Throbbing Hive with John Moe: Paying to watch Drake parodies on YouTube
October 27, 2015
Every Tuesday at 7:30 a.m., John Moe stops into the Morning Show to share the latest news in Technology.
This week, John Moe stopped by The Current's Morning Show to talk to Jim McGuinn (in for Jill Riley) and Sean McPherson about an upcoming pay option for YouTube and the latest Internet parody craze.
YouTube gears up for pay option
On Oct. 28, 2015, YouTube plans to launch a paid service called YouTube Red. "You'll pay ten bucks a month and you will get a YouTube experience that is ad free," John says.
Next year, YouTube plans to roll out original TV series and movies. "It remains to be seen: Will people pay #10 a month for something they can get for free with ads complicating it anyway?" John asks. "But it's a little bit like the Pandora model or Spotify or anything else. I'm kind of a little dubious to see what these original series or movies are, and whether they'll have people I've heard of or whether they'll be the PewDiePie show."
Drake's song, "Hotline Bling," has become the center of the latest Internet parody craze. "It's catchy, and the video for this — featuring Drake encased in a small aluminum box whilst dancing — is being parodied so much it's kind of gotten out of control," John says.
A recent entry in the string of parody videos is called "Hotline Bing," which happens to be John's personal favorite. "This features Drake dancing in a little box while a little Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing from Friends dances all around him and sometimes on his shoulder," John says.
"I like the fact that Drake put himself out there looking a little silly and goofy and not cool at all. But it really was a blank-slate invitation for everybody to parody it," John says. "I love those gags that will seem extremely dated by like next Wednesday. We'll be nostalgic for mid to late October."
John Moe is the host of Wits and he also co-hosts the podcast Conversation Parade (with Open Mike Eagle) from Infinite Guest.