Once upon a time Chris Brown was squeaky clean enough to perform bubblegum pop. Literally. Originally penned and produced for a Wrigley Doublemint gum advertised, Brown's 2008 hit "Forever" has taken on a whole new life thanks to a viral video sensation in which a goofy wedding party dances down to the aisle to this track.
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13 million views later, it's an undeniable sensation. It's also being used as an example for how online video can make money. The Official Google Blog has a story up today that makes a case for their YouTube business model. Instead of a takedown notice and copyright claim, the rights holders instead unleashed a click-to-buy video overlay allowing fans of the video to legally acquire the song at iTunes or Amazon.
The result? Chris Brown "Forever" has been back in the Top 5 singles sales charts on both iTunes and Amazon. And there's apparently been a resurgence in searching for the original video to the song on YouTube and a similar uptick in related click-to-buy sales rates. Not bad for a singer who many wrote-off as permanently damaged goods after The Rihanna Incident.
Google says: Despite compelling data and studies around consumer purchasing habits, many still question the promotional and bottom-line business value sites like YouTube provide artists. But in the last week, over a year after its release, Chris Brown's "Forever" has again rocketed up the charts, reaching as high as #4 on the iTunes singles chart and #3 on Amazon's best selling MP3 list. We've seen similar successes in the past with partners like Monty Python.
Billboard says: In the same week that Chris Brown went to YouTube to apologize for assaulting Rihanna, a viral videoclip of a wedding party dancing down the aisle to Brown's song "Forever" returns him to the charts. In the week ending July 26, it sold 50,000 downloads according to Nielsen SoundScan. That's up a whopping 1,721% in sales compared to the previous week and the song thusly re-enters the Hot Digital Songs chart at No. 21.
Hmm, let's see: Compelling visuals get people to listen and pay attention to a song. And then based on those impressions, they go out and spend money to acquire the song? In other words: Videos sell records.
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