Monetizing Viral Videos – Are We There Yet?
October 22, 2010
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few months, you have most likely heard the “Bed Intruder” song. This viral video started waves on the Internet back in the middle of July, and the star of the video is still making waves. So are we at a point where we can actually monetize viral videos? I bet the Numa Numa kid wishes his video had come out right about now.
With viral videos, the key to success revolves around 3 things. The video must either be controversial, very funny, or timely to current events already tearing up the news waves. The “Bed Intruder” hits all three points. When Antoine Dodson was seen on the news basically threatening the man who tried to rape his sister, the Gregory Brothers of Auto-Tune the News made an auto-tuned version of the newscast. The song is ridiculously catchy, and the iTunes full version actually made it onto the Billboard Top 100 chart. The song has been downloaded over 100,000 times on iTunes. The original video has had almost 34.5 million views as of today, and the iTunes version has 11.8 million views on YouTube.
With the profits split equally between the Gregory Brothers and Mr. Dodson, this viral sensation has actually made a real-life difference. Antoine was able to buy a house for his family to move out of the projects. Even crazier still, Mr. Dodson was immediately called by agents to represent him in the entertainment business. He even has a T-shirt line, and don’t forget to buy the Bed Intruder Halloween Costume, complete with hair and red handkerchief. Most recently he performed a live version of the “Bed Intruder” at the BET awards show on October 12th.
The Gregory Brothers have become experts at creating auto-tuned Internet sensations. They are responsible for the Double Rainbow Song, (13.9 million views) Obama Sings Kick Ass Song (4.9 million views) and even a collaboration with Weezer for an auto-tuned version of Rep. Rangel giving a speech to Congress. They definitely hit pay dirt with Antoine Dodson. They split the profits between themselves and the person who has been auto-tuned in the case with the “Double Rainbow Song” and “Bed Intruder,” a pretty nice business practice. The Gregory Brothers are even currently working on a pilot for Comedy Central.
Seriously, all of this out of several Internet memes? It appears that viral videos can be monetized when a physical item for sale can be marketed to potential consumers. In this case, music videos can easily be turned into iTunes gold. However, the really brilliant part of this particular sensation is the additional items for sale—namely, the Halloween costume & T-shirts. Capitalizing on many different videos like the Gregory Brothers can eventually get attention from Hollywood. Bringing an online sensation into physical reality is definitely the best way to make money—also, having an agent doesn’t hurt either.
