November 25th, 2012, Emilene Parry
The Guinness World Records recently declared ‘Gangnam Style’ as the most liked video in YouTube history. As of now, it has been viewed over 785 million times, liked by 5 million people and has been commented on more than 3 million times.
Since its launch there have been numerous covers, parodies and flash mobs involving the single and it is safe to say that ‘Gangnam Style’ is a worldwide sensation at this point.
We set out to find Lab participant’s views on the music video and the audio. We were particularly keen to find out what it is that makes it so appealing and whether or not respondents felt that it was worthy of all the attention it has been getting.
Although most participants were aware of ‘Gangnam Style’, there were some who had not actually seen or heard the song.
The music video:
Most Lab participants like the ‘Gangnam Style’ music video, with over a third of those who had seen it claiming to really like it.
“Seems funny” Irfan, Pakistan
“Love the dance actions” Anon
“The dance and the high quality of the video” Anon
“Different and awesome” Muhammad Athar Shah, Pakistan
“Interesting and very easy dance” Akram, Pakistan
“The music is good, but the clip doesn’t have anything special. But, the horse dance is special” Amani, Egypt
The audio
Most participants also like the audio; however it would appear that the appeal is slightly higher for the video.
“Irritatingly catchy” Jay, UAE
“Another commercial tune that will fade away soon” D, UAE
“it’s interesting, good music” Rosario Dsouza, UAE
“Music has no Language” Amigo, Dubai
“Catchy tune, easy to remember dance” Anon
“meaningless song that doesn’t have any positive message” Yasmeen, Morroco
…but is it worthy of all the attention?
Interestingly, despite all the positive reviews of ‘Gangnam Style’, more participants do not believe that it deserves all the attention it has been getting than those who think it is worthy of the attention.
“I think it’s over rated, but I still love it! It’s a catchy song” Sam
“I am so surprised about the whole fuss they made” Bahaa al-Haddad, Palestine
“Don't really like the video and can handle listening to it only a few times a week on the radio”
Gina, Qatar