Update: 'Gangnam Style' Breaks YouTube View Counter

[JamesG]

PSY's 'Gangnam Style' Now Most-Watched YouTube Video of All Time
11/24/2012
by Jason Lipshutz, Billboard










PSY's 'Gangnam Style' is now the most-watched YouTube video of all time. The 4:13 clip from the South Korean rapper has earned approximately 803,761,000 views since it was posted on July 15, 2012.

Early on Saturday, that total passed the longtime YouTube champ -- the music video for Justin Bieber's 'Baby', which has garnered 803,732,000 views since its February 2010 release.




'Gangnam Style' already set YouTube's record for the Most Liked video ever posted to the site, with its total now standing at 5.3 million Likes and 323,000 Dislikes.

Bieber's 'Baby' clip has 1.4 million Likes and 3.1 million Dislikes.

Bieber's 'Baby' clip enjoyed an impressive run at the top of the YouTube heap, becoming the most-watched video on the site in July 2010. At that time, the clip had collected more than 246 million views to leapfrog over Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance'.







Over the four months since the 'Gangnam Style' video was posted on YouTube, PSY and his electro-pop anthem has inspired nothing short a pop culture phenomenon. The veteran K-pop artist has performed the 'Gangnam Style' dance alongside Britney Spears, Madonna and most recently MC Hammer at the 2012 American Music Awards.

In early September, the 34-year-old signed to Scooter Braun's Schoolboy Records, to become label mates with Bieber.

'Gangnam Style' peaked at No. 2 on the U.S. Hot 100, spending seven weeks in the runner-up spot behind Maroon 5's 'One More Night'.







PSY was able to climb to the top spot of Billboard's Social 50 tally in late August thanks to the viral success of 'Gangnam'.

Although Bieber no longer owns the top YouTube video, the teen star can take solace in the fact that his personal Twitter account (@justinbieber) has 30.6 million followers, dwarfing PSY's Twitter following of 1.3 million.

"#GangnamStyle just became the most watched video @YouTube!! #History," PSY posted to Twitter on Saturday morning in celebration of the achievement.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...outubes-393839

[PrettyinPink55]

It was funny for the first few weeks, now I just want it to go away!!

[Zoneboy]

Why?

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by PrettyinPink55

It was funny for the first few weeks, now I just want it to go away!!

I was hoping this wouldn't happen but sadly it did.

[Retro4Life]

Like soooo many other pieces of popular modern culture, ("cough" Twlight "cough"), I just don't get it.

[robyrob]

nope.

[PrettyinPink55]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Like soooo many other pieces of popular modern culture, ("cough" Twlight "cough"), I just don't get it.

Me neither.

People are calling it our millennium's Macarena!!!

I actually liked The Macarena!!

I wonder if years down the road, just how people know and refer to The Macarena today, if they will refer to Gangnam Style in the same way. I hope not!!!

[JamesG]

PSY's 'Gangnam Style' Video Hits 1 Billion YouTube Views
12/21/2012
by Colin Stutz, Shirley Halperin


The massive worldwide phenomenon that is PSY's 'Gangnam Style' video has reached the unprecedented 1 billion views mark on YouTube, some six months after first posting on July 15, 2012.

In November, the South Korean pop star's hit surpassed Justin Bieber's 'Baby' for the most watched YouTube clip of all time with 815 million views. For anyone familiar with the song's addictive hook and easily mimicked dance, that it grew to reach such a monumental benchmark came as no surprise.

Still, it's a huge accomplishment, and one that will undoubtedly be studied for the digital ages. Even as it notches the last million clicks, people continue to wonder: what is it about 'Gangnam Style' that sucks people in? Is it the dance, the video or the song?





"It's something I think about, too -- so that I can repeat it for the next single," PSY recently cracked to The Hollywood Reporter.

"I'm analyzing that right now and it's really hard to tell. You could say it was all about the video, right? But I'm thinking people are already done with the video -- they already saw it. But seeing the way people are acting, I think it's the dance move."

Getting even more Zen about its success, PSY added: "a dance move, it's not mine -- it's their own."





"The video is a central part: it's not just about the song," says YouTube Trends Manager Kevin Allocca.

"This is very emblematic of where we are in terms of entertainment in the social media world: The dance, it really catches your attention. The first time, you think, 'What the heck is going on? Who is this guy?' It's so flashy and eye-catching and you can't take your eyes off of it. And when you talk about these popular videos, you become a part of something larger."



As far as watching the numbers balloon, Allocca describes the experience as "like theater," adding:

"It's unlike anything we've seen before on the platform. ... Of course, over time people get used to sharing videos and things are able to spread quicker but there’s nothing that’s been even close to what happened here the last few months with this one particular video. And it’s happened at a global scale."









'Gangnam Style' has become a worldwide celebrity as the song quickly spread from Seoul and the Pacific and headed west.

In nearly 75 countries, it's been viewed more than 1 million times, and everyone from the United Nations Secretary General to South Korean national Ban Ki-moon to President Obama have grooved to the song's galloping dance routine.

There have been 'Gangnam Style' flash mobs in Jakarta, parodies by a faux Mitt Romney along with "covers" by everyone from Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei to "SNL" to lifeguards in El Monte, Calif. who were subsequently fired for their homage.

In fact, tributes to 'Gangnam Style' are now being viewed 20 million times every single day.



"You look at years past and see these top parodies, but this year it has hit another level where it's become a mutual thing," says Allocca.

"They drive each other and part of the experience is being a part of pop culture, not just talking about it or listening to. We used to watch a music video on MTV and now it's so participatory that the level of creativity coming out of some of these covers and parodies is just amazing. It’s such a fun creative outlet for anyone around the world to kind of take a meme of the time and recreate it, and put their own spin on it."

"These views are from all over the world and they're happening in quantities -- sustained numbers that aren't like any other musical or pop culture phenomenon."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ear...billion-406070

[Zoneboy]

Not again.

[robyrob]

update: this is just a modern-day version of The Macarena.

[dakert]

I enjoyed this when it was performed by a son and mother on the Ellen show

[80sTrivia]

Another reason never to watch the video...

[JamesG]

Psy's 'Gangnam Style' Crosses 2 Billion YouTube Views
by Amber Ray
May 31, 2014


Either everybody and their mother has viewed Psy’s video for 'Gangnam Style' at this point, or some of you are still watching the South Korean pop star do the horse dance five times a day.

The video for the irrepressible dance song has now surpassed 2 billion views, crossing the mark shortly before midnight on Friday. The only other video with a billion-plus views on the streaming site is Justin Bieber’s 'Baby'.

But at 1.04 billion clicks, even 'Baby' doesn’t come close to topping the unlikely viral star’s YouTube popularity.



Psy also holds another YouTube record:

He scored the most views in a day with 38 million for his 'Gangnam Style' followup, 'Gentleman'.

http://music-mix.ew.com/2014/05/31/p...outube-record/

[JamesG]

'Gangnam Style' Breaks YouTube's View Counter
by Teresa Jue
Dec 3, 2014


It’s been over two years, and PSY’s 'Gangnam Style' is still racking up the views, so much so that YouTube had to upgrade their player.

According to the Washington Post, the monster ear worm’s music video had been viewed so many times (2.152 billion views at last count) that YouTube upgraded its video view count to a 64-bit integer (9,223,372,036,854,775,808).



The site previously used a 32-bit integer that maxed out to 2,147,483,647.

WaPo dissected math of how YouTube solved the conundrum of how to gauge the popularity of the song, though it still doesn’t answer the question of why the song is so popular.

http://music-mix.ew.com/2014/12/03/g...-youtube-view/

[1990 UM fan]

The secret meanings behind the whole video: http://youtu.be/CMdYmf6t800