We’re already at that point. I’ve seen videos of people reacting to other reaction videos.
I’m going to do a reaction video of me reading comments about reaction videos in this thread.
But not reading out loud. Just saying “Ha”, “Nope”, “Too true” and “Ooh, burn…”
Actually, that’s kind of like my ultimate plan. Videos of my face, eyes closed, big can headphones on, just “reacting” to music… that no one else can hear. Kah-chiiing!
/subscribe
I do get sucked into a reaction video wormhole sometimes. There is practically a cottage industry around first time reaction videos to Jinjer’s live studio version of Pisces. They always have at least one significant moment of hilarity.
I tend to like the ones like the Charismatic Voice where the reactor has some expertise and applies it to the reaction. There’s another woman like the Charismatic Voice (Beth something?), a couple of professional musicians that are fairly insightful, including a British musician (Wings something?) who gets very technical in his analysis.
But I agree that the reactions that just express how much they like the song are pretty useless, even for songs I really, really like.
That happened one time from a You Tuber who has since taken down all his videos. He watched the video for Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge” and was like, “I’m sorry, this is actually terrible.”
The funny thing about it is that video made me less of a fan of the Peppers. Now when I hear them, I find myself saying, “Hey, maybe this isn’t that great.”
I’ve really only seen these reaction videos from Black guys, which I guess makes it vaguely more plausible they haven’t heard Bohemian Rhapsody or something. Some of them even frame it as a kind of cross-cultural exchange where they share their own favorite music. But a lot of them flat-out admit they’ve heard the song, they just haven’t ever sat down to listen to it.
I think my favorite are the Kids React videos where teenagers don’t know who the hell Madonna is. Sigh.
Have you seen Bo Burnham’s Inside?
He had a hilarious take on this genre.
You might be including him in that phrase, but if not, check out Rick Beato. His “What makes this song great” series is really good.
Not Kids React, but IIRC, the React channel is how I learned about Greta Van Fleet.
Beth Roars
That would be Fil from Wings of Pegasus. He really appreciates good musicianship. In one video he tried to recreate some Glen Campbell licks and had a hard time. At one point he smiled, shook his head and said “It’s just impossible.”
Yeah, those channels give me the creeps a little. It’s like they’re made for fanboys of certain bands/songs. If you want to see a young black man amazed by Stairway to Heaven. . . we have that. Real or not. Then you have “Classical Composer reacts to Iron Maiden”; then "Opera Singer hears Queenryche for the first time. . . it’s gets a little tiring. There was a time I somewhat enjoyed those, then I saw “Classical Flutist reacts to Jethro Tull” and I knew I’d had enough.
I also really like the Fairy Voice Mother, her reactions are wonderful and she really knows her stuff. She’s one of the only voice teachers/coaches/singers who could actually recreate Jinjer’s false vocal fold screams. Peter Barber, a male opera singer, also does some great analysis with his reaction videos.
Black people hearing Rage Against the Machine for the first time is always amusing.
Or, even better, check out Pat Finnerty and his “What Makes This Song Stink” series, a lightly mocking homage to Beato and his ilk.
I’ve been a subscriber to Diane Jennings’ channel for quite some time. The channel has existed for seven years, but she only started doing music reactions nine months ago. Her first was to Time by Pink Floyd. Most of her videos are on other topics, like cultural differences between the U.S. and Europe, travel experiences, food, history, and geography.
She explains at the start of every reaction that she grew up without listening to most rock and popular music. She was a theater nerd, so she mostly knows show tunes. She explains that she’s trying to fill in the gaps in her musical knowledge. She does know some rock and pop music from movies and TV.
She makes no money from these reaction videos, at least not directly. Every one of them gets copyright claimed, which means the revenue from the videos goes to the copyright holder, not to her. Her reaction to Hotel California got her a copyright strike, which means she got a black mark against the channel, and the video was taken down. A channel that gets three copyright strikes within a three-month period gets permanently deleted. Her reactions may attract more subscribers, which could make her some money on her non-music videos. It could also get her more Patreon members, which is where she makes most of her money.
She has said that music reactions don’t require much creativity on her part. She has a degree in film, and used to work as an actor. Her YouTube channel is a way to fulfill her creative drive. I get the feeling she’s a little embarrassed by how little work it takes to do a reaction, but that she enjoys learning about things that are new to her.
She almost always includes something about the history of the band she’s reacting to, and often comments on the production aspect of music videos (her background in film comes into play here).
Love the Pat Finnerty videos. No longer like reaction videos. I watched some for awhile but then I realized it was all “good gawdamn!” and I grew tired of wasting my time.
The one thing I don’t understand is how these folks doing reaction videos aren’t getting copyright strikes. I watch a lot of guitar and bass tutorials and these folks are getting copyright strikes teaching others how to play the songs. They usually aren’t even playing the original recording. Reaction videos are playing the original song. Is it that reaction videos with the real song send some of the monetization funds to the rights holder and the guitar instruction doesn’t send any so they are attacking that instruction?
I don’t think I’ve heard any of them on the radio since I stopped listening to any of the classic rock stations around here. That was 10-15 years ago, I’m not sure exactly when.
I might’ve heard one or another of them on the sound system in the grocery store, but if I didn’t know what it was already, I wouldn’t have known what it was.
I wouldn’t know RAtM if I heard them.
But when I hear the name, I wonder: are they mad at Florence Welch too, or just her backup band? 
Most of them get copyright claimed, which means all the revenue from the video goes to the copyright holder. A copyright strike is a more serious thing. When a video gets a strike, YouTube takes it down and places a black mark against the channel. A channel that gets three copyright strikes in three months gets deleted permanently.
Most reaction channels get their money from things other than YouTube paying them for views. Those payments are pretty minimal, even for videos that aren’t copyright claimed. Other revenue sources include ads and product endorsements in the videos (as opposed to ads that YouTube inserts), channel memberships, Patreon memberships, and merch.
I can stand about one song at a time from them. “Killing in the Name Of…” is pretty dope.
I enjoy instances where people really don’t know what they’ve gotten themselves into.
Money quote: “The people angrily denouncing Rage Against the Machine for Tom Morello’s leftist politics is one of the more hilarious things I have ever seen on the internet. WHAT MACHINE DID YOU THINK THEY HAVE BEEN RAGING AGAINST FOR DECADES? THE ICE CREAM MACHINE? THE ATM? LAWNMOWERS?”