The hit song ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ has sparked a global phenomenon, making the band Rednex the most played artist in the world. The viral event Gedagedigedagedago, which is based on the classic party hit, has achieved a record-breaking three billion views in just 26 days.
This count is 28 times higher than that of the top music video on YouTube, 13 times greater than the leading streamed song on Spotify, and twice as high as the count for the most viewed artist in the world, Alka Yagnik. Rednex’s song reached one billion views in just eight days, surpassing Adele’s ‘Hello’, which took 87 days to reach the same number.
The success of Gedagedigedagedago has been fueled by the explosive growth of YouTube Shorts, generating 20 million hours of listening time in just 26 days. This is equivalent to 700 million traditional views, surpassing the 500 million views ‘Hello’ received in 34 days.
According to Pat Reiniz, Rednex’s co-founder and producer of ‘Cotton Eye Joe’, this event has brought into question how music success is measured. “A paradigm shift is happening where we’re asking: how is music success best measured? This event was created thanks to millions of video creators generating billions of fragmented plays of Rednex’s music, rather than as a result of the traditional way of listening. It will be a challenge for the music industry to reflect these various counts in charts and measurements and even poses the question, ‘Is the basic use and concept of music itself changing?’”
The viral event was kick-started by Danish singer Razi Irawani, whose unique rendition of ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ garnered 28 million views on TikTok. Soon after, a singing chicken nugget was added, resulting in millions of versions of the song, including 500 videos on YouTube each with more than one million views. This serves as an example of how organic growth can surpass financial marketing power.
The song has been heard by 12% of all YouTube viewers and 4% of the world’s population, solidifying Rednex as the most played artist in the world. Rednex performer Pervis the Palergator proudly states, “With 3 billion views in 26 days, we claim a world record! Do you want to beat us? Share stats.” Fans of Rednex can also look forward to the group’s newest party song, ‘Another Round’, which was released today and features a music video of 80-year-olds getting outrageously drunk. With sample-friendly catchphrases, the song was released with the Shorts audience in mind.
To watch the video for ‘Another Round’, visit https://youtu.be/7JKDIlX2yIE. To pre-save the song, visit https://rednex.ffm.to/anotherroundandgedagedigedagedagoep.
ABOUT REDNEX
Rednex is a musical group known for its blend of American folk music and Eurodance. The band’s appearance and stage name draw inspiration from the American redneck stereotypes. For more information on Rednex, visit www.rednexmusic.com.
Derick is an experienced reporter having held multiple senior roles for large publishers across Europe. Specialist subjects include small business and financial emerging markets.