There’s No One as Irish as Barak Obama.

Over the course of the campaigns for the US presidency, many satirical songs pop up around the globe. Although this is a long-lived tradition, social sites like YouTube fueled the fire in 2008.

A single example is the catchy tune written by The Corrigan Brothers from Limerick, Ireland, called “There’s No One more Irish than Barak Obama.” In an interview, band member Ger said “We put the song up on YouTube and it has gone from having 25 hits in its first week to well over five thousand hits now about a month later”
(http://www.nenaghguardian.ie/news/puckane-born-band-in-line-for-us-presidential-performance-1365192.html)
The version released on YouTube is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xkw8ip43Vk.

Adding to the popularity of the song was another advent of the “Open Source” age. Shay Black, who hosts the Irish Tunes session in Berkley, California, was allowed permission to add verses. His YouTube posting is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek.

Before Web 2.0, the process to release a pop song internationally, even a “one hit wonder,” involved agents, managers, recording contracts, tours, and quite a bit of time. I couldn’t find any albums released by this band, and their 2009 tour is entirely centered on this single song. This song was posted on YouTube in April, 2008. By Inauguration Day, only eight months later, the band was playing in the Presidential Inauguration Parade in Washington DC.

An MP3 download is now available on Amazon.com for $0.99. http://www.amazon.com/Theres-One-Irish-Barack-Obama/dp/B001NJUBBA/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1232729369&sr=8-1

What does this mean for the music industry?

Surely, Obama’s international popularity and ultimate election drove the media acceptance of the Corrigan Brother’s song. Also, Obama’s followers are largely known to be in the Web 2.0 space; his campaign used the social web to generate funds and spread information. This may mean that the success of the Corrigan Brothers was specific to this song, and the rest of the music industry has nothing to fear from Web 2.0.

There is great opportunity for artists online. The web space allows people to generate excitement, and to collaborate on projects. In the future, it may also mean less agency and management and more control (and more money) for artists.