YouTube Changes Music
By Fatima RodriguesThe advent of YouTube has changed our nation's culture forever, now we can find videos of almost anything imaginable online in a matter of minutes. Yet besides giving an outlet for our self-obssessed nation to express itself, YouTube has become a place to discover new talent. Now more than ever, any regular person can become famous and all they need is a web cam and an internet connection. All the proof we need is in Justin Bieber. This young teenie-bopper is seen singing and dancing next to big stars like Usher and even getting his own slot at the VMAs this year. Yet just a few years ago, Bieber was just a face in the vast crowd of YouTubers. Similar stories are popping up all over the world. A musical group referred to as The Midnight Beast also found their start on YouTube when they made several musical parodies including one of Ke$ha's first single "Tik Tok." Now the group is posting their own songs and preforming concerts in England.
Another YouTube success story is Bo Burnham, a Massachusetts-born high school student who began posting musical-comedy videos so that his older brother could see them. Burnham currently has a successful cd on iTunes, a Comedy Central special, and has toured colleges across America. YouTube has even become a place for indie artists to share their music with out "selling out." This is the case for the popular musical duo Pomplamoose. Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn who make up the group both had their own YouTube channels before they joined forces. Since then they have kept a low profile, only rarely performing live, yet all the same they have sole over 100,000 songs online. Of YouTube the two said, “If you’re disenchanted with the current music industry, if you’re tired of indie going slick and mass-produced Top 40 pop where every new musician looks like they’re from Laguna Beach, then look no farther than YouTube for your new favourite thing." So will this YouTube musical revolution be a fad or will it really change the music industry?
