January 19, 2010

OK Go’s new video and smartly-written missive

For all the backyard dancing and treadmill acrobatics, OK Go could sometimes dismissed as a silly pop band, but my experiences with their music leave me pretty sure that they’re anything but. Yes, they might like to dress up as a marching band now and again but really, who doesn’t? Their music is sleek, catchy, and literate.

So, I copied that embed code for their new video above from an open letter that whipsmart frontman Damian Kulash penned in the OK Go forums last night, all about why you can’t embed their videos on YouTube. He writes in part:

The catch: the software that pays out those tiny sums doesn’t pay if a video is embedded. This means our label doesn’t get their hard-won share of the pie if our video is played on your blog, so (surprise, surprise) they won’t let us be on your blog. And, voilá: four years after we posted our first homemade videos to YouTube and they spread across the globe faster than swine flu, making our bassist’s glasses recognizable to 70-year-olds in Wichita and 5-year-olds in Seoul and eventually turning a tidy little profit for EMI, we’re – unbelievably – stuck in the position of arguing with our own label about the merits of having our videos be easily shared. It’s like the world has gone backwards.”

I always find it fascinating to read musicians’ viewpoints about the industry and how the liquid maelstrom of the internet can affect things for good or for bad. The whole letter is worth a read.

Their new album Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky is stylish, breathy and clever.

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2 Comments

  • This video is awesome oppossum

    Felicia — January 21, 2010 @ 12:58 pm

  • Amen! When the second version of this video hit the viral circuit I continued to read comments like “great video, shame their music sucks” or variations like that. It always left me disappointed. I’m not going to say “all must like music I like!” but ever since catching them open up for TMBG back in 2000 I’ve wanted them to succeed and for people to catch on to them. They have mastered the art of the video long since forgotten by all but a few with the demise of MTV all those years ago. But that’s a discussion for another time. Long live OK Go!

    Jergy — March 16, 2010 @ 12:08 pm

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Bio Pic Name: Heather Browne
Location: Colorado, originally by way of California
Giving context to the torrent since 2005.

"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel."
—Hunter S. Thompson

Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.

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