Weird Al Tries To Teach Fox Business Reporter How Internet Comedy Works

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When "Weird Al" Yankovic stopped by Fox Business on Thursday to promote his new album, he ended up having to explain the economics of Internet comedy.

Yankovic has been all over the Internet the past few days, releasing one music video per day from his new album, “Mandatory Fun." As of Thursday, he had released videos for “Tacky,” “Word Crimes," “Foil” and "Handy." He says he'll release four more in the coming days.

A part of his promotion, for some reason, included a visit to “Varney & Company,” where host Stuart Varney grilled the parody artist about how he makes money online.

“How do you make the money when you’re putting it out on the Internet?” Varney asked of the new releases.

Yankovic politely explained how partners like Funny or Die, CollegeHumor, Yahoo and Nerdist paid for the production of the videos and allowed him to make them for free in the hopes of getting people excited for his album.

“Yeah, well, come on, come on. How do you get the money?” Varney persisted.

Yankovic, never losing his charm or composure, explained again how the videos are essentially a commercial for the album and not necessarily for profit.

“Can you make a million dollars for each of the eight videos that you’re putting out?” Varney then asked, ignoring everything the artist had just said.

“Yes, yes of course, why did I argue with you!?” Yankovic joked.

Sometimes you just have to let it go and dance it out.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-weird-al-makes-money-with-online-music-videos-2014-7

 

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The Surprisingly Savvy Weird Al Internet Machine
Actually, really, truly, the music parody master's wild success can teach us something about media in 2014.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...ingly-savvy-weird-al-internet-machine/374649/

I'll probably just be releasing singles (possibly EPs) going forward - I really don't think the album format is the most efficient or intelligent way for me to distribute my music anymore. I highly doubt that I would sign with another label. I guess I might be open to a distribution deal, but... we'll see.​

 

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http://kfor.com/2014/07/17/watch-all-of-weird-als-new-parody-viral-videos/

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'Weird Al' Yankovic hits No. 1 with 'Mandatory Fun'

It's "Mandatory": "Weird Al" Yankovic is Number One.

The long-haired comic musician's new album, "Mandatory Fun," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart of best-selling albums with 104,000 in sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's Yankovic's first No. 1 of his more than 30-year career.
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It's the first No. 1 comedy album on Billboard's charts since Allan Sherman's "My Son, the Nut" in 1963 -- the album that contained Sherman's biggest hit, "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh."

Yankovic's album sales were no doubt boosted by the videos he released for each song on the record, a number of which have gone viral. YouTube has set aside a whole row for Yankovic videos on its "Popular on YouTube" page, including "Word Crimes" -- a parody of "Blurred Lines" that's received more than 10 million views -- and "Foil," a parody of "Royals" that's topped 12 million views.

The king of musical parody also has made an excellent showing on Spotify's "Viral 50" chart of most-streamed songs. He currently holds the top four slots with "NOW That's What I Call Polka," "Handy," "Word Crimes" and "Foil."

Yankovic has been taking something of a victory lap to promote "Mandatory Fun" and celebrate his career in the music business, which includes three Grammys, four gold records and more than 12 million in sales. He's been profiled on a number of news outlets, including CNN.

But he's not retiring. With Internet streaming now in ascendancy, he's thinking of what's next.

"It does allow me to try things I wouldn't have tried before," he told CNN's Jake Tapper. "Now, it's basically, 'What do I like? What do the fans like?' "

 

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Watch Weird Al Tear Up When He Learns His Album Is Number One on the Billboard Charts

For the first time in his long and storied career, Weird Al hit number one on the Billboard charts with his album Mandatory Fun, which sold 104,700 records in its first week (beating out Jason Mraz's YES!). There are a lot of reasons — seven, to be specific — why Weird Al had this late career renaissance: his strategy of releasing one music video a day was genius, he had great material to work with, and he hit our nostalgic soft spots, whether we remembered him for Eat It or Amish Paradise. Tom Green (!) presented Weird Al with the framed chart on Tom Green Live. Weird Al takes it in his hands and begins to tear up, and honestly, we don't think this could have happened to a better guy. Stay weird!

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