Annual 'stocktake'

Since having multiple youtube channels, it hasn't been easy to work out the total number of video views I receive across all of my channels.  About 2 years ago, I created a spreadsheet document to tally the figures, and I did the same on the corresponding weekend last year.

I've just completed another annual tally, and, combined, my music video channels have received approximately 11.5 million views, which is up approximately 3.7 million (~47%) from this time last year... although in raw figures, I've only gained about 480,000 additional views in the last 12 month period over the previous one.  Not that I'm bothered; if anything it probably reflects that I've generally uploaded more-obscure videos over the last year than previously... as well as an increase in the number of videos blocked worldwide, which are usually the more 'popular' ones (well, popular enough for the record company to notice).

Of the 861 videos I've uploaded to youtube, 78 of them (~9%) are blocked worldwide... leaving 783 videos that are available for viewing.  However, of these, there were 2 or 3 that were only available in states of the former Yugoslavia, or Jersey (i.e. probably countries that the youtube filter overlooked), and one (by the Bangles, curiously), that is only available in Australia.

I'm still quite (pleasantly) surprised at the combined number of views my youtube channels receive, as originally, the loose 'concept' binding my channels together was that I tried to upload videos for lesser-known/less successful tracks/artists.  It goes to show that there is a 'market' out there for these tracks/videos after all.


Earlier this year, I started to run out of ideas for videos to upload, but since I have been going through my DVD's (including many that are not yet catalogued), I've found a stack of (generally more-obscure) clips that are not on youtube, or that are on youtube, but I have in higher quality.  I've also recently taken on board some suggestions for uploads from subscribers - that is, if I have the video in my collection, which is another good source of ideas.

Where it began...

Although I'd been a 'casual' music follower for a few years (e.g. watching Countdown from age 5), it wasn't until 1987 that I started to follow music more intently... perhaps inspired by listening to my sister's various artists 'hits' compilation cassettes on my Walkman.  '87 Hots Up was the first one I bought myself, though; then Smash Hits '87 a few months later (A$16.99 at my local K-Mart).

 
I didn't realise that Smash Hits was a magazine as well until visiting a relative of my parents' friends' in January 1988, where their daughter had a copy (the local Australian version).

Of course, I soon began buying Smash Hits myself.  The first edition I bought featured Michael Hutchence on the cover, and retailed for A$1.75 from memory.  I continued to buy Smash Hits until 1994 (even though I thought it had gone downhill from '92 when it started to focus more on TV shows, and ones I didn't watch such as 90210).  I threw them all out though during a house move in 1995.  Initially, I was most interested in the section where they printed a copy of the top 50 singles chart, and soon after became an avid chart-follower.  I wanted to know how well the songs I liked performed on the charts.

I soon discovered the Take 40 Australia radio show, and began writing the list of songs down each week.  Around the same time, I also discovered the local music video shows Video Hits, and Rage - which played the videos for the top 50 songs each week.  Eventually, I noticed that Rage played the chart a week before it aired on Take 40 Australia, and so switched to using Rage for my weekly chart fix.

Just after Christmas 1988, while visiting a cousin's house, we watched some music videos she had recorded from Rage.  I remember thinking 'what a great idea!' at recording music videos to watch later on.  Even though I had been watching Rage for almost a year, somehow I'd never thought to record the videos I liked.  It probably didn't help that I didn't yet own any of my own blank VHS tapes (which were quite expensive at the time, especially for someone still relying on pocket money).

The first music video I recorded was Enya's 'Orinoco Flow', from the Rage top 50 in early February 1989.  I also recorded the top 5 songs from that week.  I still have that 4-hour video tape today, though converted it to DVD in 2005.  Some other videos I recorded onto it were Neneh Cherry's 'Buffalo Stance', Tanita Tikaram's 'Twist InMy Sobriety', and Paul Kelly's 'Dumb Things' (yes, that video is a direct upload from this VHS tape).  Quite diverse tastes for a 10 year-old ;)

And so I've continued to record/keep music videos I like ever since... and er, even a few I don't like so much.  My interest in new chart music severely waned though towards the end of the 90's, and hasn't recovered since.  But there's still lots of 'old' new music I missed the first time around that I'm discovering now, and finding new, obscure-ish music videos on VHS compilations from the 80's/90's I acquire helps with that.  "When you can't find the music to get down and boogie, all you can do is step back in time" indeed.  I do find some new music that I like, but it usually requires effort to find it.

I've always tended to like the less-successful artists/songs the most.  Through youtube and this blog, I hope to give some of these tracks exposure to a new audience.  I always get a buzz from reading comments on my youtube videos from people who've liked the song for years but have never seen the video before; or from people discovering an 'old' song they like but didn't previously know.  I try to upload videos for songs that aren't already on youtube; or better-quality versions of videos that are already there.