McAfee & Taft entertainment lawyer Jay Shanker was quoted in a recent Oklahoman article about the sudden rise to celebrity status of Greyson Michael Chance, a 12-year-old Edmond, OK, student.
The article discusses Chance's newfound fame and how social media is being used by the music industry to revolutionize the entertainment business. Shanker said that Chance is an example of how the Internet can hype new artists. "The phenomenon is that people will find something they like and want to talk about it and share it with friends," said Shanker, "Then you have created overnight sensations."
Chance's video, which was recorded at a sixth-grade choir performance, was posted on YouTube on April 28, and by May 12 had over 1.4 million views.
Shanker said that major record companies, as well as independent musical artists, have realized they can sell songs and build careers with just a small audience of fervent fans. "If your goal is to make a great living, satisfy your fans and your passion for making good music, most young artists are discovering doing it themselves using the social media as a marketing platform," Shanker said.
You can read the entire article here.