It seems as though everyone wants to create the next viral internet phenomenon. Mashable has an article showcasing several music videos that have gone viral and suggestions on how to do the same; however, none of them really add any clarity to the subject at hand. I understand the use of the word “viral” to describe something that affects or infects someone and THEN spreads rapidly either due to a lack of hand washing or spam filtering. While the two components to creating viral content seem to be equally important, the latter is lost in the noise created by the former.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
They say that Internet killed the video star (or the Limousines did, but still). We would beg to differ. The web has opened up a tour bus-full of opportunities for bands hoping to get their music out there via the cinematic medium. And to back up that assertion, we’ve talked with musicians, including Cee-Lo Green, Auto-Tune the News and OK Go, and gathered together their top tips for making an eminently shareable music video.
In the past, the realm of music videos was a whole lot less democratic — but that’s all changed dramatically in recent years.
“Distribution is going through a massive upheaval,” says Fred Santarpia, general manager of Vevo. “Cable TV is not the primary paradigm for the format. Rather, tens of millions of fans actively seek out and share their favorite music videos online each month, and with the explosion of the video-enabled smartphone market, we at Vevo believe that music videos will go viral even faster than they do today as more fans turn to the screen in their hand to discover new music.” Read More HERE.
The article discusses, in very shallow manner, why video content is important to artists. It also references several videos and why they found viral success (kind of). So how DO you create viral content?
Well….I guess I will just quote Seth Godin, “Be remarkable.” If remarkable doesn’t work, try again.
The Murderdolls, the group featuring Slipknot’s Joey Jordison and Wednesday 13, has been forced to cancel their previously announced December Violent Night, Deadly Night tour. The band released the following joint statement:
“Due to an unforeseeable family emergency, Murderdolls have been forced to cancel the upcoming Violent Night, Deadly Night tour. These decisions are never easy to make and we did everything we could to keep from having to cancel, but this was unavoidable. We’ll do our best to make up the dates in 2011. For those who bought tickets, refunds are available from point of purchase. Sorry ghoulscouts but we’ll see you all soon!”
Plans to reschedule the dates have yet to be made. This tour was to follow their opening stint on Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper’s Halloween Hootenanny tour this past Fall. We will keep you updated if more is revealed. But in case you’re really sad about not seeing The Murderdolls live, you can see their new video for the song “Nowhere” above to fill the void.
BBC News is reporting that Motörhead fan Andrew Crawford was beaten to death by two men after attending a concert at the O2 Arena in Leeds, England. The assault was believed to have arisen from an earlier incident at the show when the two men lit one of Crawford’s friend’s hair on fire. His friend wasn’t seriously injured, but left the show after speaking to security. After the show, Crawford(pictured on the side) and his cousin confronted the two men and a fight ensued. While his cousin was not seriously injured, Crawford was rushed to Leeds General Infirmary with serious head injuries, and died later in the evening. Police reportedly arrested the two men, one 26 and the other 30 years old, but both posted bail shortly after. Crawford, a divorced father of one, was 44 years old.
Stuff like this gives metal concerts a bad name. No one should ever be put in harm’s way at a show, no matter what type of concert or band is playing. To make it worse, Motörhead and their fans will probably get a lot of heat for the actions of a few hoodlums trying to cause trouble for others. Either way you look at it, it’s simply a sad turn of events. We will keep you updated if more occurs.
Festival dates are like Christmas: they’re both starting to get announced earlier and earlier. Though the lineup won’t be officially announced until January, dates and venues for the 2011 edition of the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Fest were revealed last week. The traveling metal festival will be hitting 26 cities within July and August. The entire tour itinerary can be seen after the jump. For those who want to buy tickets early, or buy someone an awesome gift for the holidays, Mayhem Fest are offering Holiday Gift Packages for a limited time. Check out the tour’s website for more information.
Even though we’re well over a month away from an official announcement, we thought we’d get the ball rolling and start discussing who might appear on Mayhem Fest this summer and who we can definitely cross off the list. Keep in mind, some of our predictions are based on internet murmurs while others are simply speculations. So with that in mind, this should be considered simply as gossip. Admit it though, you love gossiping like school girls!
Strong Possibilities:
Trivium: Trivium headlined 2009’s Jagermeister stage and will begin recording a new album in December, so the time frame seems right. But what makes this the strongest possibility? Back in October, Mayhem Fest posted a fan tribute video to Trivium on their website. The band linked the Mayhem Fest page in a posting titled “Mayhem 2011 With Trivium” the same day. Though neither Triviumn nor Mayhem’s posting mention anything about them being on the lineup, it seems pretty clear to be the case.
Cradle Of Filth: Though he made it clear that nothing was confirmed, Cradle Of Filth guitarist Paul Allender revealed to us in an interview that the band is in talks to be on Mayhem Fest this summer. This would certainly give Cradle Of Filth a chance to perform to a larger U.S. audience, while at the same time would be a good fit as one of the second stage headliners.
Children of Bodom: They have a new album coming in March (Relentless Reckless Forever), and haven’t done the Fest yet. Plus, Children Of Bodom are large enough to either headline one of the second stages or open the main stage.
Black Label Society: Oh how times have changed. One year ago, the thought of Zakk Wylde appearing on any other festival other than Ozzfest would’ve been unimaginable. But now that he’s no longer Ozzy’s guitarist, anything is possible. And seeing as how BLS had a blog posting on MySpace asking fans to vote for them to be on the Mayhem Fest 2011 lineup, Wylde being on Mayhem Fest seems even more likely. BLS certainly has a strong following and would bring in a decent sized crowd. A main stage slot definitely seems probable.
All That Remains: If Trivium is on the bill, then it may be less likely that All That Remains will as well since the two shared the same stage at Mayhem 2009. However, with their latest album For We Are Many debuting at #10 back in October, ATR might be a likely choice to open the main stage.
Avenged Sevenfold: There’s no proof, or even any rumors, that Avenged Sevenfold will be on this year’s lineup. In fact, their recently announced Nightmare After Christmas tour might imply that they may not be planning anything in the States this Summer. However, all the U.S. dates they’ve done in support of Nightmare so far (including the Uproar Tour this past Fall) have been in smaller markets. Thus, Avenged Sevenfold could use this Summer’s Mayhem Fest as a way to hit all the major markets. Plus, this would give Mayhem Fest a relatively large co-headliner for this year’s edition.
Alice In Chains/Deftones: We’re lumping these bands together because they were part of the very cool Blackdiamondskye tour. Both of them would make a great headlining band for the main stage, and neither has done a festival in years. They’re also both coming off great albums and are marquee names that would draw both old school and new school fans. Read more »
Watain will be holding a meet-and-greet/after-show party on Thursday, December 2 at Duff’s Brooklyn in Williamsburg, Brooklyn following their show at Santos Party House in New York City.
Invisible Oranges tipped us off to Flametal, a metal flamenco band highlighted by guitarist Benjamin Woods. Apparently, when a roommate stole his electric guitar, he turned to acoustic and discovered his talent for flamenco guitar. Flametal is a full band that plays original (and much heavier) music, but their third album, Heavy Mellow, is pretty much all Benjamin, all acoustic, and almost all covers. While there’s a rough similarity on the acoustic album to fellow acoustic shredders Rodrigo y Gabriela, Flametal’s covers of Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Yngwie Malmsteen and Queensryche definitely have their own sound. Check out their take on Maiden’s “Aces High.”
Avenged Sevenfold has been confirmed for the 2011 Download Festival, set to take place on June 10-12, 2011 at Donington Park in Leicestershire, United Kingdom.
Did you love hearing Anvil’s new song “Mankind Machine”? Then stream the Canadian thrashers’ new album Hope In Hell in its entirety before it’s released on May 28 over at Loudwire.
Kylesa’s new album, Ultraviolet, is streaming online at Pitchfork. Check out the album, as well as some pretty awesome visuals, here. The album will come out on May 28 on Season of Mist.
Unsigned & Streamed vets Anciients, who’s Season of Mist debut Heart of Oak is out now, have landed the opening slot on the Lamb of God tour. They’ll be playing from May 16 – June 10. Check out the dates here.
Sinestra Studios (who very often provides Metal Insider with some killer live photos) is hosting its very first art galleria and metal show on Saturday, May 25, at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, NY. Tickets for the event are onsale now.
Louna has premiered a new music video for the song “Business” with Crave Online. The extravagant and politically themed music video comes in support of the Russian hard rock group’s new album, Behind The Mask, available now via Red Decade Records and MEG/RED.
It seems as though everyone wants to create the next viral internet phenomenon. Mashable has an article showcasing several music videos that have gone viral and suggestions on how to do the same; however, none of them really add any clarity to the subject at hand. I understand the use of the word “viral” to describe something that affects or infects someone and THEN spreads rapidly either due to a lack of hand washing or spam filtering. While the two components to creating viral content seem to be equally important, the latter is lost in the noise created by the former.
Posted by MarkLaFay on Tue, Nov 30, 2010 at 9:59 am
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