As I was on my way to Target (the closest store to my house that sells CDs), I got a text message from my friend asking me what I was doing. Not wanting to get distracted from my mission, I sent back a quick text telling him what I was doing. His response: “You’re really going to buy a CD? Who does that anymore?”

This got me thinking. Who really does buy CDs anymore? And better yet, why was I going to buy a CD?

Before the days of iTunes, my friends and I always bought CDs. Sometimes, just as I did today, we would go into a store with a specific CD in mind, and other times we would browse through titles and artists until we found one that looked appealing. Then, we would make our parents play the CD on the drive home from the mall or wherever we were as we sat in the backseat looking at the liner notes and talking about if we liked the design of the album cover.

While you can browse through a digital music store and see images of album covers, you never actually walk away with a tangible object. And it was obviously this tangible object that I really wanted this morning, or I could have easily just downloaded the CD like I usually do. But why?

After some more thinking, I realized that the CD itself is more than just a disc with music on it. It is a connection to an artist who I support. Just like people still go to concerts to see an artist perform and to connect with him or her for a few hours, I wanted the officially released CD. It simply has more value to me than some files on my computer.

Not to say that digital music doesn’t have its benefits. More often than not, it is far easier to click a button to buy an album rather than go to a store and hope they have the one that you are looking for. It is also much more convenient to take an iPod away with you for the weekend rather than a CD player and a case of CDs. Or, in the case of Cutting Edge, it is much simpler to take a laptop instead of cases and cases of CDs to a party (see the post ‘The Best DJ Music Library In Philadelphia‘).

In the end, technology definitely has its benefits. But sometimes the old fashioned way really is better.

-Sydney Fenkell

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

In early 2006, I received an email from my friend and co-worker Pedro Coelho with a link to a YouTube video.  The video was one of a series of videos titled ‘Ask A Ninja‘ in which ‘viewers’ wrote in asking all sorts of questions to ‘The Ninja.’  The short three to five minute clips were absolutely hilarious, and as new episodes, or ‘webisodes’ were released, Pedro would continue to send them to me… each one being just as clever and witty as the last.  This is how I first stumbled across YouTube.

Coincidentally, Sean Gallo, another good friend of mine had been discussing the idea with me of doing some sort of creative project.  I had known Sean since the second grade, and we had both been part of the Humanities program at Council Rock (the schools program for the gifted and talented).  Sean and I shared quite the common background in regards to the creative itch, and we both were searching for something… but we weren’t sure what.

It wasn’t long before Pedro and I included Sean in our ‘Ask A Ninja’ loop.  The three of us worked together at Cutting Edge Entertainment and would sometimes sit together after a gig mulling over ideas and concepts into the wee hours.  We knew we wanted to do ‘something,’ but what specifically we had no clue of.  Our think-tank just sat and thunk (or is it thank?), never quite coming up with a solid idea that we all agreed upon.

Enter Katie…

During one of our dead-end think tank sessions one late Saturday night/Sunday morning another Cutting Edge employee happened to return from a job as we began our musings… and that employee had no idea what they were getting themselves into.  Katie sat down with us, and began to rant to us about a date she had just had, and how all men – or ‘penises’ as she called us – were out for the same thing.  The three of us naturally felt inclined to defend our gender, but to no avail.  Regardless of what defense we tried to mount against her absurd theories, Katie was quick with a retort which not only justified her theory, but was in some twisted way arguably correct.  We laughed together for hours trying to shoot down her ideas but no matter what she stuck to her guns.

It was just before sunrise when the three of us looked at each other,  then at Katie, asking “Hey Katie… Have you ever heard of YouTube?”

In June of 2006, Pedro, Sean and I, calling ourselves ‘The Big Wheel Gang’, unleashed the character ‘Katie Sah’ on to the unsuspecting internet.  Katie was the ultimate  misandrist (man-hater) in an internet dominated by uber-geek guys who would come to love to hate her.  Katie herself has said that if it weren’t for the ‘haters’ on YouTube, she would never have achieved the notoriety she has attained.

Over two years and millions of views Katie’s antics have become almost reknown.  Her love for Kelly Clarkson and The Philadelphia Eagles, her male-bashing hijinx and her backwards fashion tips (“Don’t wash your hair girls, just put baby powder in it.”) are all trademarks of a character – and partially real person – known as Katie Sah, the ‘Poison Ivy’ of YouTube.  Katies personae is part of the YouTube sub-culture and will not soon be forgotten.

Katie and The Big Wheel Gang  have produced over one hundred viral video clips (vlogs) for YouTube, while also appearing on DIRECTV‘s ‘The Fizz’ as well as doing viral videos for companies like Cactus Tube Amps and Coors Light. The katiesopinion channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/katiesopinion) currently has over 20,000 subscribers and is a part of the YouTube partnership program.

Although the katiesopinion project is not officially finished, Pedro left the team in mid 2007 to be replaced by ‘Crazy E,’ or Eric the Drummer.  In the summer of 2008 Katie moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, California, and The Big Wheel Gang have gone back to brainstorming…

-Craig

http://www.cuttingedgedjs.com

Factoid: The katiesopinion episode ‘The Philadelphia Eagles‘ which was produced in September of 2006 has the director of the episode listed as ‘Broccolihead.’  In fact, Broccolihead is none other than Justin Guarini, who directed and edited the episode.  If you listen closely during the closing credits, you can hear Justin singing the Eagles fight song ‘Fly Eagles Fly.’

The katiesopinion channel on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/katiesopinion

If you are interested in finding out how to create your own viral video and optimize its visibility on YouTube, contact The Big Wheel Gang through Cutting Edge Entertainment.  craig@cuttingedgedjs.com