YouTube’s Got Talent
Now that the 2009 season of Britain’s Got Talent has come to an end, it’s time to hit YouTube for the maximum exposure and minimum drama kind of talent show. If you’re a brand, here’s your chance to reach out to these up and coming social musicians who could definitely do with some sponsorship arrangements.
| 1. DAVID CHOI | Genre: Pop/Acoustic | |
 |
The first one on the list is the romantic comedian whose talent landed him a perma-gig at Warner Chappell Music. David comes from a musical family though he claims he has had no formal training on the guitar. He began uploading videos of himself in 2006, and in three years he has acquired 119,000 subscribers, making him a YouTube superstar by social networking standards. YouTube | Twitter Website: http://www.davidchoimusic.com/ |
| 2. KINA GRANNIS | Genre: Acoustic/Folk | |
 |
The beautiful Kina wows with her acoustic guitar and songwriting skills. Her curly-ness is also the winner of the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest and the face behind the Gotta Digg! hit. She actively plays live gigs around the U.S. and makes weekly videos for her 74,000 subscribers.
YouTube | Twitter |
| 3. ZEE AVI | Genre: Acoustic/Folk/Retro-Jazz | |
 |
Fellow Bornean Zee Avi’s lyrical honey is so sweet that she has gone from gigs in Malaysia to a record contract in LA. With almost 25,000 subscribers, she’s got a throwback appeal the likes of female vocalists from the era of P. Ramlee, which is something the Malaysian public has been aching for in current times. Be sure to listen to her Honey Bee track!
YouTube | Twitter |
| 4. SINGINDORK888 | Genre: Rock | |
 |
SinginDork888 (also known as Afraid of Everest) has covered popular rock songs impressively and written some of his own. 27,000 subscribers wait eagerly for his releases as the singer-songwriter of passion serenades the ladies with his rich voice and helps other aspiring guitarists follow in his footsteps. You’ll never guess what he does for his day job… the Singin Dork’ is a pharmacist! What an inspiration to all the closet singers of the world! YouTube |
| 5. LANA MCKISSACK | Genre: Jazz/Pop | |
 |
Watching breezy videos of her hair flapping while she works the camera will make the lads loosen their collars and lasses imitating her moves. Lana is a playful songstress who can cover Disney hits and jazz classics with equal comfort. She already has 6,000 subscribers and it is only a matter of time before the list grows. YouTube | Twitter |
| 6. JANE LUI | Genre: Acoustic (Piano/Guitar) | |
 |
A newcomer on YouTube, Jane first impressed with Firefly on her guitar. Her primary instrument is her voice, seconded only by the graceful playing on her piano and rhythmic pluck action to accompany her silky vocals. Her album Barkentine is available on iTunes. YouTube | Twitter Website: http://www.janelui.com |
| 7. ZACK KIM | Genre: Experimental | |
 |
This South Korean whose hometown include Seoul and Kuala Lumpur can play two guitars simultaneously using a technique called “Free Hands.” With 55,000 subscribers, he’s definitely one of my favorite recent YouTube finds. Between serving in the Korean military, making YouTube videos and playing on Korean T.V., he’s just too cool to ignore!
YouTube |
| 8. JENNIFER CHUNG | Genre: Soul | |
 |
20 year-old American Idol rejectee has proven her critics wrong by acquiring 70,000+ subscribers on YouTube on her own. Jennifer does not need to be a reality TV contestant as her melodic propensities have already made her a YouTube starlet in her own right and she can now manage her musical career on her own terms. Be sure to hear some of her ‘bedroom’ covers and originals alike. |
| 9. MIA ROSE | Genre: Acoustic | |
 |
Here’s a British-born Portuguese lass who croons for her 194,300 subscribers. As an all-time Top 5 subscribed musician on YouTube, she has been featured on Rolling Stone, The Sun, and The Age. If she’s making news, you’ll have to at least find out why! YouTube Website: http://www.miarosemusic.com |
| 10. THEBATHROOMGIRL | Genre: Acoustic | |
 |
Last but not least, this British-born Malaysian-Chinese lass started making videos of herself singing in the bathroom. With 13,000 subscribers, she has left her bathroom and ventured onto bigger rooms to collaborate with other musicians. If you like watching someone with a funky sense of fashion to go with a beautiful feminine voice, this girl definitely has the quirky factor to keep you coming back for more. YouTube |
That wraps up my list of featured artists on YouTube. Happy listening!
Project: Dishez
I have been thinking of creating a social network for global epicureans for a while now and have finally decided to use Ning and the city of London as a starting point. I’m still debating whether or not to modify and scale the social network on Ning, and that largely depends on how popular it gets. Here’s the social network I created to share my culinary adventures in London. http://dishez.ning.com
RESEARCH
This project prompted me to search for suitable white-label social platforms to run my social network on and there are many out there. Jeremiah has maintained a list since 2007 and there are a few new ones that have popped up here and there. I have reviewed about a dozen social platforms today from OneSite, Pluck, PHPizabi, PeopleAggregator, KickApps, Momo, Drupal, Kwiqq, Converdge, and TamTamy to name the main ones.
FEASIBILITY
I am equally glad and humbled by the fact that there are predecessors like menuism.com, friendseat.com and dishola.com out there who have beat me to the chase in terms of initial crowd-sourcing and strategy formulation. This creates contrast and challenges my business case, as I see the need to spend circa 400 hours to develop a social network of any true value.
Since there are already existing dish review and rating sites out there I must think of an even better product that would create more impact and be easier to deploy. My consolation is that Google was a latecomer in the search engine game and was able to triumph over search engines we don’t even remember anymore. The technologist in me says yes but the planner in me is putting down an emphatic “no.” At least not until I have passed my ideas through a feasibility study, analyzed the business side of things and plan this like any other client project.
RESERVATIONS
I am struggling to see when these websites will make real money and whether or not the resources invested into the content strategy formulation and development of these social networks can be justified. A cool idea is just that. If it doesn’t have a clear direction, is a dead-horse that sucks up resources and does not make money, we don’t have a project. The imperative is a business case. Until I have that clearly mapped out I will simply just use original content to fuel interest in testing and reviewing the different white-label social platforms out there.
Do leave me your thoughts.
Who?
JACKIE MIAO
Digital Consultant/ Project Manager
Location: Everywhere-
