Friday YouTube fun

For some Friday blog fun, we thought we’d pull out some classic clips from YouTube and a theme soon became apparent as we ran through some favourites… parodies and mash-ups. Here’s a notable one from a while back. Microsoft advertise a new bit of music software in typical Microsoft style.

Hilarious responses quickly followed putting the very same advertised music software to the test:

A little more recently, Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind was quickly re-hashed for a more Welsh-centric audience and a video that truly epitomises the word viral, Rebecca Blacks “Friday” has countless parodies all of varying degrees of success.

So it seems YouTube has become the home for a brand of humour that has long been around, but now, more than ever, a parody or remix seems to be the de facto response to any videoclip that has at least mild pop-culture success. There are a number of reasons that would point to why, not least the ability of the public to make video responses at a cost that’s never been lower and outreach thats never been greater.

That same public, namely us, are the filter of what is successful and what is not, we need to sort the wheat from the chaff. It seems the most successful parodies and mash-ups always offer an insight, a production skill, or tone of humour that has an originality and creativity. If we discover it, the author is given a massive springboard and a chance to reach out to millions of viewers in a matter of hours. Perhaps successful careers can be started?

This cut-up version of The Apprentice gained massive appeal, not just based on the popularity of the show, but in its own right:

The likes of Kutiman, remixing and reshaping musical YouTube clips from his bedroom to construct whole new original tracks, has gone on to be a prolific producer: