Rebecca Black Had A Pretty Awesome 2011!
The Internet is a remarkably shifty place. Like the most clique-oriented teenagers, the Internet is home to overnight successes and equally fast crashes in popularity. The Internet is, in many ways, the ultimate medium for those who have short attention spans. Perhaps that is why there have been remarkably few Internet music phenomena. The latest celebrity in music to have gotten her start from exposure on the Internet is also, arguably, the one who has gained the most from her time as an Internet phenomenon. That person is Rebecca Black.
Rebecca Black was thirteen years old when she became an Internet phenomenon with her song “Friday.” ARK Music Factory produced the song “Friday” and its creation was a gift from Black’s mother to Rebecca. When the video for “Friday” was released on YouTube, it languished for a month before exploding with popularity. On March 11, 2011, “Friday” started picking up millions of hits and the song and Rebecca Black became trending topics on Twitter. Despite having a vastly disproportionate number of “dislike” ratings by viewers, “Friday” became a legitimate Internet success when YouTube users downloaded the video over 165 million times. The video earned tens of thousands of dollars in royalties and revenue-sharing from advertising through YouTube.
But how did Rebecca Black become an Internet phenomenon and what did she do with her sudden celebrity?
The daughter of two veterinarians, Rebecca Black had an unremarkable childhood in California. Starting in 2008, Black became interested in the performing arts. She studied dance, sang publicly for Celebration USA and even attended music-themed summer camps. She was an honor student while attending public schools in California. However, when she became an Internet superstar, she left public school for homeschooling.
When “Friday” became a sudden success, Rebecca Black wasted no time in enjoying her fame. She started her own record label, RB Records, and released a second single, “My Moment.” The video to “My Moment” already has over thirty million views! Rebecca Black is also working on a full album for 2012.
What is more significant about what Rebecca Black has done as an Internet phenomenon is how she has used her sudden celebrity to become associated with more traditionally-created celebrities. Rebecca Black’s popularity led Katy Perry to start performing “Friday” as part of her “Teenage Dream” tour. Perry had Black as a guest star for one of her videos and even brought Rebecca Black on stage during a concert to do a duet. Black is also a fixture at award shows, like the Teen Choice Awards where she won Choice Web Star for 2011.
Rebecca Black got lucky when her song became an Internet phenomenon and ever since, she has been working to build on her early success. With her drive, determination and ability to use the Internet to continue her popularity, Rebecca Black may well become one of the Internet’s big music success stories!
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