The American dream strikes back. Casey Neistat, one of the world’s most famous YouTubers, went from poverty to abundance thanks to a heavy talent to anticipate the new trends and use them to his benefit. CNN has bought his brand for 25 million dollars!
His first videos were groundbreaking, completely changing the perception of vlogging. One of the things that made these videos so popular was the music used in them. So, this pulls the question that many want an answer to:
Where does Casey Neistat Get His Songs?
The predominant style in his videos is Chipmunk Soul music, a subgenre of hip-hop. Neistat either gets his songs from:
- Soundcloud, where he listens to Chipmunk Soul style of music and asks from such artists permission to use their songs in his vlogs.
- Or directly from artists, that is, they create music for Casey’s vlogs. Such artists are Andrew Applepie, Dyalla Swain, Joakim Karud, and Lakey Inspired.
More About Casey Neistat
A not-too-pretty face appeared on the internet some years ago. It has a flattened nose, curly blond hair, Tartar cheekbones, nasal voice… This man is Casey Neistat, and he loves to wear very shabby sunglasses with which he looks downright nice. Little by little, he created fantastic videos which caught the attention of millions of fans all around the world.
Neistat, who talks a little about everything without ever abandoning the technological bias, announced at the end of November 2016 the achievement of the Great American Dream (again): CNN will disburse around 25 million dollars to take over his services and his companies.
What the American television network has seen in this guy born in Connecticut in 1981 are obviously his numbers, closely connected to the know-how as Neistat conveys something special. Perhaps it was his youth full of deficiencies, perhaps his early school leaving, perhaps the experience of living four years in a caravan… Whatever it was that shaped his personality, the fact remains that his videos are loaded with vitality, originality, and style.
A Nose for Business
Neistat is a visionary, someone capable of turning each invention (the iPhone, drones, the GoPro) into an ally for his purposes, a born entrepreneur. On July 17, 2015, he founded Beme, an app to share unedited videos in the Snapchat style. He is a successful artist and entrepreneur as he shot and sold his miniseries The Neistat Brothers to HBO in 2008. He was also made famous by denouncing Apple’s ruse to make the batteries of its first iPods which lasted 18 months and were irreplaceable. A rather unorthodox ambassador from the companies that hired him as a troubadour (Nike and Samsung, to name a few).
Actually, what Casey Neistat does is very difficult. “Casey’s is a very particular case, it is unique because he did not start out as a YouTuber. For him, it was another window from which to disseminate his works. He started using a video camera and showed his content on each and every one of the platforms that are being created. It is a talent that comes from nowhere, from going through economic difficulties, which scales thanks to a prodigious instinct to understand the changes that occur in society and connect with the concerns of young people, producing with great quality and without training. It is basically a brilliant mind”, explains Silvia Velasco, partner of Animal Maker, a company that specializes in defining, creating, and positioning content.
Work
That brilliance is reflected in the way he processed the commissions of two multinationals that trusted him to rehearse a fresher approach to the audience.
In 2012, Nike awarded him a good handful of dollars to promote his smart wristbands under the slogan Make it count. Instead of filming an ordinary commercial, Casey decided to go around the world in 10 days and edit it as a continuous sequence in which he starts running out of his New York workshop and continues through the streets of Paris, the pyramids of Cheops, and the temples of Thailand. The video received 23.7 million views and Nike executives uncorked the champagne.
When Samsung suggested testing a prototype of its Gear 360 camera, Neistat simply unpacked it and used it to record his day from minute one to the arrival at the venue where he was to share his feelings about the gadget. Just a few months earlier, in January, the Big Apple was hit by a category snowfall, the authorities strictly prohibited road traffic and Casey could not think of anything else than to wear a YouTube jacket, tow himself to an SUV with his skis, and record it all with a drone. When the police asked him to stop, he was so funny and savvy that they never stopped him again (he didn’t even get a fine).
Style
Casey always starts his videos with a time sequence and ends abruptly. In addition to being interesting to watch, the time sequences at the beginning of Casey’s videos perfectly match the general theme of his vlog – excerpts from his daily life, with the time sequences showing the day. Time sequences attract people’s attention, which is essential in any introduction. The sudden end leaves viewers to speculate on what will happen next and maintains the feelings they are feeling in the final scene. The music makes it all more interesting to watch.
The Good YouTuber
The Neistat school hits the spot because it respects the magic clover that highlights good YouTubers over the crowd: “differential content” (communicate differently or about different things: it can be humor, voice, music, etc.); regular publications (at least two or three times a week and with many hours of editing behind); and the ability to connect with the audience (it is something that is taken for granted, but the offer is immense and standing out is not a piece of cake. It has to do with the theme, the tone and the capacity to empathize).
And who are the good YouTubers? Those that generate views, of course. The analysis firm OpenSlate states that in 2015 only the 100 most popular channels in the world accumulated 14,700 million views, a statistic that again can be misleading since only 0.6% of the total videos posted on YouTube exceeds one million and a resounding 50% do not even harvest 1,000. “It is feasible but not easy to reach a potentially massive audience, the internet and social networks give you the possibility to publish in a simple and disintermediated way. That was impossible 15 years ago as we have gone from blogs to vlogs. The good part is that voices are broadened, that many people acquire that right and that capacity. It is assumed that the equation necessarily leads to an increase in quality, but it also increases noise,” warns Lara Tíscar, Director of Communication and Marketing of the EOI. That hubbub is the reason why CNN’s love affair with Neistat takes on even more relevance.
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A Final Word From Run Gun Shoot
Casey’s videos on YouTube have a very distinct style. Studying the method and style of a vlogger like Casey can help you develop your own concept. Of course, you should not copy the methods of Casey Neistat’s vlog or any other vlogger, because if your subscribers subscribe to your channel, they will want to see content created by you and no one else. So there is no harm in learning some tips from a professional or trying to be as successful as Casey.
The consistency in Casey’s format is the most significant aspect that distinguishes it from other daily vloggers. Developing your own way to start and end videos can be equally beneficial for you. Including an introduction is important for any type of vlog, and your specific introduction will depend on your theme and personality. Your credits are equally important as they define what viewers will feel when they finish watching your video. Do you want to end the video with a joke, a polite farewell, or any other comment?
What is the main objective of your vlog? Before deepening the recording of your videos, plan in advance what your main motivation is for the content you want to share with the world. Whether you want to teach, have fun, share your lifestyle or just create random content, your main goal has a direct influence on your vlogging style.
