I knew there were reaction videos, but they seemed pointless to me. You gave me a new perspective - a lovely Christmas gift. An added bonus - my husband and I claim "In My Life" as our song.
Max, that was a super column. It exposes a genre totally new to me. I'm going to take a look at it.
I am very pleased that you are writing for Steve on Political Questions. See if you can get that super talented spouse of yours to write in this venue too.
I wandered onto these reaction videos by chance some months back and found them rather interestingly unique as well Max. Enjoyed your insightful assessment on them. Thing is YouTube has so many interesting things political and otherwise that I spend too much time there already. As someone said, YouTube is better than TV these days. I find that to be true for me. Nice to see you writing for Steve here at substack. I hope to be able to get here more often in the future.
You Tube has so many, many new AND OLD TV shows and movies, who needs commercial TV anymore? Including full episodes and seasons of some absolutely classic old TV series.
My brother and his wife watch nothing but You Tube. I'm considering it myself
It is quite the phenomenon. I think what drives the audience is the vicarious novelty and surprise. Especially when black people appreciate extremely popular white music they’ve never heard before. This is my favorite song reaction video:
I discovered reaction videos a couple years ago and you are spot on with your thoughts on why they're so popular Max. My favorite part is experiencing the music for the first time through fresh eyes and ears.
There are also movie reactors that are fun to check out as well as vocal coaches dissecting vocal performances (The Charismatic Voice is one of my favorites).
Fun! I have seen some of these and found them strangely compelling--they help me hear a song in a new way. Now I know it's a "thing." The one thing I dislike, though, is when the reactor stops the song to talk! Listen, make small comments and then discuss after the song is finished. . .
Oh well, part 2: I started your post cos the reaction video phenomenon interests me. Then you shoehorned Trump/Hitler and the 'alleged' Israeli "genocide" in Gaza into what suddenly became a toxic partisan propaganda piece (for me, I hasten to say). So glad I'm not resident in "the Land of the Free".
What got me into reaction videos was No Life Shaq on Youtube reacting to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird." He's enjoying the ballad section then he loses his mind for the long rockin' triple guitar ending! My current fave is Black Pegasus.
I don't think it's universally true that those reacting have to stop a song to avoid copyright infringement, simply because I've seen a number of reaction videos thar don't react until the end. Sarah Dengler frequently doesn't stop, and she also seems to be a marvelous, generous person.
This is so interesting to read because I strangely love watching these and I am glad to hear from others. Some really interesting ones to watch are story songs and seeing if the watcher picks up on what is happening. Two I really enjoyed were The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and Paradise by the Dashboard Lights. Annie’s Song also seems to blow people away. They also have it for movies and I have seen people really blown away watching Saving Private Ryan.
I heartily recommend experiencing some music reaction videos, which can easily be found on YouTube. Genuine curiosity by the reactors. Wokeness was absent.
What I like about reaction videos is we can pick the reactors. Probably best to steer away from experts or high evolve musicians. The average person may be the most interesting and teach us why we may like something or not. And they may help us discover something we did not feel.
That is enlightenment. I enjoy watching these occasionally to learn how people react and hopefully how they translate that to words — extemporaneous is the best.
The Charlie Smith Channel has been doing reactions for many years, but really blew up with his first reaction to music from the Tabernacle Choir. Start with the video that also features the Piano Guys. He has become a friend of the Choir since that video landed last September.
When the Beatles Anthology kicked off with In My Life, I knew that what followed would be sublime.
If I may be so bold... Have you listened to In My Life on Judy Collins's album of the same title? In my view it is the only covered Beatles song done better than the Beatles themselves.
I knew there were reaction videos, but they seemed pointless to me. You gave me a new perspective - a lovely Christmas gift. An added bonus - my husband and I claim "In My Life" as our song.
I hope you will post more articles.
"In My Life" is great. There could not be a better choice.
Max, that was a super column. It exposes a genre totally new to me. I'm going to take a look at it.
I am very pleased that you are writing for Steve on Political Questions. See if you can get that super talented spouse of yours to write in this venue too.
Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah! Best to Steve, Susan, and Joe.
Thanks, Tony! All the best to you and your bride.
I wandered onto these reaction videos by chance some months back and found them rather interestingly unique as well Max. Enjoyed your insightful assessment on them. Thing is YouTube has so many interesting things political and otherwise that I spend too much time there already. As someone said, YouTube is better than TV these days. I find that to be true for me. Nice to see you writing for Steve here at substack. I hope to be able to get here more often in the future.
You Tube has so many, many new AND OLD TV shows and movies, who needs commercial TV anymore? Including full episodes and seasons of some absolutely classic old TV series.
My brother and his wife watch nothing but You Tube. I'm considering it myself
It is quite the phenomenon. I think what drives the audience is the vicarious novelty and surprise. Especially when black people appreciate extremely popular white music they’ve never heard before. This is my favorite song reaction video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q-7-63YqfU&pp=ygUWbWV0YWxsaWNhIG9uZSByZWFjdGlvbg%3D%3D
I discovered reaction videos a couple years ago and you are spot on with your thoughts on why they're so popular Max. My favorite part is experiencing the music for the first time through fresh eyes and ears.
There are also movie reactors that are fun to check out as well as vocal coaches dissecting vocal performances (The Charismatic Voice is one of my favorites).
Fun! I have seen some of these and found them strangely compelling--they help me hear a song in a new way. Now I know it's a "thing." The one thing I dislike, though, is when the reactor stops the song to talk! Listen, make small comments and then discuss after the song is finished. . .
They have to stop the song in order to avoid copyright infringement.
aha! I missed that--
Oh well, part 2: I started your post cos the reaction video phenomenon interests me. Then you shoehorned Trump/Hitler and the 'alleged' Israeli "genocide" in Gaza into what suddenly became a toxic partisan propaganda piece (for me, I hasten to say). So glad I'm not resident in "the Land of the Free".
This is my introduction to this activity. Thanks , Max.
Still not sure it will catch on for me.
It helps that she's gorgeous.
What got me into reaction videos was No Life Shaq on Youtube reacting to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird." He's enjoying the ballad section then he loses his mind for the long rockin' triple guitar ending! My current fave is Black Pegasus.
I don't think it's universally true that those reacting have to stop a song to avoid copyright infringement, simply because I've seen a number of reaction videos thar don't react until the end. Sarah Dengler frequently doesn't stop, and she also seems to be a marvelous, generous person.
This is so interesting to read because I strangely love watching these and I am glad to hear from others. Some really interesting ones to watch are story songs and seeing if the watcher picks up on what is happening. Two I really enjoyed were The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and Paradise by the Dashboard Lights. Annie’s Song also seems to blow people away. They also have it for movies and I have seen people really blown away watching Saving Private Ryan.
I heartily recommend experiencing some music reaction videos, which can easily be found on YouTube. Genuine curiosity by the reactors. Wokeness was absent.
What I like about reaction videos is we can pick the reactors. Probably best to steer away from experts or high evolve musicians. The average person may be the most interesting and teach us why we may like something or not. And they may help us discover something we did not feel.
That is enlightenment. I enjoy watching these occasionally to learn how people react and hopefully how they translate that to words — extemporaneous is the best.
The Charlie Smith Channel has been doing reactions for many years, but really blew up with his first reaction to music from the Tabernacle Choir. Start with the video that also features the Piano Guys. He has become a friend of the Choir since that video landed last September.
When the Beatles Anthology kicked off with In My Life, I knew that what followed would be sublime.
If I may be so bold... Have you listened to In My Life on Judy Collins's album of the same title? In my view it is the only covered Beatles song done better than the Beatles themselves.