It's official. K-Pop Phenom Psy is now a bigger music video sensation than Canadian teen heartthrob Justin Bieber.
The popular Korean rapper just broke all YouTube records; receiving 20 million views in the first 24 hours for his new music video single Gentleman (on view at his OfficialPsy YouTube channel). Untroubled by the viewing ban of Gentleman on South Korea's official TV station-ironically not for the video's lascivious content but for the "destruction of public property" (kicking a street cone!)-as of this writing, Gentleman was moving the dial upward of 130 million views.
The new YouTube record destroys Bieber's own of 8 million single-day views for "Boyfriend" in May 2012, and even beats Psy's record set for Gangnam Style, his first release which received more than 1.5 billion views in nine months.
Representing a new generation of YouTube pop artists who bypass the stifling corporate music industry with their own do-it-yourself YouTube success, Psy has become yet another driving force that is forcing the industry to change its hand. Today's pop artists have found highly profitable ways to monetize their sounds on YouTube, rather than struggling to profit from their record labels and relying on, in large part, merchandising at concerts.
YouTube's monetizing model has been a boon to Psy-by some accounts earning him $870K from YouTube views alone, and when downloads and licensing fees are added in, his take surpasses a staggering $8 million, and advertising revenue from Psy's videos is estimated at $179,000 per month. Notably, YG Entertainment, his record label, rose to its highest level of profit in six months after the release of Gentleman.
Other artists, too, have also launched their careers on YouTube, like Austin Mahone, whose enviable fan base helped launch him from viral stardom to mainstream with his version of Harlem Shake, a free viral sensation uploaded by Brooklyn producer Baauer last year. On the scent for new viral talent-and hungry to tap into YouTube's revenue sharing model and sponsorship opportunities-today, labels and agents regularly troll YouTube for new talent.
Corroborating how social platforms are changing the music industry, recording artist Kenna, too, attests to how both YouTube and Myspace have been powerful social media, not only as distribution channels but, significantly, as content creation and collaboration platforms. "Control is shifting-creative is the future," says Kenna. "Social gives everyone actionable data"-instant feedback from fans and other artists. Kenna says focus groups simply can't do this, nor can they provide a medium for creative collaboration.
I first heard about Psy from a Korean friend last year, and admittedly, only picked up on the K-Pop Phenom watching Saturday Night Live's hilarious Gangnam parodies. Well, that is until my 7-year old niece went Gangnam style herself, while her one and a half year-old sister giggled in wide-eyed wonderment.
As a cultural linguist and consultant, my curiosity was held not only by the cross-generational appeal of Psy the pop artist, but even more so by his meteoric rise and crossover from South Korean performer to global icon. Naturally, this took me down an anthropological path to explore "social netizenry" on the global discovery platform of choice, NetBase.
While Psy doesn't fit the mold of a traditional Korean pop star-or, for that matter, that of the American genre with his class-related Korean rapping-his chubby boyish looks and sophomoric irreverence, coupled with high octane energy orchestrated with sexy K-Pop dancers-has caught fire. In spite of all his impish sex feigning in Gentleman, and because of his universal kid brother charm, Psy's irreverent pranks create a catchy stylistic rhythm, and with seeming universal appeal. Our NetBase cultural discovery reveals Korean excitement for Psy's global success and "surreal collaboration" with other K-pop artists with crossover appeal.
As my Korean friend says, Psy is the perfect antidote for a troubling social and economic climate. Light, bright and uninhibited, his free-going spirit is uplifting at any age. In recessionary times and with the age of internet wizardry, he is delivering a cool antidote-for non-artists and all others today who are creating new monetized channels in kinship with organically built audiences, and maybe even finding new ways to pay the rent while loving their day job!