artists.
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I think that YouTube is a great place for some people to become famous or get recognition for their talents. However, sometimes it is hard for people to get seen if the right people don't look at the videos. Additionally, sometimes people attain instant fame but for a very short amount of time and for a specific audience. For example, Shawn Mendez became famous on Vine, but there are only a few songs that he has written and he mostly appeals to girls who watch Disney Channel.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad you brought this up, I just read an article the other day about how Vine and Youtube both have had a significant and similar effect in the screen acting industry. It allows aspiring actors who may otherwise not had the chance to even audition for any part to get themselves out there and even have successful careers online which they can later transfer to professional acting.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way YouTube is helping music progress into the digital age, especially since a lot of my favorite singers have come from YouTube backgrounds. Also, I think the whole idea of someone getting discovered on YouTube is a modern translation of the very romantic "American Dream" as applied to today's music.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way YouTube is helping music progress into the digital age, especially since a lot of my favorite singers have come from YouTube backgrounds. Also, I think the whole idea of someone getting discovered on YouTube is a modern translation of the very romantic "American Dream" as applied to today's music.
ReplyDeleteI like the point that was brought up about how while Youtube has proven invaluable to the careers of a lot of musicians, it also clearly doesn't work for a lot of talented people. Many of the people who now have large fan bases and widespread recognition online are similar in talent to channels with fewer than a hundred subscribers. The trick, or course, is that many of them started a long time ago and slowly built up their base and the quality of their videos. A lot of the people who are now putting out highly polished and professional videos were just singing into a camera five or six years ago (or often even longer). While this might inspire hope in some aspiring youtubers, it seems to me that unless you have a distinctly unique voice, you need far more than talent to get noticed on youtube–you need astronomical amounts of luck. That being said, I think Youtube is a pretty amazing platform for music and we're lucky to have it.
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