Wowie Zowie
This Baby Got Back thing is going crazy. A couple of interesting stats:
15,000 unique visitors over the weekend, 12,000 just yesterday
162 Gigs of data yesterday
47,000 hits on the mp3 itself
Actual airplay on KTCK in Dallas (thanks Gordon!)
It’s a little overwhelming. It’s been a full time job just managing my inbox (good I thing I quit the job, huh?). What’s been really interesting for me is trying to manage what’s happening and ultimately realizing that I can’t. When something like this gets out there it’s gone, like that Gourds cover of Gin and Juice that everybody thinks is Phish. People will consume this song however they want. Some of them will come to my site, some will just grab the mp3 and never give it a second thought. Some people think I’m a band, some people think I do only covers, some people think I just stole this idea from the Gourds, or Ben Folds, or whoever else (note to the haters: no shit Sherlock). But I really believe this is how it should be, or at any rate, how it must be. I suspect that the internet is here to stay (and you can quote me on that).
And I want to read (by which I mean control) every single post about me and this song. I’m grateful for all the extra traffic and there’s no question at all that it’s a HUGE net positive, but I still find myself wanting to micromanage every posting so that it’s presented with the correct amount of humility and irony and redirection. I cringe when I think about the thousands of people who follow a direct link to the mp3 and never get to the other stuff. Link to the post! Link to the post! And I’m kicking myself for not having a press kit, not having a way to buy so many of these songs, not having a prominent enough donation link, etc., etc. I even allowed Smoking Monkey to sell out at CD Baby. Coulton, you idiot!
But I do have a bank account ready to receive a check for one million dollars. Send it any time.
Comments
Candy Addict says
Holy crap! 162 Gigs of data????? That's nuts. So, did you ISP give you that call yet? :)
brian
http://myvogonpoetry.com
Glenn Peters says
*sniff* They reach super-stardom so fast. I knew him when he just awesome.
d says
Can you put this up on iTunes? I'd gladly pay a buck to download this officially.
JoCo says
D asks a good question: no, I can't. Actually, I could, but to do so I would have to make a CD, start selling it on CD Baby, and then wait for the CD to be submitted and posted at the iTunes store. That would probably take weeks or months to get done though. I can't really get to iTunes directly. What I should do is set it up so that these songs can be officially purchased through my site, but, you know, haven't gotten to it yet.
For now if you'd like to make it official, you can toss me a buck through my paypal or my amazon donations links in the sidebar on the main page and we'll call it even.
jp3z says
Congrats, Jonathan! I knew you'd make it big someday!
hugh says
162 Gigs? Your new word for the day is Coral, as in Coral Cache. All you do is change your links.
before:
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/music/thingaweek/BabyGotBack.mp3
after:
http://www.jonathancoulton.com.nyud.net:8090/music/thingaweek/BabyGotBack.mp3
Not only will you not get a large bill from your ISP, the folks who download the track will probably get it much faster as well. See http://www.coralcdn.org/ for more info. Do it now, before somebody posts a slashdot article on your wildly popular song(s).
Bob B says
You did a great job on the Baby Got Back cover! Your original work is quite good too and its getting much play on my MP3 player. Now I hope you'll soon recover from the shock and awe of the sudden internet avalanche. Your hungry children need more tunes! You keep writing and we'll keep buying!
Brooklyn Bluesman says
Ditto on all the kudos.We all need to do as Bob B said-keep buying!
greg says
it was played on 96.1 in Raleigh, NC yesterday as well. that song made my day
Mike Salsbury says
I hadn't heard of you until I saw a link to the Baby Got Back song and followed it. You've done an absolutely fantastic job with it. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to it. I can't get the darned thing out of my head. Keep wanting to sing it, which would not go over well with our HR department...
I posted an article on my blog about the song and have been introducing everyone I can to it. You deserve every hit you can get, and every buck people toss your way for it! Best of luck to you.