PSY's 'Gangnam Style' Video Hits 1 Billion Views

Based on an original article by William Gruger, New York, Billboard magazine.

 

PSYs "Gangnam Style" has just become the first video in the history of the Internet to reach and surpass one billion views. On Dec. 21st, Psy's mega-hit reached this unprecedented milestone just 27 days after surpassing Justin Bieber's "Baby" as the most watched video on YouTube.

In the days after its breaking of the 803 million YouTube views record, "Gangnam Style" continued to have over 6.5 million views per day - that's 76.4 view per second.

PSY's 'Gangnam Style' Becomes Most-Watched YouTube Video in History

In comparison to the second most popular video on the Internet, "Baby" likely won't cross the 1 billion view mark until late 2014, according to projections provided by Next Big Sound. Its decelerating view count currently hovers just above 300,000 per day, or only 3 views per second - a rate that is likely to continue to shrink.

Psy has gone on to become the platform's "top trending YouTube video in 2012."

Gangnam Style" spent 5 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard K-Pop Hot 100, reaching the No. 1 spot before even debuting on the Hot 100. The track is now in its 15th week on the U.S.-based Hot 100, with 7 weeks spent in the No. 2 position, held from reaching the throne by Maroon 5's "One More Night"

For a time Gangnam Style was the most listened to song on streaming platforms such as Spotify, Rdio and Mog, holding the No. 1 spot on the On-Demand Songs chart for 5 weeks.

As YouTube has become as the number one place teens go to listen to new music, according to a Nielsen study, the platform has emerged as a revenue generator for many artists. What exactly does 1 billion views look like from an earnings standpoint? Using conservative estimates across several verticals, we can create a breakdown of "Gangnam Style" approximate earnings.

At a reported rate of $2 for every 1,000 views, Gangnam generates $2,000,000 from YouTube alone. Factoring in 3.07 million $1.29 digital single downloads of "Gangnam Style" (according to Nielsen Soundscan), Psy brings in an estimated additional $3,960,000 from digital downloads and $50,000 in additional revenues generated from On-Demand streaming services such as Spotify, Rdio and Mog.

Excluding additional revenues puts "Gangnam Style" an estimated $6.01 million in revenues from this recorded piece of music in just the 5 months the single has been out.

Undoubtedly, the greatest contributing factor to "Gangnam Style's" success were the fans who created covers and shared the songs with friends, helping the video to go viral.

But the song also gained a lift from the exposure it received on radio and television. It garnered 519 million in cumulative audience, according to Nielsen BDS, over its 12-weeks-and-counting run on Hot 100 airplay. It peaked at No. 12 on the ranking the week of Oct. 27.

"Gangnam Style's" popularity afforded Psy a litany of opportunities to appear on television, both in the US and abroad. The appearances are as follows:

•    MTV Video Music Awards

•    ABC News

•    Ellen DeGeneres (with Britney Spears)

•    NBC Today Show (where he performed twice on the episode, first artist to ever do this)

•    Saturday Night Live

•    Ellen DeGeneres (twice)

•    Chelsea Lately

•    Jimmy Kimmel Live!

•    The View

•    American Music Awards

•    Sunrise (Australia)

•    The X Factor Australia

•    MTV EMAs

•    Performance at Buffalo Bills vs Seattle Seahawks halftime

This is just his in-person appearances - his music or video has also been featured on GLEE, Bill O'Reilly, CNN, etc; but not his actual self appearing.

So who says there’s no money to be made over social media?