The You tube Phenomenon

If you are a good singer and have not yet got a break, try You Tube. The recent craze on You Tube is a song by Dhanush. The song is called ‘Why this Kolaveri di” and it has captured the imagination of millions of youngsters throughout the country. Being on You Tube made this actor and singer more popular than the fact that he is the son-in-law of superstar Rajnikanth. Another song ‘ O mere jaana, tune nahin jaana’ has become a rage among youngsters. 

The song was composed by a student of Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Rohan Rathore, who was ditched by his girlfriend as he was suffering from cancer. He died 15 days after recording the song. You Tube helped his voice and story reach millions of people throughout the world.The brainchild of three former employees of Paypal, who started it in 2005, it has become the favourite website for viewing videos free.

Some other singers/bands that have become famous on You Tube are Beygairat Brigade (Aloo Ande), Rebecca Black (Friday), Jusitin Beiber (Never say never) and others. Begairat Brigade is a Pakistani band, whose song ‘Aloo Ande’ has catchy and controversial lyrics. The band decided to use You Tube to vent their anger on the socio-political scenario of their country. Had they released an album, as is done conventionally by singers and bands, they would have certainly faced a ban and probably a jail sentence. Similarly, Rebecca Black, an American singer who sang ‘Friday’ has used the medium extensively to promote her song. The music video has been viewed more than 30 million times by viewers across the globe. Similarly, Justin Beiber became famous, in fact even more famous than established singers and bands due to You Tube. 

Music on You Tube is a medium to draw attention of listeners towards a singer or a band. Some have been noticed and others, ignored. Yet, a factor that unites all these singers and bands is their desire to be heard and their use of technology to do it.

It is interesting to note that around 12 percent of all videos that are available or at this moment being uploaded on the website violate copyright. Some videos use copyrighted materials like songs, trademarks, logos and others. The number of videos uploaded daily is 200,000 or more. Eighty percent of all videos that are uploaded are amateur videos. An amateur video is made by a person who is not in the business of filmmaking. They can be made on a cell-phone or a handheld video camera. It includes amateur music videos too.

www.jayhind.tv, is the first Indian channel exclusively designed for the Internet. The brainchild of Abhigyan Prakash, the executive producer of ‘Movers and Shakers’, it is hosted by Sumeet Raghavan, a popular television anchor. The channel was started after the success of You Tube and Internet has become a very popular medium for entertainment and information.

Manjula Jain, an avid cook who enjoys cooking healthy dishes, became popular on You Tube. In an era, when cookery shows are common on television, she was lucky to have You Tube. She, just like many others, has utilised the website fully.

You Tube has made unknown faces popular not only in their countries, but all over the world. Had they used or chosen any other medium like television and others, it would have taken a lot of time to get noticed. Probably, some of them would have remained unknown.

Some artists, businessmen and others who have become on famous You Tube are Kina Grannis who recorded and uploaded her amateur music video and is now on the verge of a record contract, Marie Drigby who uploaded her amateur music video and has now been signed by Hollywood records, Tom Dickson an entrepreneur who uploaded a video demonstrating a product. He was featured in the Late Show with Jay Leno.

Everyday, countless budding musicians, singers, theatre actors, businessmen and others upload their videos on You Tube. Recently, a version of ‘Why this Kolaveri di’ was uploaded on You Tube by Sonu Nigam. His son, Nevaan has sung the song in his own style and it is very popular on the website.