By Jeff Copperthite:
As it reads in the subject header, I have reached another Youtube milestone. That’s right, 60,000 views! Most of which have come during Session-a-day.
I always enjoy seeing the highest place value increase by 1, and I know that in due time I will enjoy having to read 6 digit view counts. Although I have come to the realization I will not achieve my 100K view goal by the end of the year, I know that over the past few months my views per day continues to increase. I think that 70k views by years end is achievable, but i’m going to raise the bar and hope for 75k.
As a treat, I thought i’d share with you the current top 5 videos that I have posted, and some commentary on what the Youtube community thinks of them. For your convenience, i’ve even included links to their pages on the blog. All view counts are current as of November 24, 2008 3:39 p.m.
1) A Horse With No Name (America) (7,074 views)
I receive lots of views from various “how to play” pages, and there are many covers of this song on the website. Most commentary about this song approves of the style, and the “ease” that the song comes out of me. I knew that I was going to get a lot of views simply on the popularity of the song, but I did not expect it to skyrocket to 1st and beat the next closest video by so many views. I fully expect this video to be among the first to achieve the 5 digit mark from this site.
2) Fake Plastic Trees (Radiohead) (3,297 views)
I was pleased how I played this song, but not in how it was sung. It was partially due to a cold I had at the time. I could’ve sang it better, but it also suffered from being recorded in the kitchen, which provided some reverb that makes it sound worse. I have long since stopped recording in that location. The Youtube community finds my cover “ok”, but overall people tend to look negatively on Radiohead covers overall. They have such staunch, dedicated fans who accept nothing except the real band.
3) Something Good This Way Comes (Jakob Dylan) (2,710 views)
I was very pleased with this video, and so is the Youtube community. I had the advantage of posting this video the day of the release of Jakob Dylan’s solo album “Seeing Things”, and the initial view spike shows this. Youtube likes this video, and all the comments I received on it have been positive. This is among my favorites.
4) Big Empty (Stone Temple Pilots) (2,171 views)
This was the first video I recorded for 2008, and the first to be recorded on my new digital camera (and every video since has been recorded on this camera – it gets a lot of use!). I don’t think this was among my best since I was still a little “camera shy” at the time. I’ve gotten a lot better as the year has gone on, but it’s good to look back at how I have progressed through the year. I’m glad that the community likes this cover, but i’ve gotten both ends of the comment spectrum from Youtube users. Overall it’s liked, though.
5) “Best of My Love” (The Eagles) (1,817 views)
This is among my favorite videos, because it is a favorite song of mine. It was one of those videos that I recorded, then pumped my fist because I thought I played it perfectly. Similar to previous videos, I get a lot of hits from “how to play” videos and other covers on the site. Comments have been approving mostly, and viewers have enjoyed it quite a bit.
I look forward to the next milestone, and to share another top 5. Will it be different, or the same?
Related posts:
This is one in a series of acoustic cover songs, original music, and free mp3 downloads here on the Laptop Sessions Music Video Blog.
November 25th, 2008 at 12:31 am
This was a really cool post, Jeff, and interesting to read. I can’t believe how many views that America video has!! Congratulations! It was interesting to read what you posted about Radiohead and their fans, approval, etc. I feel it’s the same for Elliott Smith; of the two videos I’ve posted, particularly my most recent (“Needle in the Hay”), it’s gotten a lot of hits (for my videos, at least) but my lowest rating by far and away. I guess some fans just love the original and have no interest in cover versions.
So why are they watching cover versions on YouTube to begin with? Oh, well…