Check out this New York Times piece:
From Viral Video to Billboard 100
In class we have been discussing the nature of our digital, information-saturated environment. Much of that information arises out of participatory culture (Flew, p. 32). The Auto-Tune the News folks are a great example of participatory culture in action. The success of their recent Bed Intruder Song not only showcases the power of contemporary creative industries stemming from the enabling capacities of new media, but also brings up questions concerning popular music. As the article states, “It’s not easy to get on that chart… There are plenty of decent radio songs that don’t reach the sales chart.” Will remix pop dominate the charts in the coming years? Where does that leave more traditional artists? And, finally, why is the success of this track significant?
My response via Jay-Z, D.O.A (Death Of Auto-Tune)
ReplyDelete[Verse 1]
This is anti autotune, death of the ringtone,
This ain't for iTunes, this ain't for sing alongs
This is Sinatra at the opera, bring a blonde
Preferably with a fat a** who can sing a song
Wrong, this ain't politically correct
This might offend my political connects
My raps don't have melodies
...
I know we facing a recession
But the music y'all making going make it the great depression
All y'all lack aggression
Put your skirt back down, grow a set man
... This is death of autotune, moment of silence
[Verse 3]
... Get back to rap you t-paining too much
I'm a multi-millionaire
So how is it I'm still the hardest here
I don't be in the project hallway talking about how I be in the project all day
That sound stupid to me
If you a gangsta this is how you prove it to me
... This is death of autotune moment of silence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EWruiIjBmo
I think that the Auto Tune the news group is hilarious. They are a great example of the viral media trend these days. Even though they are being funny and autotuning the popular videos on youtube, they are very talented and add to our culture. Everyone shares their videos with me on facebook and with their friends. This adds to more cultural references in conversations like double rainbow, protect your kids, or the kanye mix. I can see how some people might not like the whole autotuning aspect, but overall, this group of people is doing a cool thing.
ReplyDeleteThis is the perfect example of web 2.0. As soon as this news story hit it was on youtube for EVERYONE to see, not just those that live within that local broadcast area. The video was already hilarious and as a journalist I personally would not have ran that story. However, as soon as people found out about this "internet sensation" Antoine Dodson, there was an auto-tuned song going around as well. I personally wasn't surprised because most funny youtube videos are cut and edited into full out songs.
ReplyDeletePerfect example of things being turned into songs is the voicemail at the center of the whole Tiger Woods cheating fiasco. Check this out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEkomaBTppY
I thought that it was just this one news story that was turned into a song but i learned from this post that there is a group that regularly auto-tunes the news. That's pretty cool.
Lastly, I'd like to say a lot of people get famous from the Internet, specifically youtube. A good example of that is Soulja Boy. Even though I'm not really a fan of his music or dances, he was discovered from songs he posted on his Myspace page and videos he posted on Youtube. And now he's rich...
Personally, I'm not a big fan of the auto-tune news or auto-tune itself. Some music artists can get away with it like Kanye West or T-pain. But turning it into a way of reporting the news doesn't really amuse me. This past summer, my co-workers were gathered around the computer just watching it and I just continued to work because my initial response to it was: "Now that's just dumb" but I thought about it and concluded that maybe it was a way for a younger audience to be more actively engaged into the news and the world around them. Everything sounds better when music is added I guess.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I thought it was well done from a film and production perspective, considering it was a user-created viral video. The fact that this group is reporting the news doesn't make the video pointless but helpful for the viewers and also it seems most people found it funny and entertaining.
For web 2.0, it seems that many people like to post their opinion and reactions of celebrity news and news in general in the form of video blogs. People would watch and get their news from that. Kind of an alternative from traditional news media but thats just how it is today. We get our news from the internet now via facebook or twitter. I found out the Micheal Jackson from facebook.