Pomplamoose: Music duo going viral via social media
Early yesterday morning, I heard an interesting On The Media special about the future of the music industry. Long story short, it’s floundering.
Back then, I had never heard of Pomplamoose.
Update: Pomplamoose show
Beginning January 18, 2011, a live webcast show —Hey it’s Pomplamoose — is set for Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. Pacific (8:30 p.m. Central) at www.pomplamoose.com.
A couple of hours ago, though, the video above — a Pomplamoose cover of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” — slowly slid down my home feed at FriendFeed. I clicked on it, and I was instantly hooked. The video has been up for just over a month and viewed nearly two million times.
From there, I went to the PomplamooseMusic channel at YouTube, where I watched some more of their amazing “VideoSongs” — like this version of The Chordettes’ “Mister Sandman”:
You can buy Pomplamoose music — the Pomplamoose Videosongs album, or individual MP3s from it — at Amazon.com or through iTunes or the Pomplamoose MySpace page. You can follow Pomplamoose on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook. T-shirts are coming soon.
Oh, and the second Pomplamoose show ever is coming up November 13 at BrainWash in San Francisco.
So far this morning, I have learned the following about Pomplamoose:
- It’s a a one-woman-one-man band from the San Francisco Bay Area.
- The woman is Nataly Dawn, the man is Jack Conte. They’re boyfriend and girlfriend.
- Pamplemousse is French for “grapefruit.”
- VideoSongs follow two simple rules: What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice), and if you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds).
Here’s more Pomplamoose background from an Attack of the Show segment last February:
So while the music industry is floundering, this talented duo appears to be thriving — thanks in no small part to their use of social media.
All of this reminds me of an interview I heard two weeks ago on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.
As you may know, gonzo wine webcaster Gary Vaynerchuk has a business bestseller that was just published. It’s called Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion.
Vaynerchuk told NPR’s Scott Simon:
The cost of creating your voice over the thing you’re most passionate and knowledgeable about is zero. I mean, that’s crazy, Scott. I mean, you know, the fact that you can create a blog or a community for zero, you can put out videos for zero, and now because of things like Twitter and Facebook socialize and network, you know, kind of like working a cocktail party, build your business.
Word-of-mouth is how all the businesses have always been built anyway, and that costs zero. Well, now it’s time. Now it’s no excuses. Put down the Nintendo Wii paddle, stop watching “Lost,” it’s time to build a brand around yourself.
Pomplamoose would seem to be yet another great example of this revolution.
Update, April 9, 2010: Pomplamoose on NPR
Pomplamoose was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered this afternoon. Here’s the story:
