Billboard and YouTube

Ok, so if you haven't heard by now that "Harlem Shake" is now number one on the Billboard Hot 100, well, now you do. If you also haven't heard that Billboard is now factoring YouTube views into their weekly charts, well, now you know that as well. Before, the Hot 100 based their charts on airplay and sales, that's it. But since we're in the digital era, online streaming has reached an all time high, so now people get their music off of iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Sirius, and yes, especially YouTube. That's how the public consumes music now, it's something I've come to terms with a long time ago. But with this recent development in the Billboard charts I've been trying to form my opinion on their decision to allow YouTube views into their charting methods. Well, if we look at why they did it, you'll realize that radio and single sales are not enough to dictate the popularity of a song anymore. Let's face it, why buy a song or wait forever to hear it on the radio when you can listen to it instantly on YouTube for free? That's just the way the consumption of music works in 2013, I get it, but there's also a few problems I have with "Harlem Shake" being number one just because of its online views.

First off, Billboard explained that the song became number one because of 103 million views from the week of February 11-February 17. Really? The original music video for "Harlem Shake" got 103 million views in that week? Uh, no, it didn't. The original video has about 5.5 million views total. So, if you haven't figured it out by now, that means that Billboard took into account all of the 40,000+ thirty second videos of people dancing to the song, and then counted it as one play/view of the song. I'm sorry, but a 30-second video of a song shouldn't count towards a view for the song itself. The whole song wasn't played, in fact it wasn't even listened to, people just like watching other people flail their arms about. And before I go any further, you do realize that an official music video for Harlem Shake hasn't even been made yet, right? Some random YouTuber decided to make a dance with that song in the background, people liked it and then their monkey see monkey do senses kicked in and then they did their own versions so then they could get their fifteen minutes of fame. The song and the dance are only related because of that one guy, Baauer didn't come up with it, so in all honesty he shouldn't be the one credited for its immense populartity. I'm sorry if that pissed you off, but Harlem Shake, the song, is not what's really popular right now, it's Harlem Shake, the dance. Last time I checked, a dance is not a song. And unlike "The Macarena" and "Gangnam Style", the dance was not created by the original artist of the song. Los Del Rio made the dance to their own song, as did Psy, so they were given proper credit because they created it. The Harlem Shake is nothing more than another dance fad that will obviously wither away in a month or so when yet another YouTuber makes a fool of themselves in their thirst for the spotlight. Sorry Baauer, but "Harlem Shake" is not the most popular song in America right now, I'm not even sure if people know all the lyrics to it. And as for Billboard, I'm perfectly fine with YouTube views counting towards the Hot 100, it makes sense since that is a perfect representation of what songs are the most popular, but a 30-second video of a dance is not a song, and it should not be counted as such. And if you look at the other components that contributed to Harlem Shake's number one debut: it did not receive any significant airplay, and it has sold only 260,000 copies...that's it. That hardly qualifies it to be number one.

Before you start saying "Hey, there have been many songs that suck but have still reached number one!", remember the key word is song, not dance. I'm treating Harlem Shake as its own individual case because as I've said before, it only got to number one because of 30-second clips, while all the other songs on the chart had to be fully listened to in order to get a view that counted towards its chart position. But in the end, Harlem Shake isn't the worst number one the Hot 100 has ever had, not by a long shot. I made a post earlier about crappy number ones, but here's a little recap of songs "quality" and "genius" songs that took the coveted top slot:
Flo Rida-Whistle (#1 for 2 weeks)
Lil Wayne and Static Major-Lollipop (#1 for 5 weeks)
Wiz Khalifa-Black and Yellow (#1 for 1 week)
Soulja Boy-Crank That (#1 for 7 weeks...seven??!!)
Beyonce-Single Ladies (#1 for 4 weeks)
Rihanna and Drake-What's My Name? (#1 for 1 week)
The Black Eyed Peas-Boom Boom Pow (#1 for 12 weeks. TWELVE!)

So yeah, the Hot 100 has been going downhill ever since the year 2000 reared its ugly head, the fact that Harlem Shake is now number one isn't all that terrifying. It's just how it got to be number one that's frustrating. That is the world we live in now, and in actuality, the Hot 100 will be more accurate than ever because it can now fully represent how popular a song is, you wouldn't click on the music video if you weren't interested in the song, now would you? No you would not, the fact that YouTube views now count towards the Billboard's rankings is your fault, not theirs. I just hope that they monitor what counts as a "view" better in the future. But just to recap: Harlem Shake is the most popular video people dancing in America right now, it is not the most popular song.