npr musicThe video-sharing Web site YouTube is probably best known as the place to find silly home videos of klutzy cats, clever babies and lip-syncing soccer moms. But YouTube is becoming increasingly important to the music business. In fact, some industry professionals say it has become the MTV of the digital generation.
In the old days, new bands created buzz by playing clubs and getting on local radio. Today, record labels often gauge a new band's popularity by looking on YouTube. Jeff Dodes, head of multimedia for a division of Sony Music, says that's where one of his talent scouts saw the video for the song "The Stanky Leg," by The GS Boyz. "The Stanky Leg" had created so much excitement on YouTube that Sony decided to sign The GS Boyz. And Dodes says that when the group makes its record for the label, he'll take The GS Boyz back to YouTube to promote it.
But once a group is signed to a label promotion teams use a number of tricks to make sure that YouTube users actually see videos by their artists. Jeremy Maciak of Vagrant Records points to a video by the label's band A Cursive Memory. Maciak says the production is simple, consisting of "the band jumping in front of paparazzi and behind velvet ropes all throughout Hollywood with a boom box on their shoulder, singing their song, which is called 'Everything.' "
Full story...
