Gangnam Style Becomes World’s Most Watched Video With 1 Billion Views in Sight | Hacker News Reader

Gangnam Style Becomes World’s Most Watched Video With 1 Billion Views in Sight

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80 pointsleeskye112 comments

It's really refreshing to see something reach this kind of blockbuster status and not be from America, or Western Europe.

Not because I'm anti-American, but because this is the kind of experience non-Westerners must get everytime a Lady GaGa/Baywatch/Hollywood Movie dominates their cultural airwaves...whether or not they actually like it, they only still have a vague understanding of what the thing means, and its origins and backstory. It's nice being on the outside looking in...which is something you'd expect to happen more often given the demographic of the world.

It's refreshing. I'm not really sure if it's just a blip though. It seems like every few years there is this "Not US/West European" phenom that rises fast and disappears. Macarena anyone? 99 Red Balloons? There must be a couple more I'm missing?

EDIT: 99 Red Balloons is in fact Western Europe but was in German for more than a year (and widely successful) before being released in English. An oddity. Should have said "Non English" as more accurate than just Western Europe.

Macarena is a spanish song (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Del_Rio) and 99 Red Ballons is german. How is this Not West European?

99 Luftballons is German, so... West European much. And South American music has been integrated in western culture for a long time already. South Korean not much.

I don't think this demerits your comment, but it should be known that Psy went to school at Boston University and Berklee College of Music (both in Boston, USA).

Even I don't think this demerits your comment but the Gangnam video doesn't have anything on it that carries a stamp of any of those you mentioned. It is asiatic+uninhibited+spontaneous and in a very non-American way too.

Really? To me it seems to be more American than anything else. There are guys dancing and pretty girls and special effects. That seems pretty much like an outgrowth of MTV culture, rap videos, etc. which are of American origin. I'll grant it has a unique sense of humor.

> Really? To me it seems to be more American than anything else. There are guys dancing and pretty girls and special effects. That seems pretty much like an outgrowth of MTV culture, rap videos, etc. which are of American origin. I'll grant it has a unique sense of humor.

I would like to differ. People dancing, pretty girls as eye candy is a universal trend that definitely didn't start out of the MTV generation. See for e.g. Bollywood movies.

Dancing and pretty girls are uniquely American now?

> To me it seems to be more American than anything else.

Actually, my understanding is that the lyrics are a parody of the Gangnam district of Seoul, and how the rich people there try to act as if they're American, not Korean.

If anything, it's a parody/rejection of Western culture.

Except PSY himself rejects that explanation: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/120oqd/i_am_south_kore...

I remember reading elsewhere that he accepted that explanation (right in the beginning when the video went viral first) as well. He was recently signed up for some record deal by the man that talent spotted Justin Bieber. Perhaps there was a diktat/mandate from those circles as to to not antagonise the "prospective audience" for his music anymore.

Jackie Chan had similar problems when he made the crossover to Hollywood (Source: his autobiography and Wikipedia entries). So, I won't be surprised if PSY was made to temper his views lately to avoid unnecessary controversy to his new paymasters.

Exactly. This was discussed on many talk shows as well and that was the consensus arrived at regarding the message of the video.

I was really trying to find the links to this, but couldn't.

"unique sense of humor."

I think the appropriate word you're looking for (or rather, to be used instead) is "satire". And that completely changes how you view the whole thing.

I really am not into this kind of stuff (so just coming in as a casual observer/non-fan) but Psy seems to occupy the same genre, marketing/presentation as LMFAO, no? Not that that's uniquely American - I wouldn't know - I just see both of these artists and don't get a vibe of artistic cultural separation.

It is asiatic+uninhibited+spontaneous and in a very non-American way too.

-- Techno. Detroit. Via London, Berlin, etc. Its just pop.

Just to clarify, I was talking about the video there.

Sorry about this, and I am probably flogging a dead horse, but I am just getting the details right here, that's all. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...

Per his own admission, he didn't attend both Boston and Berklee, but switched from Boston to Berklee, he barely attended class and did not finish college (see video above), and he did not answer to the question, "Did you major in music?".

When he was skipping class, he wasn't flying back to Korea. He obviously had a lot of cultural exposure to the US.

> He obviously had a lot of cultural exposure to the US

Which he has promptly gone on to satirise in the gangnam video. Oh the irony. ;-)

People everywhere grow up with western pop culture, so it's not strange and foreign the way PSY is to Americans. It can get a little strange though, when pop culture and fashion travels across the world but the social context behind it is lost on the way.

NPR did a podcast on exactly that.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/10/12/162740623/gangnam-...

Relevant: http://business.time.com/2012/09/24/the-wholesome-hidden-mes...

There's a lot embedded in Gangnam Style.

Do you guys have any favourite spin offs of Gagnam Style ?

The structure is always the same like taking some memorable moments of the video eg at the start the plane or the guy shaking his pelvis in the lift , then take some other stereotype or celebrities in it. So I actually wonder how many more views came from the parodies.

Last similar wave I remember was the "shit says " series maybe 6 months ago that had a similar formula.

here some examples:

Mitt Romney style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTs_TKk5S2M http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6830834/mitt-romney-style-...

Eastern Europe Style http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY1MVQeeStY&list=UUFjCy-D...

Eton Style http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaJl_qOVcf0

MIT Gangnam Style without a doubt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJtHNEDnrnY

The deadpan Chomsky cameo really makes this one for me.

It's a great vid overall. But, if you can only spare 20 seconds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJtHNEDnrnY&t=3m5s

Any idea why such a video would not be available on mobile?

I wonder whether this usually is an oversight. The distinction of "mobile" seems rather vague at best.

Man, this is really livening up my weekend... And thanks for showing us the lighter side of Noam Chomsky. My respect for the man went up several notches.

EDIT: Thanks for making my weekend. All the videos were Hilarious! [snip].

London Mayor Boris Johnson has gangnam'd too: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/video/2012/oct/09/boris-j...

Here's a another one: http://opalang.org/gangnam.style.html

EDIT: Just curious, really, why the downvotes?

The very best remix of Gangnam Style was done Steve Streza. It seems the video was yanked from youtube due to copyright issues, but the audio files are still available on his site.

http://stevestreza.com/2012/09/08/so-i-made-a-mashup

Although the mixed audio alone is great, the video mixing was also fantastic. The whole thing was discussed here on HN:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4493280

Listening to this, and I'm rather disappointed I'm missing out on the accompanying video.

I wonder if Youtube will reverse course on this, given that Psy has made it clear he has no interest in enforcing that copyright (a decision which is clearly in his best interest, too).

Gangnam Style Orchestral + A Capella PSY http://vimeo.com/48120211

I didn't feel it was as bad as some of the comments here seem to indicate. I would give them a lot of marks simply for the effort to begin with and considering that it is simply a labour of love (as many of these videos here seem to be), it is very well done indeed.

kind of makes you realize how bad the actual music with when it is played orchestrally.

It depends, it can also just be a crappy adaptation. I personally like this piano version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd-h0debytI&list=UUl3iv3e...

What stingraycharles said. It depends on the adaptions. I liked this one by the Ohio marching band 110 Gangnam style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDficEfonAE

It makes you realize how bad the synthesized instruments they used for it were... also not arranged for an orchestra. You can't just simply take the original note for note and play it on different instruments.

I think the best spinoff is the MIT Gangnam style video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJtHNEDnrnY they even have Noam Chomsky featured prominently in the video.

I'm a big fan of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo-tWlETq8w Deadpool vs Gangnam Style. Mostly as everyone seems to be such good sports about being involved.

Another one: Ohio 110 marching band plays Gangnam style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDficEfonAE

Yes, check out my comment here :)

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4825846

Gandalf Style wins it for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M660rjNCH0A

This is what is so great about remixing other people's ideas, and why the current copyright laws get it so wrong. Allowing this to happen means it is only going to benefit the original creator, as there will be a whole culture formed around it, which will make it ever more popular.

This is also why George Lucas got it so wrong in the past, when he sued his fans for expanding on his ideas. If anything the remixing Star Wars culture formed despite him, not because of him.

This is what is so great about remixing other people's ideas Agree 100% with that sentiment.

Indeed, that's one more reason to like this guy, PSY

"According to The Guardian, PSY has waived his copyright to the music video. Although this has not been officially confirmed, Arwa Mahdawi of The Guardian reported it was likely that PSY had simply refrained from taking legal action against parodies of his video. "Gangnam Style" is therefore a video that is "born to spawn"" [1]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangnam_Style

There is no legal claim against parodies. The copyright allowance was in allowing people to distribute the original video and/or audio (for example, reusing the audio track in a new YouTube submission)

These people took it to another level. Tribute to one of the biggest festivals in India, 'Ganesh Utsav' in Gangnam style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x47TWUKP3E8

Excellent audio+video mashup.

EDIT: They even managed to find some footage (sort of) replicating the lift scene from the video! :-D

My 66yo father, who once asked incredulously, "who is this 'Lady Goo Goo'?" recently told me how he got the airline to bump him to 1st class for free. He then wryly remarked "Oppa Gangnam style".

That, right there, is what I call global penetration.

Not to belittle your point, as it is a rather amusing anecdote, but Lady Gaga came to prominence in 2008 almost 4 years ago. In 2008, my older relatives from the rural midwest where still trying to figure out e-mail. Now, they all have facebook accounts.

> recently told me how he got the airline to bump him to 1st class for free.

Not sure what you mean? Can you please elaborate? How is the Gangnam Style video related to your father getting to fly 1st class?

The point is that even his father who is not familiar with Lady Gaga, another famous pop icon, is familiar with Psy and comfortable using the meme created by his song.

His father interpreted his free upgrade as "Gangnam style".

He knew the meme well enough to know that "Gangnam style" meant "living large" more or less.

For someone who usually takes a pass on all things pop culture, this was unexpected to say the least and speaks to the enormity of the influence this music video has had on all layers of society.

Gangnam is the part of Seoul known for the number of rich people who live there. It's associated with luxury. Getting to fly first class is definitely Gangnam style.

Juxtapose "who is this 'Lady Goo Goo'?" next to "Oppa Gangnam style", and you've solved the puzzle of what he wanted to convey. ;-)

Except here in Germany, where the local fuckwads at the GEMA [1] made Youtube block the video because "they hadn't granted the necessary rights". For a fucking copyright-waived video. Argh.

And people actually wonder why more and more (German) people have absolutely no qualms about piracy. I'm actually not sure whether or not I should thank the GEMA for that.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesellschaft_f%C3%BCr_musikali...

Ah, the old "viewable everywhere in the world except Germany" YouTube music video problem.

Funny how proportions are lost. They're assuming the billion views yet they're still 200 million views away. There was a time not so long ago, when Avril Lavigne and the Evolution of Dance battled themselves out fiercely to reach 200 million views. Clickbots, fanclubs and all.

Presumably youtube's userbase has grown since then. Also Psy's song likely has more international appeal than either of those.

Youtube's user base or the general internet's user base? It might also have to do with an increase in the general internet population of third world countries where this song got its initial traction.

What does 1Bn views equate to in real money if you have the normal amount of youtube advertising? I know this may vary depending on the audience but I'd love a ballpark if someone has any idea. I was under the impression 1m views = ~$3300 but I could be mistaken.

$1 CPM is what pretty much everyone can get, $3CPM and beyond are possible but generally reserved for people that are members of well managed Youtube networks. Gangnam style is probably a unique case in that it's a single video that advertisers will want to associate with, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's making $5 CPM ($5k/1m views) -- $5CPM average, probably peaking at 10 - 15.

If I am not mistaken the 'M' in CPM stands for 1000 not 1m. the M is a roman numeral for 1000. That would also be more on par with what I am seeing other youtubers get (see AdamGibbins's link).

I meant $1 per 1,000 views. My calculation of $5,000 for 1,000,000 views was meant as an extension of the calculations for those that wanted to work out the total.

You're correct, it stands for 'Cost per mille', and indicates the revenue received for a thousand views.

"Gangnam Style Link Spurs DI Surge" http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-17/-gangnam-style-link...

"How Much Did It Cost YouTube To Stream Gangnam Style?" http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2012/10/29/how-much-did-it...

Psy only made $32,000 USD from domestic online sales of “Gangnam Style”? http://www.allkpop.com/2012/10/psy-only-made-32000-usd-from-...

Psy only made $32,000 USD from domestic online sales of “Gangnam Style”?

Make sure you read that article, those are Domestic (Korean) sales where prices are a lot lower. This is partly because songs in Korea are so much cheaper than other songs to download. At the cheapest, American songs are 791 KRW (approximately $0.71 USD), Canadian songs are 804 KRW (approximately $0.72 USD), and British songs are 1064 KRW (approximately $0.96 USD), but Korean songs on average are at 63 KRW (approximately $0.06 USD).

and

his other sales outside of domestic online sales combined are estimated to have reached 100 billion KRW (approximately $90 million USD).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/7965381/Y...

you da man.

edit: Looks like ~$750k. Significantly less than I thought.

The "World's Most Watched Video" may be an exaggeration -- am I to believe that Gangnam Style has been watched more times than the Zapruder film or the moon landing footage?

The headline isn't the article. The former is meant to summarize the article and convince you to read further. It does that perfectly. The latter makes it clear that the headline refers to views on YouTube.

Is it really hard to believe? I personally have seen Gangnam Style more often than the zapruder shots or the moon landing. Heck, i've seen the clip "Aaliyah - are you that somebody" more often. This is not about the number of unique viewers but rather total views. Gangnam Style is easily the most viewed videoclip ever. Overall i think it can only be outclassed by long running commercials and tv show intro's.

It's absolutely impossible to believe. In the 1960s, the Apollo 11 moon landing had about 500 million views. The suggestion that in the four decades since it has not gained at least 300 million more is...well, impossible to believe. "An estimated 500 million people worldwide watched this event, the largest television audience for a live broadcast at that time."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing

Also: the recent olympics opening ceremonies are good candidates.

It is that hard to believe. I've watched Gangnam Style twice, maybe three times, and I know lots of people who have never seen it at all. I've seen the moon landing footage dozens of times, and I don't know anyone over the age of 10 who hasn't seen it at least once.

You have to watch out for association bias. If you haven't seen the video very many times it is likely that your associates don't watch the video much either. But among other circles it has quite a bit more exposure than would seem reasonable.

I still wonder why "Yatta, Yatta!" from Happatai did not become equally famous :)

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=happatai+-+yatta...

Well, the song isn't as good.

They were on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, weren't they?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yatta_(song)

If you haven't seen it :) Gangnam Style:

with a bear http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B1J73Ag3hU

Nelly Furtado http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehs-vZ1uF-k

Metal/rock cover http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czJAGGoaYtw

It reached 1 Billion views without any support from the 4th largest market for music[1].

Germany has a market share of 7–8% for albums and 9–12% for singles. In 2005 market value was 887.7 million USD. And yet no one in Germany has ever watched Gangnam Style on Youtube.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_industry

> In 2005 market value was USD 887.7.

Are you missing "million" or "billion"?

It's million. Fixed it, thanks a lot.

@slowpoke gave a reason in his answer:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4826022

Is the video unavailable in Germany or something?

All this and it's not counting places like China which has it's own youtube like service. And my understanding is that countries like Germany, with overly aggressive IP laws blocks the music from the video so it doesn't get nearly as many views. (it'd be great if somebody could confirm)

@slowpoke did that: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4826022

There is a site collecting all the Gangnam Style parody videos

http://GangnamStyleNews.com

really? more than Justin Bieber's baby?

I'm proud to be in the NEVER WATCHED THIS CRAPOLA category, evidently not important enough to be counted.

What the other person said, how can you be so sure it is bad w/o even having seen it in the first place? :-P

FWIW, it is an excellent satire on pop-culture in general, hip-hop videos, OTT dance moves in most music videos, etc. And the tune itself is quite catchy and has excellent recall value even without following the language...

In short, I cannot emphasise enough on how wonderfully it works as a satire to all things that you might consider "crapola" (this view is based on how quickly you dismissed the video as crapola in the first place), so I suggest you fire up the video and only then dismiss it.

You're welcome to diss it though, just watch it first, make an informed opinion, and then you're welcome to diss it all you want ;-)

i dont think it is a satire of anything. it's just pre-pooped music like most of today's mainstream music.

Hear that clicking sound? It's your generation gap getting a little wider. Happens to everyone.

Ha ha. While it might be a generational thing those types of derogatory comments are also very frequent from members of the current generation (through every generation)

You don't even need to speak Korean to understand it's satire. The very opening visual is something you could analyze for a high school English essay. Not saying it's terribly deep, but it is satire.

PSY have been doing that stuff for 10 years , i dont think there is anything "satirical" in his work.

YMMV ;-)

But, yes, your point can be equally valid too. When it comes to visual arts, the whole thing is soooo open to interpretation.

You can't criticize it if you haven't seen it IMO. Also it seems odd to be proud to be ignorant of something (regardless of your personal music preferences).

like you cant tell cocaine is bad unless you tried it, right ?

Huh?

I think the defining problem with cocaine is that it is in fact, awesome.

So fucking awesome that you'll ruin your life to get it.

Seems like the end point in your case though then is "it's bad" Honestly Camus putting a label like "bad" or "good" on a complicated thing like drug usage doesn't seem wise does it?

Apples and pears, I'm afraid.

yet both are fruits.

And yet they have different colours, different tastes, different blah blahs....

Look, its Saturday today, we both have a lot of time, and this can go on and on, but I think we both know what I wanted to convey :-)

Clearly, you are motivated enough to read (allegedly) the entire article and open the link and comment here about how you have never watched it. Yet, you still are ready to make an assumption of its alleged crappiness without having watched it or experienced it. I am puzzled: What is it exactly that you want? a recognition of the obscure nature of your tastes? Or..?

Do you want a cookie for that achievement, hon?

This kind of comment feels like it's becoming the new "I don't even own a tv". Just like before, the only people who didn't have tvs that I took seriously were the ones who would never feel the need to go out of their way to tell you about it.

Gangnam Style is a poignant example of a world-wide entertainment trend that wasn't started in America. Most of the world doesn't even know what the lyrics mean, but that didn't keep it from sweeping the globe. It did so without advertising or great expense, using Internet platforms like Youtube to get reach.

I've seen Gangnam Style covered in places like the New Yorker, the Economist, and the Wall Street Journal. These are places that don't generally spend time discussing pop music, but that also felt Gangnam was worth consideration.

Musical tastes vary, and nothing says you have to like it. But PSY's hit seems to be indicative of a global increase in cosmopolitanism, and that's a trend that affects many entrepreneurs and investors.

+1 for "Gangnam Style is a poignant example of a world-wide entertainment trend that wasn't started in America". You said it.

I wanted to say that too, but didn't feel it was necessary within the discussion context taking place (where I was first replying). Since you've mentioned it, here's my view. There's a certain "uninhibitedness" to the video that's very recognisably asiatic (as in there is no 'Made in USA' cultural feel and reference to it) and that also that shouts out "I am not a packaged deal, I was spontaneously made". I think that freshness is what's keeping the momentum going.

Note aside, the singer seems to be a wise, generous and simple person with a sense of distance. I was greatly surprised and pleased to see him in interviews. Doubly refreshing.

Very nice to hear that one. Most stories about people involved in media, music and entertainment seem to highlight that they don't have any those obviously redeeming qualities

Many of celebrities are product of the system (teen idols, etc), iirc PSY was an struggling odd pop singer with his own take on things I guess, which makes the whole phenomenon even funnier.

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