Posts Tagged: ‘queen
Queen and YouTube Present Three New Fan Music Videos for ‘You Are the Champions’ Campaign
More Than 10,000 Fans From Over 120 Countries Helped Create New Fan Music Videos for Queen’s Iconic Songs: “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” and “A Kind Of Magic”
In celebration of “Bohemian Rhapsody” becoming the the first pre-1990s video to reach one billion views on YouTube, Queen and YouTube Music worked together with Universal Music Group and Hollywood Records to enlist the band’s loyal fans from around the world to help create brand-new, user generated fan music videos for three of the band’s most recognizable tracks: “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” and “A Kind Of Magic” as part of the You Are The Champions initiative.
More than 10,000 fans from over 120 countries around the world answered the call, submitting unique content via the YouAreTheChampions.com microsite, with each video focusing on one of three submission categories. The result is one of the world’s biggest musical collaborations: including a musician/singer performance-based video for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” an entire dance-based video for “Don’t Stop Me Now,” and a montage of bespoke work from visual artists for “A Kind of Magic.”
A true celebration of the band’s unique connection with their fans around the world, the videos show the band represented by multiple generations from every continent. To celebrate the launch of the videos, Queen’s Roger Taylor said, “Glad you could all join us. Welcome.”
Brian May said, “It’s one of the most rewarding things that can happen to an artist of any kind—to see that our work has inspired folk all around the world to create their own performances and visual art is a thrill. And the diversity of their vision is astonishing. Big thanks to everyone who participated.”
More below about the new fan-created music videos!
“Don’t Stop Me Now”: Polly Bennett, the choreographer who worked with Rami Malek for the film Bohemian Rhapsody, created a unique dance for fans to learn and film for this classic Queen song. More than 1,800 videos were submitted from individuals, groups, ballerinas, ice skaters and a few Freddie Mercury impersonators as well. The final video resulted in a choreographed performance with fans from all over the world dancing together as one.
“Bohemian Rhapsody”: Musicians and singers from around the globe were asked to submit footage of themselves performing the song and more than 5,400 from 110 countries answered the call, including harpists, classical musicians, a bassoonist and even a group of xylophonists! The result is a layering of performances from fans all over the world, playing and singing in unison to recreate the iconic track.
“A Kind Of Magic”: Visual artists submitted individual artwork in the medium of their choosing to depict the lyrics and melody of this iconic song. 2,773 artists from 92 countries submitted for the video, and the end result is a visual symphony of fan art that pays homage to the song’s lyrics and diverse representations of the band’s members dreamed in paint, animation, graphic designs, sand, flowers, and more. Check out the final videos, along with Queen’s catalog of classics on Queen’s official YouTube channel.
Can anyone match Freddie Mercury’s legendary voice? Queen and YouTube Music are challenging fans to find out!
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is considered one of the greatest rock songs of all time, so it’s no wonder the music video recently hit 1 billion views on YouTube. For decades, fans have belted out the song’s iconic lyrics alongside Freddie Mercury’s one-of-a-kind vocals, but how many can really sing it just like Freddie? YouTube, Google Creative Lab, and Google Research — working in partnership with Queen, Universal Music Group and Hollywood Records — have built a new AI experiment called FreddieMeter to find out!
Released in support of Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity founded by Brian May, Roger Taylor and Jim Beach to raise awareness and funds for the fight against HIV/AIDS, and in honor of the 44th anniversary of the band’s first-ever live performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” at the Empire Theater, Liverpool, U.K in November 1975; FreddieMeter was created to let fans around the world determine how closely their singing matches the voice of Queen’s legendary frontman, Freddie Mercury.
FreddieMeter shows users how closely their voice matches Freddie Mercury’s legendary range by analyzing the singer’s pitch, timbre, and melody to assign them a score of 0 to 100. Queen fans, killer impressionists, and anyone who enjoys a little karaoke and are ready to step up to the challenge can get started by doing the following:
- SING: Pick one of four QUEEN songs on the microsite (“Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Somebody to Love” or “We Are the Champions”) and sing your heart out!
- SHARE: Get your score and share! Download the custom scorecard asset directly to your device, then share it on YouTube Stories, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
- CHALLENGE: Using the hashtag #FreddieChallenge on social channels, challenge three friends to see how they measure up.
- DONATE: Encourage a charitable donation to Mercury Phoenix Trust in your post → http://www.mercuryphoenixtrust.com/donate
Google Creative Lab and Google Research created FreddieMeter using new on-device machine learning models, and it’s been trained on Freddie’s isolated vocals, as well as samples of people trying to sing like Freddie. FreddieMeter is trained on and optimized for individual singers and works on desktop, Android and iPhone devices, and the audio doesn’t get uploaded to any servers to be analyzed, so all vocals stay totally private unless shared by the user.
FreddieMeter continues YouTube’s celebration of Queen’s music and “Bohemian Rhapsody’s” 1 billion views milestone, which coincided with the release of a newly remastered HD version of the video. The achievement made history with the anthem being the first pre-1990s video to reach one billion views on the platform.
In partnership with Universal Music Group and Hollywood Records, YouTube also recently launched ‘You Are The Champions,’ a unique campaign that gave fans an exclusive chance to become a part of Queen history with a starring role in brand-new, user-generated videos for three of the band’s most celebrated tracks: “A Kind of Magic,” “Don’t Stop Me Now” and the iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The results were pulled from more than 10,000 submissions from more than 120 countries around the world, showing the depth and love for Queen and Freddie amongst their loyal global fanbase.
To take on the #FreddieChallenge now or find out more about FreddieMeter, visit freddiemeter.withyoutube.com.
Queen launches ‘You Are The Champions’ campaign, giving fans a chance to star in three new user-generated videos on YouTube
Queen — in partnership with YouTube Music, Universal Music Group and Hollywood Records —has launched “You Are The Champions,” a unique new campaign that gives fans an exclusive chance to become a part of Queen history with a starring role in three brand-new, user-generated videos for three of the band’s most celebrated tracks. The campaign launched to celebrate Queen’s iconic music video for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” becoming the first pre-1990s video to reach one billion views on YouTube.
Speaking from the band’s current sold-out North American tour, founding Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor said, “We are honoured that Bohemian Rhapsody has just hit one billion views on YouTube. We want to thank you all and celebrate with our amazing fans all around the world by creating three new music videos to our songs, all featuring you! Whether you are a musician, singer, dancer, visual artist or you just want to have some fun. Go to youarethechampions.com to find out more and we’ll see you on the road somewhere.”
As part of the campaign, musicians, singers, and instrumentalists can take on “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Visual artists will get the chance to design any word or phrase from the lyrics of “A Kind of Magic.” And, finally, dancers will be able to give their own interpretations for “Don’t Stop Me Now,” with a special instructional video created by Polly Bennett (Rami Malek’s movement coach from the hit film, “Bohemian Rhapsody”).
“I was so happy to be asked to choreograph for this initiative,” said famed movement director and choreographer, Bennett. “Rami (Malek) and I spent a lot of time moving to Queen’s music while filming ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ so I’m thrilled to encourage the world to do the same. Get dancing! I can’t wait to see what you make.”
In addition to the three music videos created by user content, a fourth video for “We Will Rock You” will re-create the song’s iconic BOOM BOOM CLAP using a collage of sporting event sounds. As a result, the new version will live as a sonic homage to the song’s energized relationship with sports.
Fans can visit youarethechampions.com to find out more and add their submissions* through August 18 by 11:59 p.m. ET. The final videos will be available on Queen’s official YouTube channel this fall.
*Terms and Conditions for UGC submissions here.
Happy birthday, Oprah! 13 gifts worthy of the ‘queen of all media’
Oprah Winfrey celebrates her 62nd birthday on January 29. If you want to know what to buy her, the media mogul and tastemaker has a few tech options from the “favorites” list for you to consider.
The post Happy birthday, Oprah! 13 gifts worthy of the ‘queen of all media’ appeared first on Digital Trends.