3 Music Facts to Rock Your World
The music industry can be a weird and wonderful place filled with unusual people who do strange things. Really, it’s not surprising: when you get a group of creative people together, things are bound to get interesting.
Here are a few of our favourite strange but entertaining facts:
Mozart Outsold Beyoncé
Yes, you read that right. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart officially outsold Beyoncé in 2016, after an extended box set of his work was released to the public. In fact, the composer also outsold Adele, Kanye West, and Drake in the same year.
The 200-CD compilation – which featured every single piece of music Mozart had ever written – was released in honour of the 225th anniversary of his death. Within the first five weeks of the release, the limited edition set sold 6 250 units, which amounted to 1,25 million CDs in total.
Britney Spears Fought Pirates
Well, her music did anyway. According to Merchant naval officer, Rachel Owens, the British navy used singer Britney Spears’ music to deter pirates along the east coast of Africa in 2013.
Owens explained that Western hits such as “Oops! I Did It Again” and “Baby One More Time” were routinely cranked up on the ship’s speakers as the onboard officers believed an aversion to Western culture and music would drive the invading parties away.
It’s unclear whether anyone spoke with the pirates to get their opinion on the matter.
Janet Jackson’s Wardrobe Malfunction Inspired Youtube
Everyone knows about Youtube – the almighty time-wasting website that takes you down a dark hole of videos from around the world. But not everyone knows what inspired the developers to create it in the first place.
Singer Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004 sparked outrage at the time, but those who weren’t in front of their TV at the exact right moment lost out. Nearly a year later, it was still a major conversation point for many.
Thus enters three tech bros – Chad Hurley, Steven Chen, and Jawed Karim – who felt Youtube was the best way to revisit the memory and provide a video-sharing platform for all.
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