Talk:Somebody That I Used to Know

Composition

Can we put something in about the fact that the xylophone solo is actually Baa, Baa, Black Sheep? THIS SONGS SUCKS MORE THAN A HOOVER VACUUM. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.224.139.234 (talk) 23:05, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

Music video

The Gotye video wouldn't be doing anything without Walk off the Earth.. Walk off the Earth got more views in one month than Gotye got in half a year. End of story.

Too lazy to edit... In the article, it states his SNL appearance was on 4/13/2012 when in fact it was 4/14/2012.

Deleted a part of this section which featured a personal analysis of the music video's theme. It doesn't seem very encyclopedic to have this here, especially with sentences such as "...appears to me..." and multiple run-ons. 65.110.254.157 (talk) 19:35, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

Genre

World Beat? Experimental? it's Indie Rock! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 187.9.114.252 (talk) 16:12, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Somebody That I Used To Know

Please add that the single is 2x Platinum in Switzerland! http://hitparade.ch/awards.asp --79.199.38.46 (talk) 20:58, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

 Not done – I hope you understand that is not a reliable source and is very prune to linkrot. --J (t) 03:07, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

Why is this not a reliable source? It's the official Swiss certifying database... --79.199.41.147 (talk) 16:25, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

I'd have to agree. See Swiss Music Charts. It is currently cited in over 3,000 en Wikipedia articles. And USCongress official pages are subject to linkrot,too, because they move them; it doesn't mean we don't include them. Dru of Id (talk) 18:10, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

 Not done: If I'm understanding the source you provided correctly (which I don't guarantee), "Double Platinum" (or "Doppel-Platin") is actually the name of the label; the certification remains Gold, as indicated by the currently cited source ([1]). The album is certified double platinum, but the song is not. Note that anticipated linkrot can be dealt with via WebCite. Adrian J. Hunter^{(talk•contribs)} 14:01, 20 April 2012 (UTC)

General notability for usage in media

In the very first case, I think there is a problem with including a list of TV shows which have featured the song in the article's lead. Unless the performance itself is notable (which is the case for something like the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, but which is not particularly unusual for a performance on a talk show like Kimmel, or appearance on a show like Glee or American Idol, which have hundreds of different songs on them over their full series run), then it does nothing to summarise the song as a whole. Therefore I would like to see this information moved down into a new "Usage in media" section or similar.

Thank you for your well-written and well-written argument. I agree with you about this information being in the lead section. However, something succinct about the appearance on US TV last week and its affect on both sales and charts would seem in order.smjwalsh (talk) 23:09, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

Secondly, I put forward that no performance on American Idol (or any other such show) should ever meet notability criteria, unless it then leads to a single or otherwise notable internet viral success. Wikipedia:Notability (music) does not give the clearest guidelines, but I will note the following:

• The two performers themselves barely meet the notability criteria to have their own articles - you could argue that they fall under No. 9 (although that crystal balls that they will ultimately place); the guidelines for No. 10 indicate that they should probably simply redirect to the American Idol (season 11) article.
• The performance itself is indistiguishably notable when compared with any other songs in the relevant episode, and was not in its own right a notable performance.

The use of raw viewer numbers as an argument for its inclusion misleading; the performance of the song at Australia's ARIA awards cannot hope to match 16 million viewers, but the proportional promotion that the song receives for this in the relevant country is similar. This is a Wikipedia:Worldwide view debate. Aside from this, I will note from a spot check of other songs that it is not a common practice across other song articles to make mention of renditions on reality TV shows. As such, I put forward that all references to the performance during American Idol season 11 be removed from this article, even after establishing the "usage in media" sub-section. Aspirex (talk) 07:26, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

I have read and considered your arguments here carefully. The mention of TV shows was in the article before my edits. In fact, it was the appearance on AI that brought me to the WP article. AI is certainly notable, and the 2 performers (while barely notable), are still notable enough to have WP articles. I agree that appearance on ARIAs is significant in Australia for promitional purposes. Given that, how much more so the appearance on AI, as it is re-broadcast globally. At the end of the day, will 16m in USA is comparable with 1m in Australia, to the extent that the raw viewership trabslates into increased awareness and ultimately raw sales and chart success, makes it more significant. Given a choice, I'm sure Goye would trade success and sales in Australia for US success. The performance of the song on Americal Idol, which is one of the highest rating shows in the USA, and its subsequent rebroadcast globally in dozens of countries, brings the song to the attention of millions, and is a factor in its crossover appeal to mainstream pop audiences. The linkage between these TV appearances is made in the source given, as well as others. I saw the linkage mentioned only this morning on Seven's Sunrise programme.smjwalsh (talk) 23:09, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

The thing that makes me a little uncomfortable about this interpretation is that it means this performance would count as notable, but a future performance on, say, season 14 would not be because it would have no contribution to the immediate success of the song. From the pure performance perspective, those should have equal notability.

IMHO the performance on AI while good and praised by the judges, was notable for increasing the song's exposure in the Us & Canadian markets, and elsewhere through global re-transmission. Subsequent perforances on AI could be notable if it stimulated increased sales, or was by a significantly notable performer. Inclusion here does not preclude any future notable performances.smjwalsh (talk) 14:37, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

But, if as you have said, there are citations to suggest that there is a discernable link between the performance and a spike in sales, then I do agree that it is notable for comment – but, I'd still take it out of the lead. However, rather than putting it into a "usage in media" section, I'd suggest put it into 'Chart History', with a sentence to the effect of "The song reached #3 in the US chart; then, in the week following its performance on top-rating American Idol, it went up to #1". That puts everything into context, and explains why the AI performance is notable. That also gives and opening to link to any future successes, should they occur, for the song if it gains popularity in the countries into which AI is rebroadcast, but which the song has not already achieved success.Aspirex (talk) 06:42, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

I agree with the suibstance of your suggestion.smjwalsh (talk) 14:37, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

Also worth pointing out that Billboard attributes the sudden increase in downloads to Glee and SNL, but makes no reference to American Idol. Aspirex (talk) 10:01, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

My interpretation is that the appearance on Glee, AI, and SNL in the same week created a critical mass for the song. Any of the first two appearances would have caused a spike - Glee with 10 million viewers and AI with over 16 million, and notably in the 14-25 demographic. SNL has a faithful following but somewhat less than 2 million these days, so would be less significant per se, but significant as part of a trifecta.smjwalsh (talk) 14:31, 19 April 2012 (UTC)