Formulas for Success: The Easy Way Out

Robin Davey and hypebot are going to do a Formula for Success for me this time.

A Musician's Formula for Success

A real, albeit somewhat depressing view on how musicians can make it big.

I'm checking out - leaving for Key West early Saturday morning. See you in a week :)

Formulas for Success: Friends

I feel like Friends has been around for centuries (sorry Jennifer Aniston, I just made you sound old). And I used to hate it, mostly because I was too young to understand half the humor. But now, as I get older and realize there is literally nothing else on TV, Friends isn't all that bad.

But what makes this show so re-playable? Somewhere, at some time, on some channel, Friends is always on. There's a few things I can think of that have made Friends what it is today.

1. Mostly Family-Friendly Humor

The humor of the show makes more sense to an adult, but is still safe enough for a child to be in the room. Most of the humor floats over the child's head to the adults in the room, and the kids are likely laughing because their parents are laughing. If Disney can do it, why can't Friends?

2. Real-Life Topics

For the most part, the majority of the topics covered in the nine years of Friends were relatable topics with unlikely twists added in. It's not so odd for your wife to admit that she's a lesbian, but it may be unusual to find this out after she's become pregnant with your child. And it's not so strange to do an in-person cooking interview, but it is quite strange that your interviewer is turned on by you chopping the romaine, and that he isn't actually a chef or restauranteur.

3. Great Theme Song
The Rembrandts' "I'll Be There for You" is a perfect fit for the show, and has become synonymous with the characters of the show. And it's catchy too! If you happen to flip to the channel just as the theme is playing, you know what's on without looking, which is a big plus and attractor for the show. I'm sure the band is still very happy about Friends success, too, even if it did make them a one-hit wonder.

4. Everyone Wants It

Nearly everyone wants what the six main characters have: Everlasting friendship. There may be disagreements, fights, tangled romances, and hurt feelings, but in the end, the group is inseparable. The group presumably spends every weekend night together - their schedules line up magically well. Everyone (in the real world) wants to be able to have this close-knit group of friends through thick and thin, with such a perfect variety of friends. Truth be told, this kind of camaraderie is hard to come by, and even harder to hang on to, which is what makes it so desirable. 

That's a little snippet of why I think the show has been so successful, but I don't have time for more. Gotta go - Friends is on.

Formulas for Success: Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

I've been listening to this song non-stop for a few days. And I hate it.

This track is ridiculous. It's not even catchy.

Ok I lied, it is catchy. But I won't admit it.

There are a few things I can think of off the bat that have put this stupid nonsense where it is.

1. Catchy Loop
Most kids in the target demographic of this tune don't even know what a saxophone is, so hearing the same catchy sax loop over and over again is like discovering gold. I'm not sure if the sax loop is real or midi (laptop speakers ≠ quality listening), but it's the piece that drives the song. Other than the chorus, there really is no driving bassline, and that's pretty cool.

2. Silly Video
Just like these guys, stupid videos make for virality on the internet, which makes for virality everywhere else. I've never heard of Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, or Wanz before, but I'd venture a guess that the music video was famous before the song was.
Note: "Virality" doesn't seem to be a word, but I'm making it one.

3. Explicit Lyrics
Macklemore and Wanz don't seem to care to use adjectives and adverbs other than the F-bomb, which is great fun for all the 13-year-olds who just learned the word exists.

4. Starting a Trend
"Thrifting" has always been a taboo concept, except for those of us who see the value in it, like Macklemore. Why pay $50 for a t-shirt you could find gently-used for $5? Suddenly, 30-year-old clothing doesn't seem so sketchy anymore.

Macklemore has made himself known overnight by embracing his fellow thrifters, and creating a whole new batch of them in the process.

Watch the video here (the lyrics are explicit):

Formulas for Success: The Lonely Island

See what I said about not always being serious? :)

Disclaimer: The videos in this post may be explicit.

The Lonely Island is a comedy troupe comprised of Andy Samberg (SNL) and his two buddies, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. The group is best known for its raunchy and/or ridiculous topics, lyrics, and music videos, and has been featured several times on SNL, thanks to Samberg's connection.

On the Success Meter, The Lonely Island sits somewhere near a 7. The group is definitely nationally recognized, but not in a "I'm going to sit my kids down and watch this" kind of way. The group reaches out to primarily high school and college crowds, but is incredibly popular with those age groups.

Here's a few things that I think add to the success equation for Lonely Island:

1. Catchy / Cover-able Music
The tune you hear in an LI song might be something you'd hear on a Top Forty radio station, but the lyrics usually aren't. But it's the catchiness of those tunes that makes the stuff so popular for the demographic LI reaches out to.

The lyrics and concepts of the songs are generally so outrageous, that it's hard not to be amused by the ideas.

Good hooks and tunes make their music catchy enough to be cover-able (again, by the right demographic):


2. Collaboration
LI collaborates with everyone. Everyone who is an artist that's been on the Top Forty, anyway. LI has collaborated with a wide range of artists, from T-Pain to Michael Bolton, and most notably and often, Justin Timberlake. To top it off, the group is usually able to convince the artists to do ridiculous things they may not otherwise try.

Like convincing Adam Levine to run down a busy street wearing a cape and an anti-aliens tin foil hat, carrying a big "YOLO" sign:


Or convincing Michael Bolton to pretend to be a "major cinephile" and dress like Captain Jack Sparrow:


3. Viral Videos
I think the videos are what make LI's songs what they really are, and apparently others agree. The above YOLO vid was published Jan. 26. It is currently 1:09 pm (CST), and the vid has received over 3.5 million views... I would say that's viral.

Samberg's connections with SNL boost views greatly, and their videos saturate social media networks, which are chock full of high school and college students.

4. Sampling
We've already covered that LI's tunes are catchy, and here's why:

The majority of LI's most popular songs have been sampled from other popular songs. They've even sampled from some of their own songs, which were sampled from somewhere else. LI doesn't deny this, and has given credit to artists they sample from on their YouTube postings. This boosts popularity for some of the less popular artists, too.

You can see a complete list of LI's sampled stuff here.

So, there you have it: My opinions of why The Lonely Island has received the success it has over the past few years.

Let me know if you think I'm right, or if you've got an opinion of your own!

Formulas for Success

I'm going to attempt to create my own "Formulas for Success" series, where I will be featuring various artists, companies, people, etc. who have seen some kind of success in life. These "formulas" will not be official by any means - they are just going to be my personal opinions on each situation.

Some will be more serious than others, and some may be more relevant than others. But I like digging into the history of successful people, and figuring out what they did to get where they are / were. Maybe it will help me find my own formula :)

First Formula hopefully coming soon...