VEVO’s Certified Award for Videos with 100 Million Views

image from Billboard.biz

Originally posted 7/11/12. Updated 2/6/13.

VEVO – the company which has made its existence off official music video posts on YouTube – announced a new award on July 11, 2012. The Vevo Certified award is given to videos which have garnered 100 million views. As stated at vevo.com, “VEVO’s video view counts represent the only official metric across the digital landscape, including online and mobile views as well as those of syndication partner sites like AOL, Facebook, Yahoo! Music, and YouTube.” Here’s the top 20:

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VEVO: The Top 20 Most Watched Videos of All Time

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1. Justin Bieber with Ludacris “Baby” (2010)
2. Jennifer Lopez with Pitbull “On the Floor” (2011)
3. Eminem with Rihanna “Love the Way You Lie” (2010)
4. LMFAO with Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem” (2011)
5. Shakira with Freshlyground…Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” (2010)
6. Lady Gaga “Bad Romance” (2009)
7. Don Omar with Lucenzo “Danza Kuduro” (2011)
8. Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe” (2012)
9. Eminem “Not Afraid” (2010)
10. Pitbull “Rain Over Me” (2011)

11. Adele “Rolling in the Deep” (2010)
12. Justin Bieber “Never Say Never” (2010)
13. Katy Perry “Firework” (2010)
14. One Direction “What Makes You Beautiful” (2011)
15. Miley Cyrus “Party in the U.S.A.” (2009)
16. Justin Bieber “One Time” (2009)
17. Nicki Minaj “Super Bass” (2011)
18. Rihanna “What’s My Name?” (2010)
19. Pitbull “Give Me Everything” (2011)
20. Rihanna “Only Girl in the World” (2010)

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The dominance of videos from just the last couple years plays out throughout the list. Of the 140 videos which have reached the 100 million mark, only 32 were pre-2009 songs. Only two videos on the list date to the 20th century – Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (1983) and Guns N’ Roses “November Rain” (1992).

Also apparent from the list is the predominance of certain artists. Justin Bieber places two videos in the top ten and 13 on total list. Other artists with multiple video as either a lead or support artist include Rihanna (11), Beyonce (7), Black Eyed Peas (7), Eminem (7), Lady Gaga (7), Lil Wayne (7), Katy Perry (7), Chris Brown (6), David Guetta (6), Nicki Minaj (6), LMFAO (5), Pitbull (5), and Shakira (5). Those artists alone comprise half the list.

Interestingly, the VEVO list serves neither as a true indicator of the most celebrated videos of all time or even the biggest hits of the 21st century. Only 21 of the videos also rank in the DMDB list of the best songs of the 21st century. The difference between the VEVO list and the DMDB’s list of the 100 videos of all time is even more staggering. The latter, which aggregates 56 best-of-all-time video lists as well as 20 potential video awards, includes only three songs from the VEVO list: “Thriller,” “November Rain,” and Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”

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Here’s the full list of songs with more than 100 million views:

• Adele “Rolling in the Deep” (2010)
• Adele “Someone Like You (2011)
• Adele “Set Fire to the Rain” (2011) *
• Akon with Kardinal Offishall & Colby O’Donis “Beautiful” (2008)
• Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (2008)

  Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

• Beyoncé “If I Were a Boy” (2008)
• Beyoncé “Halo” (2008)
• Beyoncé “Run the World (Girls) (2011)
• Beyoncé “The Best Thing I Never Had (2011)
• Justin Bieber “One Time” (2009)
• Justin Bieber “One Less Lonely Girl” (2009)
• Justin Bieber “Love Me” (2009)
• Justin Bieber with Ludacris “Baby” (2010)

  Baby

• Justin Bieber “Never Let You Go” (2010)
• Justin Bieber with Usher “Somebody to Love” (2010)
• Justin Bieber with Jaden Smith “Never Say Never” (2010)
• Justin Bieber “Mistletoe” (2011)
• Justin Bieber “Boyfriend” (2012)
• Justin Bieber with Big Sean “As Long As You Love Me” (2012)
• Justin Bieber with Nicki Minaj “Beauty and a Beat” (2012)
• Black Eyed Peas “Pump It” (2005)
• Black Eyed Peas “My Humps” (2005)
• Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow” (2009)
• Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” (2009)
• Black Eyed Peas “Meet Me Halfway (2009)
• Black Eyed Peas “The Time (Dirty Bit)” (2010)
• Black Eyed Peas “Just Can’t Get Enough” (2011)
• B.o.B. with Bruno Mars “Nothin’ on You” (2010) *
• B.o.B. with Hayley Williams “Airplanes” (2010) *
• Bon Jovi “It’s My Life” (2000)

  It’s My Life

• Chris Brown with T-Pain “Kiss Kiss” (2007)
• Chris Brown “With You” (2007)
• Chris Brown “Yeah 3X” (2010)
• Chris Brown with Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes “Look at Me Now” (2011)
• Chris Brown with Justin Bieber “Next 2 U” (2011)
• Coldplay “Viva La Vida” (2008)
• Coldplay “Paradise” (2011)
• Taio Cruz “Dynamite” (2010)
• Miley Cyrus “7 Things” (2008)
• Miley Cyrus “The Climb” (2009) *
• Miley Cyrus “Party in the U.S.A.” (2009)
• Miley Cyrus “Can’t Be Tamed” (2010)
• Diddy – Dirty Money with Skylar Grey “Coming Home” (2010)
• Celine Dion “My Heart Will Go On” (1997) *
• Dr. Dre with Eminem & Skylar Grey “I Need a Doctor” (2011)
• Eminem “Like Toy Soldiers” (2004)
• Eminem “When I’m Gone” (2005)
• Eminem “Beautiful” (2009)
• Eminem “Not Afraid” (2010)

  Not Afraid

• Eminem with Rihanna “Love the Way You Lie” (2010)
• Eminem with Lil Wayne “No Love” (2010)
• 50 Cent “In Da Club” (2002)
• Flo Rida “Good Feeling” (2011) *
• Foster the People “Pumped Up Kicks” (2010)
• Selena Gomez & the Scene “Naturally” (2010)
• Selena Gomez & the Scene “A Year without Rain” (2010)
• Selena Gomez & the Scene “Who Says’ (2011)
• Selena Gomez & the Scene “Love You Like a Love Song” (2011)
• Gotye with Kimbra “Somebody That I Used to Know” (2011) *
• David Guetta with Flo Rida & Nicki Minaj “Where Them Girls At” (2011)
• David Guetta with Taio Cruz & Ludacris “Little Bad Girl” (2011)
• David Guetta with Sia “Titanium” (2011)
• David Guetta with Nicki Minaj “Turn Me On” (2011)
• David Guetta with Usher “Without You” (2011)
• David Guetta with Sia “She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)” (2012)
• Guns N’ Roses “November Rain” (1991)

  November Rain

• Gym Class Heroes with Adam Levine “Stereo Hearts” (2011) *
• Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You” (1992) *
• Enrique Iglesias with Pitbull “I Like It” (2010)
• Jessie J with B.o.B. “Price Tag” (2011)
• Jessie J “Domino” (2011)
• Michael Jackson “Thriller” (1983)

  Thriller

• Jay-Z with Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind” (2009) *
• Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe” (2012)

  Call Me Maybe

• Jeremih with 50 Cent “Down on Me” (2010)
• Ke$ha “Tik Tok” (2009)
• Alicia Keys “No One” (2007)
• Sean Kingston with Justin Bieber “Eenie Meenie” (2010)
• Lady Gaga with Colby O’Donis (2008)
• Lady Gaga “Poker Face” (2008)
• Lady Gaga “Bad Romance” (2009)

  Bad Romance

• Lady Gaga “Alejandro’ (2009)
• Lady Gaga with Beyoncé “Telephone” (2009)
• Lady Gaga “Born This Way” (2011)
• Lady Gaga “Judas” (2011)
• Avril Lavigne “Girlfriend” (2007)
• Avril Lavigne “When You’re Gone” (2007)
• Avril Lavigne “What the Hell” (2011)
• Avril Lavigne “Wish You Were Here” (2011)
• Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” (1971) *
• Leona Lewis “Bleeding Love” (2007)
• Lil Wayne with Static Major “Lollipop” (2008)
• Lil Wayne with Eminem “Drop the World” (2010)
• Lil Wayne with Bruno Mars “Mirror” (2011)
• LMFAO with Lil’ Jon “Shots” (2009)
• LMFAO with Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem” (2011)

  Party Rock Anthem

• LMFAO with Natalia Kills “Champagne Showers” (2011)
• LMFAO “Sexy and I Know It” (2011)
• LMFAO “Sorry for Party Rocking” (2012)
• Jennifer Lopez with Pitbull “On the Floor” (2011)
• Jennifer Lopez with Lil Wayne “I’m into You” (2011)
• Jennifer Lopez with Pitbull “Dance Again” (2012)
• Maroon 5 “Misery” (2010)
• Maroon 5 with Christina Aguilera “Moves Like Jagger” (2011)
• Maroon 5 “One More Night” (2012)
• Bruno Mars “Just the Way You Are (Amazing)” (2010) *
• Bruno Mars “Grenade” (2010) *
• Bruno Mars “The Lazy Song” (2010) *
• Nicki Minaj “Super Bass” (2011)
• Nicki Minaj “Starships” (2012)
• Jason Mraz “I’m Yours” (2008) *
• Nelly “Just a Dream” (2010)
• Don Omar with Lucenzo “Danza Kuduro” (2011)

  Danza Kuduro

• Don Omar “Taboo” (2011)
• One Direction “What Makes You Beautiful” (2011)
• One Direction “One Thing” (2012)
• One Direction “Live While We’re Young” (2012)
• Katy Perry “Teenage Dream” (2010)
• Katy Perry “Firework” (2010)
• Katy Perry with Kanye West “E.T.” (2011)
• Katy Perry “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) (2011)
• Katy Perry “The One That Got Away “(2011)
• Katy Perry “Part of Me” (2012)
• Katy Perry “Wide Awake” (2012)
• Pitbull with T-Pain “Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)” (2010)
• Pitbull with Ne-Yo, Afrojack, & Nayer “Give Me Everything” (2011)
• Pitbull with Chris Brown “International Love” (2011)
• Pitbull with Marc Anthony “Rain Over Me” (2011)
• Psy “Gangnam Style” (2012) *

  Gangnam Style, most watched video of all-time with one billion views but not VEVO certified

• Rihanna “Unfaithful” (2006)
• Rihanna “Don’t Stop the Music” (2007)
• Rihanna “Rude Boy” (2010)
• Rihanna “Only Girl in the World” (2010)
• Rihanna with Drake “What’s My Name?” (2010)
• Rihanna “California King Bed” (2011)
• Rihanna “Man Down” (2011)
• Rihanna with Calvin Harris “We Found Love” (2011)
• Rihanna “Where Have You Been” (2011)
• Rihanna “Diamonds” (2012)
• Jay Sean with Lil Wayne “Down” (2009)
• Shakira “Whenever Wherever” (2001)
• Shakira with Wyclef Jean “Hips Don’t Lie” (2006)
• Shakira with Freshlyground “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” (2010)

  Waka Waka

• Shakira with El Cata “Loca” (2010)
• Shakira with Pitbull “Rabiosa” (2011)
• Soulja Boy Tell’Em “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” (2007)
• Britney Spears with Nicki Minaj & Ke$ha “Till the World Ends” (2011)
• Britney Spears “I Wanna Go” (2011)
• Taylor Swift “Love Story (2008)
• Taylor Swift “You Belong with Me” (2008)
• Taylor Swift “Mine” (2010)
• Taylor Swift “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (2012)
• System of a Down “Chop Suey” (2001)
• Timbaland with Doe & Keri Hilson “The Way I Are” (2007)
• Will.i.am. with Britney Spears “Scream & Shout” (2012)
• Wisin & Yandel with Jennifer Lopez “Follow the Leader” (2012)

* These songs have not been certified by Vevo, but have at least 100 million views on YouTube.

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Resources and Related Links:

• Dave’s Music Database: The Top 100 Songs of the 21st Century…So Far
• Dave’s Music Database: Music Videos – Top 100
• Bilboard.biz: Vevo Launches Certifed Award for Videos with 100 Million Views by Glenn Peoples (6 June 2012)
• Vevo.com: All Certified Videos (6 February 2013)

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Generation X Wants Its MTV, But It’s a VEVO World Now

Originally published in my "Aural Fixation" column on PopMatters.com on August 29, 2012. See original post here.

image from imageshack.us

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Gen X’ers may still want their MTV, but the version they loved is as distant a memory as Valley Girl speak, parachute pants, and leg warmers. Wake up and smell the VEVO.

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In the summer of 1981, I was psyching myself up for the treacherous journey known as high school. With my geek identity already firmly in place, my adolescence would not be marked by dances, football games, and parties. No, I was destined to wile away my teen years in my parents’ basement consumed by television, music, and crushes on unattainable celebrities.

Luckily, a source for satisfying all three of those needs entered the world that same summer. MTV, born on the 1st of August in 1981, soundtracked not just my youth, but an entire generation. Kids finally saw what some of their favorite artists looked like and were exposed to new music absent from radio playlists. The channel’s programming was dominated by three-to-four minute music promos designed to steer kids directly to the latest mall to unload their allowances at Musicland, Sam Goody, and Camelot.

Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, J.J. Jackson, and Alan Hunter served as navigators and heartthrobs, ushering in a new era where the jockeys who plugged the hits didn’t just have to sound good, but look good. They became stars as big as the musicians they touted.

Fast forward 30 years and the music video’s homeland has shifted from television to the Internet. The territory once staked by MTV has been snatched up by YouTube – with a huge caveat. Much to the dismay of record companies, the Web belongs to everyone. The dawn of the digital age put illegal downloads in the hard drives of anyone with a browser. YouTube allows any owner of a smart phone to post content which may or may not be copyrighted.

Along came VEVO to serve as the delivery system for “official” videos. To pat themselves on the back, they introduced certified awards this past summer. The awards, modeled after gold and platinum records for albums and singles, recognizes VEVO videos seen by more than 100 million pairs of eyeballs.

Being a list addict, I lapped it up. However, the average Gen X’er might be more inclined to throw up. This isn’t a list populated by early classics like Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” or Def Leppard’s “Photograph”. In today’s YouTube world, Justin Bieber’s “Baby” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” rule the roost.

Justin Bieber's "Baby", #1 on the VEVO list

In fact, as of mid-August, 79 of the 100 videos on the VEVO list are from 2009 on. Only two videos date back to the 20th century: Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (1983) and Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” (1992).

Those two videos could bookend what Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum call the “Golden Age” of MTV (1981-1992) in their book, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution (Dutton, 2011). On my Dave’s Music Database blog, I aggregated more than 50 sources into a post on the Top 100 Videos of All Time. It serves as a vivid walk down memory lane for anyone who spent the Golden Age plopped in front of the tube. More than half the videos stem from that era and a mere 13 hail from the 21st century. The newest song on the list, Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” from 2008, is ancient by VEVO standards.

Why such a drastic change? Among Marks and Tannenbaum’s rationale for capping the Golden Age at 1992 was the birth of reality programming. That year’s show The Real World signified a move away from music videos which, in the minds of Gen X’ers, destroyed MTV.

Check out the comments section on YouTube videos for MTV ads and promos of yesteryear. The scathing attacks start with the observation that the “M” used to stand for music. A mix of resentment and reminiscing follows – it reads like someone recalling good times with an ex before things went sour. A colorful array of profanities generally spices up the bitter diatribes.

It may seem unfathomable that the station once renowned for cutting edge videos like Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” and Aha’s “Take on Me” now champions reality-TV stars like Snooki and The Situation. However, here’s something my fellow 40-somethings forget: you aren’t 14, anymore.

It’s okay to fondly remember vegging out to music videos for hours at a time or hanging out at the mall and buying the latest cassettes by Journey and Styx. However, even if MTV, malls, and cassettes were still pillars of modern society, they wouldn’t be central to your life anymore. As soon as marriage, mortgages, and mini-versions of yourself (aka children) entered the picture, MTV was jettisoned. It’s hard to make a priority of seeing a Madonna world premiere video when Junior is screeching at the top of his lungs for his bottle.

You outgrew MTV’s demographic 15-20 years ago. Whereas they haven’t aged in that they maintain an ever-vigilant pursuit of the youth market. Ehow.com says today’s MTV is targeted toward ages 12 to 25 (“What Are the Demographics of MTV Viewers?”, 17 May 2009). When the kids started turning to other sources for music, MTV had to overhaul its programming to stay relevant and profitable. Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes is quoted in I Want My MTV as saying “at some point the ‘M’ in MTV changed from ‘Music’ to ‘Money.’” Network executives aren’t going to alienate their teen and twentysomething base just because Generation X feels nostalgic.

Once upon a time you may have huddled around the lockers in high school halls to profess Tawny Kitaen’s hotness in Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again”. Today’s adolescent whips out a smart phone to show off her homemade video of her singing Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” with her BFF. Meanwhile ,you now gather around the water cooler with co-workers to spout lines like, “Here we go again” when someone asks which political party you’re backing in the USA’s Presidential election.

Even if MTV had never strayed from music, Katy Perry’s “Firework” and LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” would rule the roost these days, not Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. As proclaimed in the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star”, the first video to air on MTV, “We can’t rewind, we’ve gone too far / Pictures came and broke your heart.”

It’s time to let go, Generation X – and get your VEVO on.

Justin Bieber charted with “Baby”

Baby Justin Bieber with Ludacris

Writer(s): Justin Bieber/Christopher “Tricky” Stewart/Terius “The-Dream” Nash/Christopher Bridges/Christina Milan (see lyrics here) Released: January 18, 2010 First Charted: January 31, 2010 Peak: 5 US, 15 RR, 3 UK, 3 CN, 3 AU, 12 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 12.0 US, 0.6 UK, 13.43 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.1 radio, 2812.56 video, 492.78 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Justin Bieber became a YouTube sensation who hit the U.S. charts in 2009 with all seven cuts from his My World EP. The following year he released his first full-length album, My World 2.0, preceded by the single “Baby.” It became his first top ten hit in the United States and reached a similar pinnacle in other countries. It went to #1 in France. WK The team of Christopher “Tricky” Stewart and Terius “The-Dream” Nash wrote the song with Bieber, having previously worked on his song “One Time” as well as Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” They contacted label mate Ludacris to add a rap to the song. He had his doubts about rapping on a teenager’s song about puppy love, but said he knew the song was a hit when he heard it and could get into it when he imagined himself back at that age. Lamb applauded the results, saying, “Ludacris demonstrates raps in a pop hit can be charming and safe for young children to hear.” WK About.com’s Bil Lamb said the song was “the best vehicle yet for Justin Bieber’s sweet, soulful voice.” WK Billboard’s Melanie Bertoldi said the song’s “undeniably contagious chorus should keep Bieber’s tween fan base satisfied” WK and Rolling Stone’s Jody Rosen said the song “blends winks at Fifties doo-wop with hip-hop chants.” WK The video was even bigger, becoming the most viewed video in YouTube history by that summer. It held the title until late 2012 when it was passed by Psy’s “Gangnam Style.” WK Bieber said the video, which was primarily set in a mall bowling alley, would tap into the “song’s message of trying to woo back a girl.” WK Ludacris compared the video to Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel;” MTV concurred saying “the choreography does use a few of Jackson’s less-suggestive moves,” WK including the famous moonwalk. Billboard said, “those new dance moves he’s showing off can only mean one thing: all over the world, tweens’ hearts are melting right now.” WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Ludacris WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/6/2013; last updated 10/22/2022.