Do Viral Music Videos Sell Records? A Closer Look at OK Go
Posted on 15. Jun, 2010 by refe in STRATEGY
I had a great phone conversation with Kyle Bylin of HypeBot last week about viral video – specifically OK Go’s ‘This Too Shall Pass’ masterpiece. He was preparing to sit down and write about the actual value of a viral music video. The elaborate, MIT engineered Rube Goldberg machine featured in the band’s latest video is ingenious, and enough fun to warrant a couple of viewings. But when the thrill wears off, does anyone really remember the song?
It is still about the song, isn’t it?
Kyle ended up with a great post, which can be found here. In it, he says this:
I think we’re getting close to the point where the marketing of the music video overrides the song in it to the point where the only thing that it motivates is more views, leaving fans with little interest in actually acquiring the song playing. Since, after all, the song itself is boring once you take away the flashy effects, machine contraptions, and the marketing hype.
What he’s essentially asking is, do hit music videos sell records?
The more I think about that question, the more I wonder if it’s really the right question. More on that in a moment. First, I want to try and find an answer.
The answer is… sometimes.
OK Go had some mild success with their self-titled debut album, but they remained relatively unknown until their first hit video ‘Here it Goes Again‘ blew up on YouTube in 2005. The album was called Oh No, and sold around 200k copies. By contrast, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky has only managed to sell 20k copies, despite not one, but TWO viral music videos for ‘This Too Shall Pass.’
The video for ‘Here it Goes Again,’ which features a tightly choreographed dance across a series of treadmills, genuinely seems to have been instrumental in launching OK Go into the public eye. The exposure the band gained from the millions of views, the press coverage, the interviews, the TV appearances, and the copy-cat videos is something most bands will only dream about.
Yet, the more recent ‘This Too Shall Pass’ videos haven’t proven to be able to repeat that effect.
I think there are a couple reasons for this. The first is that OK Go already has a couple of hits under their belts. The kind of catalytic effect of the first viral video can’t be reproduced because a YouTube video can only really get you so far, and OK Go may already be there.
More importantly, this is 2010, not 2005. If you think the world hasn’t changed much since in 5 years consider this: YouTube had only been around for 16 months when OK Go the ‘Here it Goes Again’ video. It would still be 4 more months before the fledgling video-sharing site was acquired by Google.
In 2005 the idea that a music video produced by a mid-level band with limited funds could reach over 1 million people in only 6 days was mind-boggling. Today that number, while still impressive, doesn’t seem nearly as extraordinary. Non-celebrities can tweet a picture of their breakfast sandwich and trust that their 10,000 Twitter followers will faithfully click. ‘Charlie Bit Me’ can become an overnight meme sensation.
Can a viral music video sell records? Yes, if the conditions are right. Is a viral music video guaranteed to sell records? Absolutely not.
Are record sales really the right goal?
That brings me back to my initial point. Are we asking the right questions? Is the highest destiny of an online music video to sell records?
In the past it certainly was. Music videos were designed to turn singles into hits that made people want to buy records. But again, the world is a dramatically different place that it was in MTV’s heyday. Music videos across the board are struggling to have impact on sales they once did.
The real question isn’t, do viral music videos sell records? The question is, can anything sell records anymore?
Record sales have reached historic depths this year, with little hope of rebounding. No video – no matter how many millions of views it garners – is going to change that. Artists and members of the music industry need to expand their views of this business to include the smaller, diverse streams of revenue that make up artists’ livelihood today.
Modern music videos should be measured the same way that all the various weapons in an artist’s arsenal should be measured – do they drive exposure and engage new and existing fans?
Does a viral music video sell records? Sometimes. Does it introduce new eyes and ears to artists that had not been able to reach them in other ways? Certainly. And that kind of exposure – when handled correctly – can be translated into all sorts of positive returns.
For example, when I first showed the OK Go videos to a friend his first response was, “I bet this band puts on an incredible live show.” The energy and fun of the band’s videos caused my friend, and many others, to want to see what kind of fun they had on stage.
From a revenue perspective, having a history of music videos going viral allowed OK Go to secure sponsorship for ‘This Too Shall Pass.’ The video itself was a direct revenue source.
And to be fair, the video did boost record sales to some degree. According to Billboard, OK Go saw sales of their most recent album triple, and sales of single tracks (mostly ‘This Too Shall Pass’) increased sevenfold. The numbers still aren’t great, but without the video and the attention it has garnered the band they would be dismal.
The music video has evolved into an art form of its own, but it remains an important promotional tool. The key for modern artists and bands is to figure out what exactly they are trying to promote. Just an album? Or the diverse streams of art, content and experiences that grow their fan base and make up their livelihood?
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31 Responses to “Do Viral Music Videos Sell Records? A Closer Look at OK Go”
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Katie: I absolutely love this post. It is very inspiring ...
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Nick Myers: Reading this made me smile, remembering some of yo...
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Matt: Perhaps consumers won't but youtube is paying for ...
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Rich Huxley: I have nothing to add to that Susan, apart from "a...
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Susan: Rich - I love this post. Music is lot like fir...
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Ivo: Well written. I personally make music, because I m...
Tweets that mention Do Viral Music Videos Sell Records? A Closer Look at OK Go | creative deconstruction -- Topsy.com
15. Jun, 2010
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Refe Tuma and Drew Shannon, Gustavo Carvalho. Gustavo Carvalho said: Do Viral Music Videos Sell Records? A Closer Look at OK Go: I had a great phone conversation with Kyle Byl… http://bit.ly/9HFeh6 [...]
James Pew
15. Jun, 2010
Great post Refe.
I really dig the thinking, and the analysis.
The last paragraph is absolutely the right question (IMHO) –
“The key for modern artists and bands is to figure out what exactly they are trying to promote. Just an album? Or the diverse streams of art, content and experiences that grow their fan base and make up their livelihood?”
refe
15. Jun, 2010
Thanks James – I appreciate the kind words, especially coming from a smart, experienced music man such as yourself.
The bottom line is that things aren’t as cut and dried as they used to be. You can’t think of marketing and promotions in 1-1 terms like ‘hit music video = hit record.’
The game is more nuanced these days, and the revenue pie is much more diverse.
The viral music video conversation actually reminds me a lot of the music streaming discussion. Streaming services don’t pay artists enough! Well, that’s really not their primary value. Their primary value is promotional, not direct revenue generation.
If you can discover the best way to utilize different tools for your own unique goals and unique fan base, that’s when you’ll start having a real chance at success.
Corey Ellis
15. Jun, 2010
This is the crux of the issue to me. “Modern music videos should be measured the same way that all the various weapons in an artist’s arsenal should be measured – do they drive exposure and engage new and existing fans?”
I believe fan engagement has to be the #1 marketing strategy moving forward in this new music business.
Suzanne Lainson
15. Jun, 2010
I’d ask a different question. Can a hit music video sell anything?
I’m watching someone now who does very well in YouTube videos. I am wondering if that will translate into financial success of any kind or whether YouTube visibility is just that.
Just because you love to watch someone on YouTube does not necessarily mean you’ll spend money.
It’s always been thus in advertising. Sometimes the ads are brilliant but that doesn’t necessarily mean you want to buy the product or the brand.
Eugenia
15. Jun, 2010
When the Ok Go new music video came out, their album did climb the Alternative charts on iTunes, and their music video was No 1 in the iTunes video charts. So I think that it does translate to some additional sales.
refe
16. Jun, 2010
Their album sales tripled and their single track sales multiplied by seven. Even so, the numbers were pretty small to begin with, and remained small after the video blew up.
So it did translate into sales, but to look at it another way: the video was viewed 14 million times on YouTube alone, yet only 20 thousand people bought the album. Those conversion rates aren’t stellar.
Matt
21. Jul, 2010
Perhaps consumers won’t but youtube is paying for those that are really getting the hits:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/business/media/11youtube.html
Dr Huge
15. Jun, 2010
Should be more of this sort of critical analysis, Refe.
I’d argue that the greatest impact of the first video was that people wanted to be part of its novelty. Once they owned the record of that song, they could tell people “Oh, that treadmill video? Yeah, I bought that band’s record and went to see them.”
“Oh, the third interesting video by that band that did the treadmill video. Yeah, I saw that, too …” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
The video will only sell the songs if the songs are great and people connect with the song, not the novelty of doing something related to the song …
Does that make sense?
Cheers,
Dr Huge
refe
16. Jun, 2010
Makes perfect sense. The ironic part is that ‘This Too Shall Pass’ is arguably a better pop song than ‘Here it Goes Again’ (the treadmill song.)
What that suggests to me is that novelty can trump quality in the beginning, but the sustainability of that exposure is limited. Even an increase in the quality of the song, and the quality of further attempts at novelty, isn’t enough to maintain the attention earned the first time around.
Is this what your band is looking for? Back in the day a lot of money could be made from a flash-in-the-pan act, but not in the new music business.
Gabriel Nijmeh
16. Jun, 2010
So the only way a band can get attention to their music is if they can produce clever/novel videos? How many times can they do this successfully? And more importantly, does their music stand on their own without using too many crutches to prop up their tunes?
Also, are musicians forced to become videomakers first, musicians second, in order to drive people to hear their music?
YouTube is a quagmire. Way to many frivolous things being posted, fighting frantically for the attention of an ADD culture. It’s hit and run entertainment. Putting aside filesharing/P2P issues, not sure how anyone can make any money selling their music if people dip into YouTube to get their “free” entertainment fill in tiny chunks.
refe
16. Jun, 2010
That is the curse of YouTube, isn’t it? But then, media has always been that way. The best does not necessarily rise to the top – it’s the most accessible, the most easily shared that get’s the most attention.
Also, are musicians forced to become videomakers first, musicians second, in order to drive people to hear their music?
OK Go’s approach – the viral video – is only one of many possibilities for modern bands. They found their initial success this way, even though it isn’t proving to be sustainable throughout the different stages of their career.
Other bands will have to find other ways to make their mark. The important thing with a case study like this is to understand what others have done, how and why it worked/didn’t work, and what other artists can learn from it moving forward. Not to take it as a new standard that must be adopted by everybody.
Gabriel Nijmeh
16. Jun, 2010
Not to take it as a new standard that must be adopted by everybody.
You nailed it with this comment… I think we do get caught into a “thinking trap” where people are seeking the music business holy grail. Those who are ready to think big and try new, untested approaches will be miles ahead of those who are standing on the sidelines either complaining or hoping that some sort of pre-made solution will drop in their lap that allows them to make an “easy” living as an artist.
Are we now in an age where a barrage is the new buzz?
As a music purist, I want the music to stand on it’s own. I personally ignore most of the hype and viral videos etc or at the very least wait for hype to settle down to see if the fuss was really worth it.
A few friends sent me the OK GO video, telling me how cool it was and I didn’t bother watching it. Had they sent me a couple of their tracks to listen to, I would have taken a listen because I take personal music recommendations a lot more seriously. Am I the only one?
Great discussion and insights… thanks Refe for kickstarting!
Suzanne Lainson
16. Jun, 2010
I’ve never gotten through an OK Go video. I never watched the treadmill one.
I never finished the Rube Goldberg video. I’ve seen other Rube Goldberg devices and this one didn’t hold my interest.
And the latest video that people have started recommending I lost interest immediately. I hung in there a bit thinking I might see what people liked, but gave up.
Marcy Rauer Wagman
16. Jun, 2010
First, as every music supervisor knows, the music and the visual it’s complementing must be “married” in the sense that the music and the video speak to each other in a way that the audience can see and feel. Second, and most importantly, the video accompanied by the music must touch something emotional in the audience, not just be cool or fun as separate units. That gets boring after a few views, and no one will remember the music. People connect visuals or imagery with music – think of your first love and a song comes to mind. Same with a music video. The reason that a piece of music sells, or becomes memorable, when it’s coupled with a visual is that the visual evokes something connected to the music. The OK Go video is fun, but it overpowers the song and the visual and musical messages clash. The song wasn’t strong enough for the video. Imagine if you put a Wagner underscore or an industrial bass/drum thing underneath that video…well, you get the picture (pun intended).
Suzanne Lainson
16. Jun, 2010
“The OK Go video is fun, but it overpowers the song and the visual and musical messages clash.”
When a video is better than the music, it makes me think to myself, “This music isn’t very good.” It seems to heighten the difference between the two and the music comes out looking worse than it might otherwise.
Caroline Bottomley
16. Jun, 2010
Really good points, I very much like that you tie music videos to having a purpose, beyond just raising awareness of an artist/track. I think there’s so much untapped potential to be explored here. Interesting discussion too, thanks for the post, I’ll tweet.
refe
16. Jun, 2010
Glad you got something out of the post and Retweets are always welcomed and encouraged!
Rich Huxley
16. Jun, 2010
I feel that while a viral video can generate interest, it may not translate into purchases not because the video isn’t generating a new audience, but because the band’s output and activities outside their videos doesn’t make people feel that they want to invest their hard earned cash.
Also, that OK Go were on a major label was a problem and a barrier to my music consumption (not that I believe we consume music so much as experience it). I want money to go to the artist, not a company who stack the odds so far against the artist.
On a personal note, I’ve just gone and bought their album because I feel their video deserves me spending some cash with them.
refe
16. Jun, 2010
I feel like I should get a commission on that sale. I’ll give the band a call. Think they’ll go for it?
Kenny
16. Jun, 2010
Great read and great perspective.
I think there’s also something to be said about setting the bar so high out of the gates as OK Go did with “Here it Goes Again.” The delivery now needs to be at or better than that or they may run the risk of being seen as mediocre or old news—or not seen at all. I will say they accomplished that with “This too shall pass” (friggin awesome).
Thanks Refe!
-Kenny
refe
21. Jun, 2010
Thanks for commenting Kenny – great to see you around the site!
It’s the publicity Catch-22: you need to enter the scene with a big enough bang to get noticed, but the bigger the bang the harder it will be to live up to those initial expectations in future releases.
Will
16. Jun, 2010
Another question is: do the bands who manage to have viral videos properly get people into their sales funnel for current and future sales?
Secondly on a more ‘brain function’ type question: why do people like easy to consume music that also has dancers, flashing lights, smoke bombs, etc, people want to hear music with a beat so they can dance or whatever – they can’t handle longer, progressive, instrumental tunes for the most part
Rich Huxley
17. Jun, 2010
Good second question.
It could be argued that that’s what we’re conditioned to like.
7in vinyl – Motown had a timer on the desk to stop them over-running into the crap-sounding bit of vinyl after 3 mins.
Pop has always been short and snappy and as our lives get ever-more crammed with information, work and leisure stuff it becomes increasingly the case. It’s why we like twitter!
And y’know what, the 3-4minute pop song is a great form. In most cases, if you can’t say it in less than 5 minutes, you’re probably not being succinct enough.
There are great exceptions to this mind. Telegraph Road, lots of Floyd stuff… but a song in under 5 mins… it’s a great format.
Sébastien Gilles
17. Jun, 2010
I recently met up with the label behind “Baby Baby Baby” music video by French band “Make the girl dance” (1 million views in 3 days, most viewed video on Dailymotion 2009).
To my question “Did all those views translate into increased sales”, their answer was simply “No” ! It did help the band fill venues, though.
This can be put this way: “Without a music video, an artist is guaranteed not to sell records, but there’s no guarantee of selling records with a music video”
Suzanne Lainson
18. Jun, 2010
Now this is a “music” video I like.
“A Conversation with Natalie Portman”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHbqb32vEUM
Julian Bowman
18. Jun, 2010
Surely, a great song will sell a great song.
Dress it in as much candy floss as you like, but if a song either touches the soul or tweaks one’s smile muscles then people will want it. The aforementioned song was a great video in a song that I instantly forgot.
In all discussion on the ‘predicament’ of the ‘Biz’ the commentators/industry heads all ignore the HUGE elephant in the room… that the music industry is STILL peddling LOADS of sub-standard crap at an over inflated price. The ‘market’ and airwaves are so saturated with this crap that it is harder for great music to be discovered, and people are quite tired of being shafted for £15 for 1 or 2 good songs and 8 to 18 fillers.
I find it hilarious that the business model of pumping tonnes of cash behind a fledgling band who had one mediocre song become a hit, to try and continue to milk that cow when all subsequent material is redundant is still in operation and when the sales dip everyone shouts WHY and P2P is killing music.
Honestly, this is the problem when bean counters see music as a product. As a ‘product’ it is almost dead, as nourishment for the soul it will never die and people will buy it, will want to own it. Perhaps not in the millions of units like before, buy hey, is it our fault the Major’s infrastructure is so bloated? Nope.
Pass global legislation to stop shit music littering the airwaves and the Biz/PR/Press cabal from peddling this shit as a little boys club, and watch music sales return.
You want to sell music again, touch the soul, and stop fleecing the pocket.
Rich Huxley
18. Jun, 2010
“Without a music video, an artist is guaranteed not to sell records” – Not sure that’s the case. Plenty of artists make a living without making a video.
Arnbjorn Marklund
23. Jun, 2010
Interesting angle and I agree. There’s definitely more to an artists career than just selling records. Success should therefore be measured otherwise.
I have written a masters level paper on viral marketing of music videos. Maybe someone will find it interesting:
My paper is a case discussion of the marketing of the video of the song “Stoppested” by debuting Danish artist Kristian Luc (I am not discussing video content – only the marketing strategy). The recommended strategy should however be well fit for most artists and music companies (world wide) looking to work out a functional strategy for the marketing of music videos.
Link: http://www.marklund.no/?p=1202
(link to download the whole paper at the bottom (All in English)).
Jon Ostrow
11. Jul, 2010
Sorry to jump on this comment board a bit late, and forgive me if someone had brought this up already. But to me, the real difference lies in the fact that during the time of Mtv, a music video was only played when THEY wanted it to – if you liked the song, you HAD to go out and buy it because there wasn’t any other accessible way to listen to the song at your own leisure. Therefore these music videos became a legitimate marketing tool used to drive demand for singles and albums. However, NOW these music videos are accessible at any time, from anywhere that you can hop on the internet (which lets face it, with 3G mobile devices, including your iphone, is now anywhere you want). The need for people to go out and purchase these singles or albums is virtually non-existent because they already have unlimited access to the song.
Suzanne Lainson
11. Jul, 2010
Jon has hit upon the reality of the music video. Sometimes it gives you all you need and you don’t have to make an accompanying purchase. Sure, in some cases video leads you to a higher level of fandom, and you go buy the merchandise or go to the show, but when your financial resources are limited, you’re likely to be pretty choosy about who you financially support.