Gangnam Style’s PSY Making Bank From YouTube, iTunes

by Nate Wooley | December 5, 2012 12:37 pm

[1]PSY, the suddenly wildly popular South Korean singer of Gangnam Style, is making real money online.

PSY — whose real name is Park Jae-sang — and his video for Gangnam Style are a true sensation. Featuring an infectious beat and distinctive dance moves, it has been viewed almost 1 billion times on Google‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG[2]) YouTube website. That leads to money from the site’s advertising system. His combined income, estimated by the Associated Press[3], from the YouTube advertising and the singer’s commercials, will be just shy of $8 million in 2012.

The music industry is shifting away from direct music sales. At least, the artists are. With YouTube and other ad-driven revenue sources available, an artist no longer has to move  music out to the world through a traditional sales model to cash in. Now, a memorable video can make a musician more money than a record label can bring in.

Gangnam Style has been downloaded 2.7 million times from legal music services, such as Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL[4]) iTunes. That’s approximately another $2.4 million heading to the star and his managers.

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Endnotes:
  1. [Image]: http://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PSY.jpg
  2. GOOG: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GOOG
  3. estimated by the Associated Press: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_SKOREA_GANGNAM_STYLE_BUSINESS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-12-05-05-58-12
  4. AAPL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AAPL
  5. Bobby B Denies DUI Charge: http://investorplace.com/2012/11/bobby-b-denies-dui-charge/
  6. Lindsay Lohan Arrested for Assault: http://investorplace.com/2012/11/lindsay-lohan-arrested-in-nyc-for-assault/
  7. ‘CSI’ Star Files for Bankruptcy: http://investorplace.com/2012/11/csi-star-files-for-bankruptcy/

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