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Posted: 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - YouTube is proving to be a powerful launch pad for a new generation of Internet-savvy music stars from Psy to Macklemore and beyond.

The Google-owned video-sharing website has catapulted Psy, Macklemore, Justin Bieber and others onto global stages where they can cash in on digital downloads of songs; packed concerts; online ads, or even sponsored music videos.

"Music has always been a universal language, and YouTube is a perfect platform to build community around the energy that is music," said Vivien Lewit, artists attorney turned YouTube music content partnerships director.

"It crosses territories; people in the US have access to what Psy is doing in Korea," she continued. "It's not just him. The boundaries have come down and other artists have broadened the horizon."

After racking up more than a billion views of his Gangnam Style music video at YouTube, Psy used the website to debut a new Gentleman clip in April that had logged more than 275 million views as of Sunday.

Psy, a 35-year-old South Korean rapper born Park Jae-sang, is reported to have earned more than eight million dollars by capitalizing on the Gangnam Style video at YouTube.

YouTube splits ad revenue from popular music videos with performers but does not disclose figures. "Thousands of individual creators make more than US$100,000 per year," Lewit told AFP. "Not only do they make money through their own uploads of video, they make money every time a fan uploads."

YouTube lets music owners provide reference files of songs that the website uses to scan for matches in uploaded videos.

When matches are found, the owner of the music can opt to make money from ads, track where the songs go, or block it.

YouTube has paid the record industry more than a half billion dollars in the past two years from ad revenue, according to Lewit.

Lindsey Stirling went from obscurity to celebrity after putting her captivating mix of dance and classical violin on stage at YouTube.

More than two million fans now subscribe to the 26-year-old California artist's YouTube channels. Her self-released debut album sold about 108,000 copies as a digital download and she has been touring almost non-stop since its release late last year. Her European tour has sold out.

"If it wasn't for YouTube, I wouldn't be touring right now," Stirling said. "I would probably have an album, but I think my grandma and mom would be the only ones who bought it."

While she takes in money from ads, and even has an Assassin's Creed 3 music video that ends with a sponsored link to a trailer for the hit Ubisoft videogame, the real payoff comes from tours and sales at Apple's iTunes shop.

"Yes, I make some money from ads but, for me, it is about using YouTube to expand everywhere," Stirling said. "YouTube is a free marketing platform you can build yourself."

YouTube chat features, and the ability to link with 'Hangout' online group video chats at Google+ social network, enable artists to build relationships with fans.

"Record labels, agencies want to mold you into the artist they want you to be," she continued. "On YouTube, your fans are the only ones you want to cater to. You can be yourself and do what you love."

Engaging fans online and maintaining flows of fresh content means that self-made Internet-age musicians can wind up working harder off-stage than on.

"It looks like being a YouTuber is all fun and games," Stirling said with a laugh. "Any YouTuber has to love what they do or they will get burned out. It takes a lot of hard work."

Some genres have been revived at YouTube by the likes of Ukrainian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa or ukulele sensation Jake Shimabukuro, who performs Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen on the small stringed instrument.

The attraction of the YouTube stage has also lured already established music stars.

Taylor Swift last year took part in a live YouTube interview and unveiled her Red album at the website.

Alicia Keys in November hosted her first YouTube live stream performance along and Google+ Hangout to premier her Girl On Fire album.

"The Internet is seen as the new place people listen to their music," Stirling said.

"This is a new way that you can be an original artist, and do all of it without a record label."

4Minute's Hyuna hospitalized

Posted: 09 May 2013 09:16 PM PDT

KOREA (Reuters) -- K-pop girl group 4Minute's Hyuna is in the hospital from a high fever and dehydration, keeping her from promoting her group's new release.

Reports said on Thursday that the idol star (pic) was hospitalized on Monday and although she is recovering well and her condition is not critical, she is waiting for the results of her medical checkup from yesterday.

Unfortunately, 4Minute made a comeback to the music scene with their fourth mini-album less than two weeks ago so they will have to promote the release as a group of four.

The four already took part in the pre-recording for SBS's music program Inkigayo in Chungju of the North Chungcheong Province set to air this Sunday, the reports explained.

4Minute's new single What Your Name? is currently popular, ten days after its release, as one of the top ten songs on music charts.

Life after Gangnam Style

Posted: 10 May 2013 02:50 AM PDT

One-hit wonder? Not so fast. Psy defies critics with Gentleman.

BACK in March, South Korean rapper Psy was in Kuala Lumpur to perform at Future Music Festival Asia. He performed the hit single Gangnam Style twice to a crowd of over 25,000 partygoers and then dropped a bombshell.

"I don't feel like a human being anymore, I'm a horse. It's an honour to finish off nine months of Gangnam Style in Malaysia. Look out for my new single on April 12," Psy said.

Released last July, Gangnam Style made Psy a global phenomenon. The music video currently holds the record as the most-viewed clip on YouTube with over one billion views and counting.

His other achievements include a win for Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Frankfurt, Germany, and Best Song and Video at Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong. Psy even performed the hit single at a new year's eve celebration in Times Square, New York and shared the stage with American rapper MC Hammer.

However, music critics are not feeling Psy's new single Gentleman which was released last month. In the video, Psy behaves anything but a gentleman. He plays a useless boyfriend who lets his date fall on the floor and laughs at a girl for falling off the treadmill in the gym. He shows off his rebellious side by kicking safety cones on the road and harassing girls in bikini. He also showcases a new dance move he calls the "arrogant dance".

David Trifunov of The Global Post felt the single is not breaking any new ground for Psy.

"It feels strikingly similar to his smash hit (Gangnam Style) and it gravitated into a more tactless territory," said Trifunov.

The Guardian's Alexis Petridis agreed.

"The single is a fairly standard-issue pop dance single with rave-y synthesisers, four to the floor house beats and lyrics about a girl being so freakin' sexy," he said.

Rolling Stone magazine associate editor Simon Vozick-Levinson said it would be impossible for Psy to replicate the success of Gangnam Style with Gentleman.

"It (Gangnam Style) was a freak occurrence. It was just the right combination of factors and it's very hard to replicate that," Vozick-Levinson said.

He added: "One-hit wonders are going to be more common in this day and age. YouTube hits are bigger than Billboard charts. It's easier than ever to come out of nowhere with one incredibly catchy song and have it blow up out of control."

Critics might dismissed Gentleman but Psy continues to break records. Just four days after its release, the video clocked 100 million views on YouTube. Currently, the video has more than 260 million views.

In an interview with MTV News, Psy revealed his gruelling schedule for Gentleman's worldwide release last month.

"I released it on April 12, then the next day I had a huge concert in Korea – so that week was like hell," he said.

"The same week, on Monday and Tuesday, I did the shooting for the video. Then on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, we were editing and I was rehearsing and memorising all the chereography. So that was the worst week ever in my life."

Writing the song was also another matter of personal torment to him.

"I honestly changed this song so many times. I was so nervous. My only goal was to avoid being called a one-hit wonder."

He might have just succeeded in doing that. While many are quick to label Psy a one-hit wonder, statistics show otherwise. Gentleman has managed to find its way to the No.5 spot on US Billboard Hot 100 (Gangnam Style peaked at No.2) and hit the top 10 in Britain.

The song also went to No.1 on the iTunes chart.

The public has spoken and the numbers have proven that Psy is not a one-hit wonder. So, can we stop saying his name in the same breath as Vanilla Ice?

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Jumaat, 10 Mei 2013

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

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