Katy Perry wants you to sing along with her at the Grammys. You can upload your own video or just laugh at a lot of other people's videos here. Selected videos will be seen at the Grammys and the winning video will get $5,000.
Madonna stops vacuuming long enough to deliver a message to her fans on YouTube. Below that is the music video for "4 minutes." How long will take for Madonna's YouTube channel to climb to 100,000 subscribers? Probably, not very long.
Miley Cyrus and Mandy Jiroux have been playing around with YouTube. They have a channel here. We aren't sure what they are doing here but it's pretty silly. This act needs some work. The lengthy channel description explains why the videos are a little raw. Here's an excerpt.
The Miley and Mandy show began when Mandy who is a professional dancer began to teach me (Miley) a routine to Janet Jackson's, Feedback. Now Mandy has gone through a lot of dancing and performing training and well me... not so much! While Mandy taught me the dance steps we recorded ourselves so we could watch it back and remember the moves. As expected I was not so good and I began to fool around and goof off. Mandy joined me shortly after and as we were joking and having fun the camera never stopped rolling. Once we watched back the video we had made we realized that when we were just being ourselves it was much more entertaining than the dance we had put together! So, we decided to make a youtube account and load the video and see what the reaction. Not expecting the success that it has brought, the next morning we had thousands of views and over one million messages requesting more of The Miley and Mandy Show!
Singer Alisa Apps uploaaded her the music video for her song "Confusion" and it wasn't long before it was flagged and then censored with an 18+ rating. On her website she railed against the censorship of her video.
My video was flagged on Youtube and I think the major record labels are in on it! Within a matter of 8 hrs I received 50k views. #1 viewed today in England and #3 viewed in the world today (which is beyond outstanding and a very large amount in such a quick time). It was flagged & censored with an 18 + viewer needed...which means it was pulled from the Youtube charts ..the charts are crucial to Youtube success!! This censorship devastates the ultimate viewership I would have gotten on this video!!!!
Here's an edited version of "Confusion" that is now on YouTube.
Will Somebody Please Sing Jingle Bells With Alisa Apps?
Singer Alisa Apps recently posted a video titled "Will somebody PLEASE sing Jingle Bells with me???" Within 2 days she had 90,000+ views. Alisa also has a popular thumb sucking video.
In less than 3 days Alisa garnered thousands of comments, video responses, true confessions from her fans and 267,000+ views. A press release says her music video "Confusion" has already hit #2 on the UK YouTube music charts. The video will not officially be released until March. Here's the "Confusion" video.
This is an original song from Jodie Rivera, who is also known on YouTube as the Venetian Princess. The song is also available on iTunes. Jodie's website can be found here.
SFGate.com reports that appearing in iPod ads has been good for a Canadian band named Feist.
The Canadian band Feist was quick to realize the benefits of its Apple partnership. Headed by singer-songwriter Leslie Feist, it released "The Reminder" on May 1, a well-reviewed collection of alternative and folk songs. The record sold decently - 31,000 its first week and 21,000 the next, according to SoundScan. On Sept. 9, when its song "1234" was paired with Apple's new iPod video Nano, the band was averaging 6,000 record sales weekly for a grand total of 216,000.
During the next four weeks, as the catchy ad beamed into millions of American living rooms, weekly sales for Feist improved to 14,000 the first week, 19,000 the second, 28,000 the third and 20,000 four weeks into the ad campaign.
Paul Potts' new album called One Chance has hit #1 on Amazon Music says the Amazon Blog. Here's the video of Paul Potts' surprising performance of "Nessun Dorma" on the UK talent show Britain's got Talent.
Pop singer/songwriter Lisa Lavie received over 1 million views in just 5 days after posting the video for her song "Angel." Lavie was discovered by songwriter/producer Ben Margulies - who had three number one hits with Mariah Carey.
Ben was handed her demo while visiting a recording studio in Las Vegas 3 years ago. After just one listen, Ben recalls it was "like the first time I heard Mariah." Calling her magical voice "one in a million," he knew Lisa had
everything it takes to record a hit album. Fortunately for her growing fanbase, they will not have to wait much longer. Knowing the value of her fans, Lisa endeavored to respond to the more than 10,000 encouraging comments left on
YouTube. The web page thought Lisa was a computer program and suspended her account. 48 hours later, she was back on YouTube after her fans started a petition to "Bring Lisa Back."
Lisa Lavie's channel on YouTube now has over 9.000 subscribers. She also has a MySpace page here. Below Lisa's "Angel" video. Her song Save Your Breath is also worth a listen - it will be on her upcoming album.
Soulja Boy has an album coming out October 2nd called SouljaBoytellem.com. The song "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" has already been a Billboard and ringtone hit. It was also an Internet hit with millions of views on MySpace and YouTube. Isn't it a little tacky to name your album after your website? Not if you are Soulja Boy -- the AP notes that Soulja Boy dotcom album title is a "nod to his Internet fame."
Long before his hit "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" topped Billboard charts and became a top-selling ringtone, the song reportedly helped him receive 10 million MySpace visits. And on YouTube, a myriad of fans have uploaded homemade video clips featuring their own versions of the song's accompanying dance steps. The track, now unavoidable on urban radio, centres on electro-pan drum plunks, a nearly indecipherable chanted chorus and lyrics mostly about how Soulja Boy enlivens the party.
Now his major-label debut "SouljaBoytellem.com" - an aptly titled nod to his Internet fame - is a largely self-produced collection of similarly rudimentary rhymes, infectious hooks and space-age, synth-heavy beats. Yet the disc is about as formulaic and ultimately disposable as hip-hop can get. He's got the requisite rump odes ("Booty Meat" and "Donk"), product placement jams ("Bapes" and "Sidekick") and dance-move ditties ("Snap and Roll" and "Let Me Get Em"). Undeterred by his own lack of depth, on the album closer "Don't Get Mad," he says: "Don't get mad cause the kids like me." Soulja Boy may have a point: he has a populist's ear for what the most young rap listeners crave: frothy, party-rocking anthems.
Soulja has been criticized for his derogatory lyrics. Media Girl notes that Soulja Boy used the word "hoe" in his "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" song 30 times. You can hear this more clearly if you listen to a reading of Crank It by Sam Harris. AllHipHop has an interview with 17-year-old Soulja Boy here but there's nothing in it about the lyrics.
The video below contains an instructional dance video from Soulja Boy.
Starbucks doesn't appear to be very interested in DaVido's "Java Jitter" song. He keeps getting thrown out of Starbucks despite his continuous attempts to sing his song "Java Jitter" inside them. He has been thrown out of 200 Starbucks already but doesn't appear to be ready to quit. DaVido's goal is to "have his CD on the Starbucks music racks next to superstars such as Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and Ray Charles."
DaVido's website can be found at www.javajitter.com. He also has a MySpace page. Below is the Java Jitter video that contains DaVido's song and scenes of DaVido attempting to sing the "Java Jitter" inside various Starbucks locations.
Most people thought Marie Digby sounded pretty good for an undiscovered artist when she posted videos of herself singing covers of hit songs like "Umbrella" and "Torn" on YouTube. It turns out that she already had been signed by with Hollywood Records (a Disney label) well before her YouTube channel emerged. The Wall Street Journal explains in this article that outs Digby as a signed artist.
What her legions of fans don't realize, however, is that Ms. Digby's career demonstrates something else: that traditional media conglomerates are going to new lengths to take advantage of the Internet's ability to generate word-of-mouth buzz.
Ms. Digby's simple, homemade music videos of her performing popular songs have been viewed more than 2.3 million times on YouTube. Her acoustic-guitar rendition of the R&B hit "Umbrella" has been featured on MTV's program "The Hills" and is played regularly on radio stations in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Portland, Ore. Capping the frenzy, a press release last week from Walt Disney Co.'s Hollywood Records label declared: "Breakthrough YouTube Phenomenon Marie Digby Signs With Hollywood Records."
What the release failed to mention is that Hollywood Records signed Ms. Digby in 2005, 18 months before she became a YouTube phenomenon. Hollywood Records helped devise her Internet strategy, consulted with her on the type of songs she chose to post, and distributed a high-quality studio recording of "Umbrella" to iTunes and radio stations.
Digby probably should have disclosed that she already had a record deal which is something the vast majority YouTube singers do not have. However, Digby explains in a blog post that just because you are signed doesn't mean you are on the path to success and riches.
IS this guy completely insane. You think it's that easy? That you get signed and suddenly everything's taken care of for you!!!?? DO you think that my record label came to my house, my bathroom! and told me what songs to sing and told me that in a matter of weeks i'd be some "youtube" phenom??!?!
Wake up - I am GRATEFUL to be signed but you know what, Labels don't come to your house, hold your hand, and direct youtube videos for you.
I have so many dear friends who were signed to the biggest record labels in the world, made amazing albums and were DROPPED. that's it.....
Apparently, a lot of the people on YouTube haven't read the Wall Street Journal story because there are recent comments on her videos telling her she is good enough get a record contract. They are more right than they know. You can read more discussion of the WSJ-Digby story here, here, here, here and here. And here is an article about Marie Digby back in 2004 when she was one of three finalists remaining in a Pantene Pro-Voice singing contest. (via Buzz Feed).
Below is Digby's cover of Natalie Imbruglia's hit song "Torn." She also has an original song called "Unfold" that is quite good.
You have probably heard of Dutch Internet sensation Esmee Denters if you keep up with YouTube music. She was discovered on YouTube after uploading videos of herself singing some of her favorite songs into her sisters Webcam. Today she is opening for Justin Timberlake and putting the finishing touches on her first album. Esmee talks about her success in this video for Alpha Kitty. Not surprisingly, she says "her favorite thing in the whole wide world is music."
Lucky Twice, a duo of Swedish teen girls Hannah (15) and Sofie (16), have become a YouTube sensation with their hit song "Lucky." The music video for "Lucky" has received nearly 1.25 million views. There is a good reason for their success. "Lucky" is a catchy, fun and uplifting tune. Many who hear it probably find themselves returning to its YouTube page to hear it again. On the duo's website at www.luckytwice.com the girls explain how they came to write "Lucky."
One day we decided to write a song together, I didnt take it so serious, says Sofie, I didnt even now that Hannah could really sing or was so interested in music, but then I noticed continues Sofie, (who already at tender age of six, was taking part in her first musical; Kristina från Duvemåla). One day my brothers manager Victoria called my mother, she was looking for two girls to sing in a duo, and then my mother told her about me and Hannah says Sofie. We went to up to Stockholm and recorded Lucky and we both got a management contract as well as a recording deal! And then LUCKY TWICE was born!
They probably had no idea how well the song would be received on YouTube. So far YouTube contains a music video of the song "Lucky" as well as a video clip of a live performance at Fernsehgarten. Hannah and Sofie each gave a great performance live but the two boys they had dancing around them did not. Here is Lucky Twice's single "Lucky."
Sunrise Avenue has been receiving some buzz lately for their single, "Fairytale Gone Bad." Wikipedia says the hot single "went Gold in Germany after selling more than 150.000 units." The internationally-known band has recently been on tour in Finland. They blogged about it in a recent diary entry.
We took my car with Sami instead of the buss to ride free. It's so cool to wake up at the hotel and just sit an hour at the breakfast table and start driving when you feel like it. With the buss you must to have a clear schedule, it's so many guys.
The first show was at Lohja at Rantajamit (Isn't Finnish language funny ;). All was ok apart from the weather but fortunately the whole thing happened in a huge tent. The only thing I must say the Finnish festival organizers can't take care of is the privacy stuff. It's only in Finland where you get to your dressing room after the show and it's less than a minute when people are knocking the door to get autographs. Cultural thing. We drove home after the show to get deep sleep in our own beds.
Here's the video for "Fairytale Gone Bad" which has over 2 million views on YouTube.com.
Mia Rose, a singer who became popular on YouTube, has a new video entry. In it she says she has been working on an album that she hopes will be coming out this Fall. That's really cool that someone got a record deal by singing songs on YouTube. Mia was signed (via Thug Online) by Ryan Leslie in April, 2007 to his Next Selection label. Mia's latest video post also includes clips of her in the recording studio.
Pop singer/songwriter Lisa Lavie received over 1 million views in just 5 days after posting the video for her song "Angel." Lavie was discovered by songwriter/producer Ben Margulies - who had three number one hits with Mariah Carey.
Soulja Boy has an album coming out October 2nd called 
Starbucks doesn't appear to be very interested in DaVido's "Java Jitter" song. He keeps getting thrown out of Starbucks despite his continuous attempts to sing his song "Java Jitter" inside them. He has been thrown out of 200 Starbucks already but doesn't appear to be ready to quit. DaVido's goal is to "have his CD on the Starbucks music racks next to superstars such as Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and Ray Charles."
Lucky Twice, a duo of Swedish teen girls Hannah (15) and Sofie (16), have become a YouTube sensation with their hit song "Lucky." The music video for "Lucky" has received nearly 1.25 million views. There is a good reason for their success. "Lucky" is a catchy, fun and uplifting tune. Many who hear it probably find themselves returning to its YouTube page to hear it again. On the duo's website at 