I watched a few newer rap music videos (lil Xan and lil Pump).
One video has about 140 million views, the other has almost 600 million views. Both music videos are less than a year old and both are by new artists that are likely one hit wonders.
By comparison the official video for ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson has less than 500 million views despite being 8 years old and one of the most classic music videos ever made. Lots of official VEVO videos for a lot of well known artists are still under 100 million views despite their videos being up for a decade.
So why do these new artists have so many youtube views in such a short period of time? I seriously doubt it is because everyone watches their videos. Are there just server rooms full of computers viewing these videos over and over again to get their youtube counts up as a publicity stunt?
You’re comparing hit music kids listen to today to music that is 36 years old - literally from their parents’/grandparents’ generation - when the Thriller video came out in 1982, how many kids do you think were listening to music equally old (that is, from 1946?)
You can doubt it but it happens, especially when you consider Youtube is pulling in a world-wide audience, and music tends to reach across culture/language barriers more easily. The most-viewed videos on Youtube have long been music vids/VEVO channels.
Something else to keep in mind is that some videos are up in multiple places. For example, if you search for Thriller, the first result has almost 500 million views, but if you add in the next couple of results, you’ll find another 100 million views.
Also, like zombywoof said, there’s a generation thing going on. You or I might go and watch Thriller for one reason or another. A 15 year old might go and watch a new song, but then watch it over and over and over, like we would listen to CDs. Remember, it’s ‘views’ not ‘viewers’.
Don’t forget linking and sharing. Lil pump’s single drops, it’s shared 50 times each on his Twitter and Facebook feeds. His Instagram feed has a link. His label pushes it out. Whoever else worked on the track pushes it out. He may have a “street team” that’s instructed to share it (like a fan club). Then everyone who has seen it from those sources share it if they like it. People with popular YouTube channels might review it and/or make a reaction video and share that, with a link to the original. Radio stations will share it. People who curate YouTube lists might add it to their lists and people find it that way.
Within days it might have millions of views. Even if they are views by people who watched 2 seconds and thought “this is trash” still get counted. People who want to leave shitty comments still go to the page and register a view while they comment.
What happens when Official Michael Jackson posts a new video? Nothing.
But think of how many people may have tuned in to MTV or their local video show when the Thriller video came out. And how many people saw it on subsequent views of MTV at the time. Now consider each of those views a YouTube view. Trackable and on demand. This is how people not only watch videos now but also how they discover new music or keep up with artists they like.