Not long ago, US president Barack Obama performed with the talk show host, Jimmy Fallon and Grammy award winning musicians The Roots. It's a hilarious performance, so if you haven't seen it then check this link. In this blog post I want to talk about why Obama would even consider singing his policies and how it words so well.
Since this video's release, millions have watched Obama flowing effortlessly over sensual RnB backing, preaching about his administration’s achievements to self-cement his legacy as a high-achieving, personable and charismatic POTUS.
As a communication specialist, I wanted to know why Obama repeatedly choose music as a delivery mechanism for his brand and policies.
When I took a look at the statistics from the fastest viral videos of all time I could see why Obama’s pro music communications strategy is so insanely innovative. YouTube Data is showing that eight out of the top ten fastest viral video of all time are music videos - that's a combined play count OF OVER 7 BILLION (from their official channels only). Data also shows that music spreads pretty much faster than any other content on the web and is continually re-watched by a global and local audience.
Obama's communications strategist know this : The music loving audience is mostly millennials and youth, who form one third of the US population! The British Phonographic Industries show that millennials listen to 75% more music than baby boomers, that’s an average of 3.1 hours a day, and 7% listen to as much as 7.1 hours! This group, often dubbed “The YouTube generation”, are hyper-social . .
To underestimate the power of music in communications is a mistake.
In the first 4 days online Obama’s performance had been played over 50million times. In comparison, an official Whitehouse video on the Trans-Pacific Partnership has just over 10’000 plays in four years! By actively participating in music, he can humorously focus the attention of hundreds of millions of millennials towards his achievements, and gain support for more controversial policies like the Trans-pacific Pacific.
Nueroscience shows that Obama’s message is especially effective because music easily triggers numero transmitters in our brain in ways we can’t ignore. Music affects the most primitive parts of our brain, the rewards system in the Nucleus Accumbens, where neurochemicals like opioids, serotonin and dopamine are produced to reinforce and regulate our behaviour. When you listen to Obama slow jamming, two important things happen to you;
- The music deactivates the amygdala and hippocampus, which is responsible for fear and anxiety.
- Music activates the brain’s rewards system, releasing neurotransmitters like, dopamine and serotonin. (released during sex, sport and eating)
Music deactivates the amygdala and hippocampus, which is the part of the brain responsible for fear and anxiety.
Music also activates the brain’s rewards system, releasing neurotransmitters like, dopamine and serotonin. (released during sex, sport and eating)
This means that music decreases your inhibition and increases dopamine levels - by as high as 9%, compelling you to have feelings of or reward.
In the first 4 days online Obama’s performance had been played over 50million times. In comparison, an official Whitehouse video on the Trans-Pacific Partnership has just over 10’000 plays in four years! Now next time you hear Obama sing, or dance... you know what's really happening :)