Bed Intruder Song

So since there aren't any songs specifically about by thesis topic I chose a song that brings together music and social media.  The "Bed Intruder Song," composed by the Gregory Brothers and based on a newscast featuring Antoine Dodson was the most viewed YouTube video of 2010 (other than professional label music videos).  The broadcast of Antoine's interview after the attempted rape of his sister had already gone somewhat viral in it's original state, but the songify-ed version completely blew up, eventually gaining Antoine enough fame and money to move his family to a safer neighborhood.  Currently, the "Bed Intruder Song" has 106,746,369 views on YouTube.  I knew that Antoine had some fame independent of the song after it gained popularity, but I never really realized how much of an impact it had on his life until I researched this blog post.  Obviously Wikipedia is not the most legit source, but the article on Antoine Dodson lists a number of changes that happened in his life after the song that I thought were really interesting.  "The Bed Intruder Song," as well as a number of other songs by the Gregory Brothers ("Double Rainbow," etc) and other YouTube artists are examples of how music and social media come together to skyrocket regular people into (internet) celebrity.  Obviously there are other very notable examples of social media being used in the music industry, namely Justin Bieber (discovered via YouTube) and other artists who use Twitter and other platforms to connect with their fans and increase visibility for their music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Dodson