How The Chainsmokers Took #SELFIE To #1
This week The Chainsmokers' "#SELFIE" hit the top spot on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart following a late January release. The song is rising high partly due to the viral power of their "#SELFIE" music video which was clearly created with virality in mind. In fact The Chainsmokers, with support from theAudience, conducted a smart, thorough campaign that not only took their video viral but is giving them a shot at the #1 spot on the Hot 100.
Self portraiture has a long history that's going into a whole new era with the selfie. Typically taken by an individual holding a camera at arms length, the selfie concept has grown to include group selfies, like that thing Ellen did at the Grammys, and related tech tools, such as the selfie stick.
It actually seems a bit late for a music video about selfies titled "#SELFIES" to go viral but here it is:
#SELFIE (Official Music Video) – The Chainsmokers
The Chainsmokers' "#SELFIE" began its climb to the top of Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart with help from theAudience:
"After hearing an early demo, [theAudience CEO Oliver] Luckett put The Chainsmokers in touch with EDM producer/musician Steve Aoki, who released the track on his Dim Mak Records label."
"Then theAudience helped the duo create a video that featured selfies from celebrities such as Aoki, David Hasselhoff and Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder. Just as key, the video also included teen social-media stars like Acacia Brinley, who has 1.2 million Instagram followers, and Nash Grier, who has 6.5 million followers on Vine."
In addition to recruiting celebs and YouTube stars, The Chainsmokers piggybacked off Ellen's group Grammy selfie with a "15-second clip of the photo's staging, with the song's hook, [posted] to Facebook."
How To Take A #SELFIE – The Chainsmokers
Additional promo techniques included:
"uploading a humorous 'How to Take a Selfie' video to YouTube. The duo also posted different snippets of the song to SoundCloud, one timed for Vine (less than six seconds) and another for Instagram (less than 15 seconds); the pair received more than 2,000 submissions the first week."
There's definitely more to what they did, for example, their use of SoundCloud went a bit further and they also released a #SELFIES club mix on Beatport.
With "#SELFIES" climbing multiple charts, it looks like a Hot 100 #1 might be in The Chainsmokers' future.
Bonus: #SELFIE: The Chainsmokers’ 7 Tips For Taking The Perfect One
"#SELFIE" is available on iTunes.
[Thumbnail image of The Chainsmokers' "GO FUCK YOUR #SELFIE" tee via Dim Mak.]
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/Facebook) is currently relaunching All World Dance. To suggest topics about music tech, DIY music biz or music marketing for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
