YouTube and the Digital Age

In 2011, YouTube was the most visited website in the world, reaching hundreds of thousands of people per day. This digital platform can be used as a powerful tool for artists to promote their music by being accessed by millions of viewers. 

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A case study conducted by Christopher Cayari analyzed how the musician Wade Johnston used YouTube to promote his music. 

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How did he start on YouTube?  Wade first started on Youtube in 2008. At first, he started sharing videos of songs he made and later on sharing covers from artists that influenced him. 

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How did he become "YouTube Famous"? Wade uploaded a video of him doing a cover of Jaqueline (another artist famous on the platform at the time that influenced him). From that video, he got an exponential increase in subscriptions and attracted more viewers.

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How did he use YouTube to create a fan base? Wade uploaded covers of known songs to catch the viewers' attention to his channel. According to Wade: "If I chose a popular song, then it is obviously going to get a lot more popularity than one's that people have not heard of."

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Source: 

Cayari, C. (2011). The YouTube Effect: How YouTube Has Provided New Ways to Consume, Create, and Share Music. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 12(6), n6.

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