YouTube Vevo Music Videos Inflate Plays

YouTube Vevo Music Videos Inflate Plays

This is not a fact, I am simply sharing my observation with you ...

I landed on the above music video from Bullet For My Valentine which plays through Vevo on YouTube. Side note, the song didn't really hit radio where I live but I absolutely love this song and the band. Lyrics are a little weaker than the music I find, but overall very rocking. Now back to the reason for the post.

The video today showed over 20,000,000 views with roughly 1,100 star ratings. That means only 1 rating came for every roughly 18,000 views. I found that rediculously low so I went to compare with the first video that popped in my head that I knew wouldn't be under Vevo and would probably have some what 'honest' stats:

The above video is of a song I discovered last year and couldn't stop listening to. I even wrote a whole blog on these guys - People in Planes.

In any case, today the music video has roughly only 48,000 views and 218 ratings meaning 1 rating for every 220 views! Compared to 1 in 18,000, talk about a difference.

All that to say, with this quick observation along with a few others I've made of music videos not on Vevo, I am personally under the assumption that most videos under Vevo ('major' acts) have inflated plays / views which in turn produces these low rating to view ratios. Even if we consider people can view Vevo videos at http://www.vevo.com/ now, still, the video in my example with 20 million views was favorited only 120 times at Vevo with a single page of comments so I don't see that angle accounting for millions of plays.

You make your own conclusion but I found it interesting. At the same time I understand for any music label to want to give the impression of having their new music videos played millions of times even if it's only a front as it's more impressive to users than an honest 48,000 plays right.

Nothing new here though, just another example that it's all for show. Marketing wise, I agree with them. Why do you think commercials still use the '2,000,000 satisfied customers to date!' type of lines? I guess if people feel millions before them thought a product was worth spending money on, must mean it's good and you wouldn't be a crazy person if you did too? As a consumer though, hearing these types of lines makes me do a little more research before jumping in.

I put this blog together to simply put out a possibility so that if any of you judge a song even slightly before listening to it by looking at stats, quit it! If you have to, listen to the song first, see what you think about it, then take a look at the plays out of curiosity so it won't influence you before even taking an ear to something. Be open to new music regardless if the band is backed by a huge record company that has bots inflating plays or just a starter band as you may pass up discovering those hundreds and thousands of really rocking smaller bands with only 10,000 views but some of the greatest music you'll ever hear.

Beyonce Grammy Performance 2010

Beyonce Grammy Performance 2010

Thinking back at the Grammy awards this year, there were so many that were singing off key and just didn't grab my attention so I felt for the few that did do an awesome job, why not show some support and share with you their great performances.

Earlier this week, I posted up a blog on Lady Gaga and Elton John's Grammy Performance which was easily the best of the evening so today, a look at Beyonce's grammy performance.

Things have really kicked up a notch as far as entertainment these past few years with larger set ups, bigger stages, and more back up dancers / singers. Beyonce made great use of all of it this year putting on a killer performance.

"Halo" is a great song to begin with but they made it interesting from the start with an awesome solo piano part, the horn and much more orchestral section right after, continuous alterations and dynamics throughout, then cutting into Alanis Mroissette's "You Oughta Know", and back to finish "Halo".

Another impressive part was the stage show she gave, running around like crazy, moving like an animal and singing in key without giving us the feeling at any point of being out of breathe or it being hard for her.

Beyonce, just want to say bravo! It's too bad we don't have more "real" entertainers around at shows like these that can pull off every angle of a performance as well as she did.

To everyone else, practice more. You're up against some serious competition so no singing off key dammit and give us a show will you. Don't be lazy.

Lady Gage and Elton John Best Grammy Performance

Lada Gaga and Elton John Best Grammy Performance

So I took a look at all of the grammy performances. I may comment on a few but I wanted to at least put this blog together dedicated to the best musical performance of the night in my opinion. Lady Gage and Elton John. Absolutely amazing.

We may think Lada Gaga tries a little too hard at times with her over the top outfits but put that aside for a second. This girl can sing and entertain and you're either a fool or have very particular taste if you disagree. She may not have the biggest or best voice even in comparison to the other perofmers that night, but at the least, man is she on and that's way more than I can say about Taylor Swift for example who took home quite a few awards but when it came time to perform, I practically changed the channel cause her singing was so off key. Given, Lady Gaga went on first so chances are the sound was set just right before the show started and then as it's live, you do the best you can so it's very possible Taylor Swift couldn't hear a thing she sang. Don't know, maybe she has hundreds of live clips where she is rocking it out and the music and vocals are on but I'm only going by that evening for this blog.

Ok, back to Lady Gaga. Even the stage set up, the narrator between her performace of the 2 songs, the dark look, double piano with arms coming out of it, the whole thing oozes entertainment and she sang very well, kicking off the show with one of the biggest songs of last year.

To top it, you have Elton John singing with her for the second half which holy crap, can this guy be any better vocally? Everytime I heard anything he did live, it could be an album take and would rock. Props to Elton John, it just goes to show how a pro who's been around does it and how he can put practically all the singers that night to shame pitch wise at least.

By far, this was my favorite musical performance of the evening.

Enjoy the clip!

American Idol - Can You Dig It

American Idol - Can You Dig It

I wanted to share with you guys one of my favourite 'bad' auditions from a past season of American Idol.

Singer, dancer, musician Leroy Wells with his abundance of energy trying to convince the judges and guest judge Gene Simons to get him to Hollywood. Though the effort didn't pan out, he has to be one of the most entertaining characters I've ever seen on the show. I just wish they would make a reality show around this guy. I practically don't care what he'd be doing, as long as they let him pitch his talent to random people or execs, or just let him be himself in public with different challenges every week.

Leroy, screw American Idol. I haven't been that entertained from any other audition thus far. You rock!

Mariah Carey Drunk Acceptance Speech

Drunk Mariah Carey - Highlights from her acceptance speech:

I had to share this one with you guys for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. What class. I couldn't stop laughing.

These were the highlights of Mariah Carey's acceptance speech for her award as "Breakthrough Actress" for her performance in "Precious" at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. As she's escorted to the stage, even before she could open her mouth, you could see the girl is drunk. It was the first time I was excited to hear what she had to say.

I don't blame her. These things are hours long and get boring. Even the edited versions you watch on TV can sometimes get lengthy. I for one would probably watch many more award shows from start to finish if I could expect a few drunks to give deep and intellectual speeches like Mariah.

Good job Mariah Carey. I wasn't a big fan before but I'm starting to like this one. Bottoms up!

Warner Music Videos Back on YouTube

It's been a long 9 months without being able to find some of the greatest bands of all time on YouTube including Metallica, Muse, Nine Inch Nails, Marylin Manson, and so many others. This was all due to disputes between YouTube and Warner Music over money of course.

Early 2009, Warner took off their library of music videos from YouTube, unable to come to an agreement on how they would share income. This had YouTube constantly filtering and removing uploads involving the acts under Warner while leaving a lot of fans upset and out looking for other video alternatives to catch the latest releases and classics from their favorite bands.

Announced September 29th, the two seem to have come to an agreement. The videos from Warner Music's library will be returning to YouTube and Warner will be the one finding and selling advertisment on the videos instead of using Google ads like practially everyone else which is an interesting approach. Personally, I'm curious to see if the other major labels will be following in their footsteps in an attempt at having more control over their videos, and obtaining a larger piece of the pie as Warner is trying to do.

People in Planes - Pretty Buildings Live Video

One of the things that bothers me the most when I go see an artist live and I know the music inside out is when they can't perform it anywhere near the CD version if their life depended on it. A big chunk of that dissapointment is usually towards the singer though the more I see award shows, it looks like if any artist at leasts tries to actual sing and not lip sync, they are already a step above a lot of people which is rediculous.

At the same time, there is a lot of music out there and artists that don't get the credit they deserve and can actually often times perform the songs better than the recorded versions. I'll be sharing some from time to time with you guys and I wanted the first one to be a song that hit me right away off the radio. There was something about the music, about the lyrics, the voice, everything together that was so perfect for me which doesn't happen that often for me on a first listen to the music:

People in Planes - Pretty Buildings

(I'm not sold on the music video but check it out for the music)

After hearing the song, I was looking around to catch a live video of it which usually is a deciding factor for me if I respect the band after that and would pay to see them live, or if it's just another artist merely trying to play live that I'll keep in my music playlist and it ends there. Check out the live music clip and you'll know which list these guys went under:

People in Planes - Pretty Buildings - LIVE

Watch the video if you enjoy solid live performances but it'll hit you more if you hear the original song first.

Two thumbs up to the boys in People in Planes. You guys are part of the top solid live bands I've seen through YouTube and I'll be front row if you decide to come by in Montreal. To all you other artists out there singing over the main vocal track or worse, quit cheating us in concert. You could learn something from these guys even if they aren't sponsored by McDonalds or have their own fragrance.

If you enjoy their music, be sure to visit the band's MySpace:

People in Planes - MySpace

Side note, I'll be continuing these youtube video posts and sharing some great music videos with you guys so if interested and you haven't yet, be sure to join to recieve all the updates of our Music Download Sites Blog, or come check us out from time to time.

Free Hugs Video - Music by the Sick Puppies

Growing to be one of the top music videos on You Tube in popularity, I wanted to share with you one of the most motivating and touching music videos I've seen in quite a while:

Sick Puppies - All The Same (Free Hugs Video)

If you haven't taken a look at it yet, take 5 minutes out of your day and click the link. It's a must see.

The video is about Juan Mann who set out to cheer up random strangers by offering free hugs. He holds up his 'Free Hugs' sign and gives anyone who takes him up on the offer a heart felt hug. Without ruining the story completely for those of you who are going to check it out for the first time, the video shows him getting into a little trouble for doing a good dead and makes you think and realize how rediculous some places and people are in the world.

The music in the back is by the Sick Puppies who have a great debut album out with the track from the video on there (All The Same) and are fantastic in concert. The singer is friends with Juan Mann and made the video to cheer him up after some news he got about a health issue with someone in the family. Who would have figured it would have grown to be such a success and easily the band's ticket to being noticed.

Check out the music video, and while you're at it, if you like the soundtrack in the back but also enjoy a little heavier rock music, you can visit the band's myspace here:

Sick Puppies - MySpace