Surely between result and electoral result, you have heard the “news” of the moment on social networks: the famous video “Despacito” has been ousted from its leadership on YouTube . Now it is Baby Shark who takes all the credit for becoming the most viewed in YouTube history. But what does this children’s montage have to make it so addictive? Why does it act like a real drug for the little ones? And why doesn’t it come out of our heads once we hear its song for the first time?
YouTube’s new leader
Until now there was an undisputed king when it came to talking about the most viewed video on YouTube. The person in charge of holding such a title was none other than the video clip of “Despacito”, the catchy summer song by Luis Fonsi that we have all heard repeatedly ad nauseam and that ended up accumulating enough number of reproductions to make history on the platform.
At this point we believed that it would be impossible to take away the throne, however, no one had the tireless engine of the smallest of the house and the song that has all infants like crazy -well, and parents too-: Baby Shark.
The nice video aimed at children, just over 2 minutes long, has risen to the first position and currently accumulates a whopping 7,066,451,398 views on YouTube. An astronomical figure for this video that shows adorable sharks and children at the bottom of the sea dancing and singing a song that even those who do not have children know. The opinion of the parents is unanimous: the video is a real drug for the little ones who can spend hours watching it. But what does it have to hook like that?
The science behind Baby Shark
That Baby Shark does not get out of your head after listening to it for just a few seconds or that it has all the little ones so absorbed has a more “logical” explanation than it seems. The melody behind it, as explained in The Daily Beast and picked up on GizmodoES a while ago, is very simple, which helps make it catchy, memorized very quickly, and easy for everyone to hum. So are the letters : they are basic and easily “relatable” to each other.
This means that especially the little ones can easily associate them with music, generating an attractiveness in the composition that increases dopamine in the child’s brain, something that causes them pleasure and makes them like it so much. Come on, the song is created to be extremely catchy for the little ones.
The rhythm also influences and helps this success. Valorie Salimpoor, a neuroscientist explains that “[…] fast music targets the trunk and other systems in our brain and has the potential to stimulate the dopamine systems involved in movement . […] Synchronization of movement with rhythm patterns it can also be very pleasant because it involves making predictions ”.
As if that were not enough, there is another more vital variable in the case of YouTube video: images. The colors and brightness used in the video clip are especially captivating for the little ones and the fact that children participate helps to create more hook.
Come on, the video has all the ingredients to be a smash hit. It is already internet history. There is nothing.