A Fervid Defense of (Some) YouTube Ads

 

A Play button experiencing a violent deconstruction. A symbolism of YouTube, perhaps? Photo - Dall-e

It's Not What You Think

Ah, YouTube ads.

The bane of our existence; like finding a wet and soggy chip in your chip packet or biting into a stone while eating a tasty hotdog.

YouTube ads - that thing that makes us who refuse to subscribe to YouTube Premium shake our fists in frustration at our phones and computer screens when that ad interrupts our five-minute video for the sixth time – only this time, the whole 40-minute ad is playing.

Who wouldn’t want to skip that? I certainly would want to skip that.

This post is not about that type of ad.

Instead, I write about music ads.

The Rapid Rise of YouTube Music Ads

I can’t quite put a finger to it, but music ads, especially full music ads, have been on a rapid rise over the past few years (I don’t have the numbers though lol). YouTube ads in general, have increased significantly to be honest.

But I have never quite noticed so many music ads before as I have noticed over the past year. Perhaps they have been on the increase for much longer, but I only became aware of them shortly before.

I don’t remember when this came to be, but I became aware of just how many music ads I had been getting on YouTube when one of the song ads that I let play (sometimes I let ads play as additional support to my favorite content creators) made its way to my YouTube playlist a few months (or was it a year and some months?) ago.

I am not mentioning the artist’s name or song, not because I want to maintain some exclusivity for some deranged personal gratification, but because I don’t remember clearly what the song was or who even the artist was. Ironic much? I enjoyed the song then promptly forgot about it and the artist, what a way to make your point, you are probably thinking.

Indeed, this wasn't the strongest way to make my point. Still, what I know is that, for several months, I had this song, which I discovered as a YouTube ad, on my playlist, and that made me happy.

Since then, I have been letting music ads play more often than not to gauge whether I would vibe with the artist or, at the very least, with the song. This has led to me discovering some memorable songs. And, not to repeat the mistake of the first time, I have sought out the artists who leave an impact. My embrace of YouTube music ads is a far cry from the past, when I often thought that music that was advertised was somehow inferior to music that I discovered organically. Let it naturally make its way to my playlist, dear artist, old me said.

But in this age where more and more people are getting opportunities to pursue their dreams, it's no longer enough to make good music; you have to part with a few coins to be seen in this endless void of the ever-evolving technological zeitgeist in order to stand out in the saturated online space with ever diminishing attention spans. 

And I think artists buying ads for their music is a good thing actually. It helps them reach their target audience, or intended audience, without having to waste years rotting in the endless, yet still ever-expanding, YouTube space, waiting for the unforgiving and unpredictable algorithm to maybe, possibly, hopefully, pick it up and begin pushing it.

And from these paid music ads, I have listened to music that has gone on to be some of my favourites.

Some of My Faves from YouTube Ads

Ndikwenda, by Kenyan artist Lano Musician and Greek producer Stavros Zacharias, is one of the earlier songs that comes to mind as one of those that encouraged me not to skip music ads. Come to think of it, it might have been THAT song that made me think twice about skipping music ads.

Since Ndikwenda, I have encountered various artists. Some of them gave me a flash of joy with their music, which I soon forgot; others, though, have become some of my favorite artists.

Gloria Bash, a young, petite woman from Congo with glasses covering half her gorgeous face, sang her way with her soothing, angelic voice into my heart with Toza Bien.

Interestingly, it took several listens for Toza Bien to click, like the realization that you are in love when you see the object of your affection on the seventh date. Or like relishing the true mastery of the chef who made the food you are eating at the seventh bite. I don't know why I used seven to make my point, but I just did.

Anyway, since then, Gloria Bash has managed to cascade her way into my ear with her magnificent Mbele, an anthem with strong vocal performances from her and her collaborator, Yvon Yusuf. She then further wriggled her way into my psyche with the glorious Cascade, a song that sounds like it would make for a sick TikTok viral dance video. 

F Supreme Mabungu and his electric dancers also danced their way into my memory with 6_9, which reminded me a lot of the chants that we would make back in the village during Christmas festivities called malago.

Then, there was Teslah, another Kenyan artist whose two songs, Tujibambe, a Christmas/festive song sampled from Oliver Ng’oma’s Bane in collaboration with the sensational Iyanii, and Ndiguikare, a love song released this past Valentine's that wouldn’t be out of place in a sex playlist, also made their way to my consciousness through a YouTube ad.

J Kree’s reflective My Space, is another music I discovered on YouTube ads that's on heavy rotation now. "My energy sharp like a razor blade, cutting off ties just to concentrate". Whew! Hold it there as I give it another listen.

Then there is Tanzania’s Kenny Guitar, whose song, Mariana, heavily influenced by Spanish ballads, with the Spanish guitar playing prominently throughout, also caught my ears as an ad. This is a song that I see playing at my wedding as I serenade my lovely wife.

Then, there is also Martin’s Doudou (fun fact: his name is actually Martin’s with an apostrophe), to JZyNO’s uptempo Profeh, all the way to Sabrina (no, not Carpenter) from Cameroon, the list is long, and the songs *Chef’s Kiss*.

I think I wouldn’t have discovered these songs otherwise because I am as safe as I can be with the music I listen to. I am so safe that safety experts take Masterclasses from me on how to be safe.

And it hasn’t just been ‘small’ artists who are in on the action. Just as I write this, listening to my playlist, I’ve gotten an ad for The Weeknd’s Open Hearts. I had to skip it, sorry. No, not because it is not a good song, but because I had watched too many ads prior, and so I was suffering from ad fatigue. He is one of many established artists who are turning to YouTube ads to reach wider audiences.

Diamond in the Rough

Indeed, the rise of YouTube ads continues to be a frustrating update to the once beloved video platform, but, man, I cannot help but think of just how many opportunities it is currently providing for new artists who want to reach newer audiences. Or how many opportunities it gives those of us who are risk-averse musically to discover new artists and new sounds.

I certainly have listened to a lot more variety of songs since I began letting music YouTube ads play, and I think I would let that continue. I mean, I don’t feel at any point in my life would I have ever listened to Serbian artist, Electra Elite, whose powerful vocals grabbed me by my collars, sat me down, handed me my earphones, and made me listen to Nista Licno from an ad. Sounds violent, I know, but it was a good kind of forcefulness, the kind that seems to make you sit down and enjoy something almost in hypnosis.

Perhaps this is one more reason for me to hold back from subbing to YouTube Premium, and I think it is one of the most compelling reasons. Now of course, not all music ads are great, but I will take my chances to find the diamond in the rough.

Still, though, YouTube ads remain a pain in the ass! Ultimately, even this half-hearted defense of music ads is not a call for you to not skip ads or not to use adblockers. The emergence of ads has ruined the YouTube experience more than improved it. I am just trying to find the positive in an otherwise shitty experience.

 

WHY FIVE SHOULD BE LAST FOR MESSI

The greatest ever? That is the feeling here. While critics may find fault in the lack of a World Cup in his trophy cabinet, there is no denying that Lionel Messi has dominated the modern game in ways no one else has and no one else might.

When he claimed a debut win of the prized individual award in Zurich on a cold evening on December 1st in 2009, few would have expected the unprecedented run of three more successive wins that followed. At twenty two then, Messi had shown great promise to earn the monicker 'one of the best of his generation' yet, when he claimed his fifth Ballon d'or on Monday the 11th 2016, it has set tongues rolling, further putting to boil the debate of whether he is the greatest of the sport or merely one of the hallmarks.

For Messi though, the debates are pointless, as, by his own admission, he would trade the five of them for a World Cup. But Messi should have no doubts, he is defining an era in ways no other player has and in winning the fifth Ballon d'or, a milestone in a game that has seen Edison Arantes (Pele), Diego Maradonna, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and more, Messi has shown he belongs to the class of the elite; a legend, a collosus and and an eternal footprint. It is this that should make him consider handing his future Ballon d'Or wins to an up coming player.

A truth that will hold is that, as long as Messi keeps his mercurial performances constantly mercurial, not even the excellent human in second will come close to claiming the Ballon d'Or. Cristiano Ronaldo does his best, and at his best he is in his own league, yet even he, the supposed rival to Messi, has been left nipping at his heels not only in Ballon d'Or wins but also in trophies won throughout their respective careers.

Messi is great, and he knows that. Which is why he should maybe consider turning down future Ballon d'Or wins. It is not so as to be 'a good person' or to hand a platform on a silver plata to new players but as an acknowledgement of his own status. Truth is, very few players at their best can match Messi at his best. This then leaves their chances of winning the Ballon d'Or at almost nill, just ask Manuel Neuer, probably the best keeper of his generation and the best player of 2010 in many people's eyes. There comes a time when turning down plaudits, after receiving many similar ones in the past, is a show of greatness. For Messi, his own incredible path has already outlived him. Alongside Cristiano, these two have shattered virtually all scoring records in football. Messi has won the Golden ball five times. He should consider handing away his future win so as to give newer players an opportunity to try and wrestle the title. It is highly dubious that they will succeed, but even if they do, Messi's status as an icon cannot be rubbed off. He is a landmark in modern football. We need more like him, but we can't have them if his shadow looms over them like a dark cloud.

Photo : m.heraldscotland.com/sport

RADICAL CHANGES SAVOUR OF OUR FOOTBALL, NOT PRAYERS

If it's not limping, it's ailing. If it isn't ailing, then it is paddling in a pool of embarrassment. This is the narrative that has been a recurring feature in Kenyan football for as long as there was football and memory, and the recent embarrassing scenario that marred Harambee Stars' journey to Cape Verde should perhaps be the crown on our ever growing pile of humiliation. The story has been the same for years-different casts but the same script and this low has exposed the real issues if at all we had missed them in the past.

1. Poor leadership

This is perhaps the highlight of everything wrong with our football. From vacous and silly supremacy battles to lack of proper structures, no low is too low for this current administration to stoop,even as far as threatening players is concerned, what with allegations that a top official from Football Kenya Federation (FKF) allegedly threatened to ruin a player's career for protesting the treatment of the team in the saga before the Cape Verde trip (The player in question is the chair of a union for players).
While I wouldn't want to pour water over the current administration's efforts, it is clear even to a layman that aside from quickfire, short term achievements, nothing stands tall as a resilient legacy on which we can dock our dreams and hopes. FKF treads on soft grounds and it is this negligence that has left our football sitting upon its anus in ignominy. Take this: since 2007, when the new administration was first voted in, the coach's hotseat has seen eleven different people rub their butts upon its scorching cushion, with Jacob 'Ghost' Mulee and Francis Kimanzi recurring on it like a comedic setpiece. Yet the wave of whatever change each coach has promised has remained elusive and pipe. Can we blame the coaches? Certainly they are culpable but it is the administration responsible for hiring them that should see the pointed fingers first. For a regime that barely has a tangible development plan, the sacking and hiring and re-hiring of coaches is meant to be a front that hides the fact that we could replace our football administration with lamp posts and still see no difference.(The highlight of this was when they forced the visionary Bernard Lama to resign after just two months incharge of the national outfit).

A rewind back to the turbulent year of 2004, a year that saw Kenya banned from international football activities by FIFA, bespeaks of the malignancy of ineffectual leadership we are susceptible to entertaining. Bear in mind that despite the administration being different then, several faces have remained gritty in the face of it all, a constant in the prevailing variable. The two top-tier league format witnessed that year and the season of 2015 is evidence enough that we have a leadership that changes personality but not character. It is no rocket science. To improve our football, a total overhaul of the same system of governance and the same faces should hallmark our desire for change.

2. Poor coaches and poorer hiring methods

A few years back, a distinguished gentleman by the name Antoine Hey came, saw and made hay before we could all say hey! If anything corroborated the lethargic and almost disdainful arrogance in our football governance, it had to be this man. He who walked out of the Harambee Stars right before a crucial World Cup qualifier against Nigeria in 2009. How he was hired remains a mystery considering his resume offers no substantial content barring tinny factfiles: it looks like a badly done term paper from a particularly incompetent student. This properly put to perspective our flawed coach hiring system. Simply put- we are not getting good results because we are not hiring good enough coaches and even when the coach is good enough, there is always a danger of an administration that looms a shadow over the coach. Yet we seem to always prefer foreign coaches whose reputation is alien even to a know-it-all like wikipedia. We simply can't crack excellence with such. We seem to expect maximum results from average to mediocre coaches. The cloak will never fit if we keep cutting it smaller.

3. Taking joy from mediocrity

This is perhaps a culmination of our hopelessness born from being let down daily by an administration that looks like they would rather be elsewhere. Yet it should rage us to see our football go to shreds as it is.
On October 8th 2011, Kenya held Uganda to a barren draw in Namboole stadium in an African Cup of Nations (ACN) qualifier.it was the final game of the group. What followed was wild celebrations from our end of things as if we had tasted a slice of victory. The merriment was anchored to the fact that the draw had seen Uganda, whom at that point were the leaders of the group and one victory away from the ACN, fail to proceed. It didn't serve us good but seeing Uganda out in the cold with us was a reason to celebrate. This kind of attitude summed up our lack of belief that we can do just as well if not better. And such a trait seems to have taken an impertinent root in us. Each time we pull off a draw, we wax poetic lyrics on our team in manners likely to make Shakespeare's sonnets look tame. And this has spread onto our clubs too where we call for them to fight for a draw on foreign soil, forgetting a win is a thing. Drowning in small victories will only leave us in a mark time. To qualify for atleast an African Cup, consistency is key and we will never rise to the 'consistently good' class if we celebrate draws and one off victories as collosal triumphs.

The 2-0 win over Uganda in the Cecafa 2015 on November 22nd not withstanding, Uganda is still the best team in East and Central Africa, no matter their performance in this year's Cecafa. The fact that they are the only team from Eastern Africa in the last group stage qualifiers for the African Cup lends credibility to this claim and this condemns us to the tears we were to shed in 2011. This time we are alone in the cold with Uganda a few light years ahead.

With a management that has ridiculously high targets for a new coach over a ridiculously short period of time without any tangible plan, the African Cup might remain a mirage and yet it is only after a remarkable showing in the continental stage can we dream of the Holy Grail that is The World Cup.
We need a paradigm change for our football to show any signs of progress. Our best performances never clear the ever nagging question- will we play this well next time? There is something missing and that something can only be found in a complete change of guard. Our dead faith and prayers will only lead us where dead faith leads people- nowhere.

December 14th should see a new dawn in our football. Acting on that faith and voting for change is the only way we can make the blurry dream of the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup clearer. Or else we keep chasing the wind with hopes of drawing milk.

Photo: goal.com