To make a 'real' impact in the cultural and political space of the United States and internationally, we must demostrate our values through our choices as consumers, investors, and workers. While it is easy to point to all of the corporate waste and exploitation, we must be proactive by making it easy for people and organizations to invest in and grow the just and sustainable economy that is emerging.
August 3, 2009
My CC Songs replace Madonna on Youtube
My song Destination Non-Specific has spread on Youtube mostly because users are forced to strip the copyrighted music from their videos (using YouTube's audioswap function), and are offered Creative Commons music like mine to replace it.
Then, a few months ago, I got a pretty interesting one where user comments were upset cause the song was used on top of a popular video from one of their favorite artists. The users of course weren't that happy, but it was interesting to see some of the comments were positive about the song.
Then today I realized did a search and realized that the song had been used a lot, so did a search on youtube for "Destination Non-Specific" and it came up about 50 results on Youtube.
When I was browsing, I noticed a user named annamaisa had even made an actual music video for the song, and it's actually pretty beautiful (and viewed over 10,000 times). See here.
Overall, people continue to validate my belief that many of us are living in the emerging gift economy. While I still have not leveraged any my life long social capital for actual tangible cash capital, I think that day might be coming soon.
With 172 names suggested and 1,192 votes cast over the 48 hour session, it was an amazing experience that put vastly more energy towards launching this venture than I could have ever put in alone.
When I first received word about the three winners, I was a little shocked (Loud Sauce and seedjar seemed completely random). But after writing some draft proposals using the name LoudSauce, and hearing back from some of you in my larger community, I am starting to seriously consider it.
Not only is it a great first story to begin a venture rooted in trust in the participation of the crowd (and a name submitted by one of my current Nokia clients), but it may be a name that designers may find interesting potential in exploring a brand identity (more on that in later emails). Let me know if you feel strongly that it works or doesn't work.
I hope you will continue to spread the word and share your thoughts via email or the comments below. Enjoy this amazing week for the world honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the new leadership in the United States.
Mashable has an interesting summary of social media marketing examples. I find it helpful for talking about some of the kinds of marketing that is worthwhile in the digital marketing space beyond traditional banner advertising (which is annoying).
Twitter Spam - Why do you have to ruin every medium?
Seriously, why do people try to abuse every interesting and useful new medium for the love of making money? For all the talk of useful + creative replacing interruptive advertising, obviously interruption is still effective at getting our attention. =(