Gotye – star of one of the most widely-heard songs of the last year, and one of the most-watched videos in YouTube history (currently a few views away from 300m) – has responded to the sea of cover versions of ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ on YouTube with his own remix, titled ‘Somebodies: A YouTube Orchestra’. The singer (real name Wally) on his YouTube channel says “Reluctant as I am to add to the mountain of interpretations of Somebody That I Used To Know seemingly taking over their own area of the internet, I couldn’t resist the massive remixability that such a large, varied yet connected bundle of source material offered.

”.

Music artists widely recognise the power of social media in connecting with fans in a more meaningful, lasting and satisfying ways than ever before. Rarely though do we see artists, or brands, celebrate their fans’ creations in such unprompted, organic projects as this. The video wasn’t the result of a competition promoting an album or anything so contrived but rather the artist’s own sense of opportunity that the material presented. It’s quite amazing too that the singer conceived and edited the whole thing together himself, with a little help from his friends.

We talk in marketing about the ‘conversation’ between brand and consumer but rarely do we have it so authentically as this. Enjoy the video below and get thinking about how you could weave some of that magic into your next campaign.

Will Francis is Director of creative social technology company Harkable