Love it or hate it, it cannot be denied that PSY’s song “Gangnam Style” is a phenomenon that has taken the world by storm.
Here are just a few incredible facts surrounding the song:
- On December 21, 2012, the “Gangnam Style” music video became the first ever YouTube video to reach a billion views! As of today, the video has been viewed over 1.75 billion times, making it the most watched video in the history of the world!
- By the end of 2012, just four months after it’s release, the song had topped the music charts of more than 30 countries around the world (which is incredible considering the song is sung in Korean!).
- Given that the video is 4 minutes and 12 seconds long, if all 1,7 billion times it’s been viewed have been viewed to its completion (not even considering all the spinoffs and re-postings), that means approximately 120 million man-hours have been spent watching the video. This is about the same amount of man hours it took NASA to put a man on the moon in ten years!!
- Gangnam Style has reportedly made PSY $15 million so far from digital downloads and YouTube advertising alone… let alone record deals, record sales etc!
- The song’s signature dance moves have been attempted by British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. President Barack Obama, and even the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has hailed it as a “force for world peace”.
But, what lessons, if any, can be learnt from this song? Well, actually quite a bit, I think.
