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Tweaking most of the content on this article, expanding on Visual (now Artistic) style slightly, adding more sources.
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Change the list of music videos into a table
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=== Vine ===
=== Vine ===
Wurtz first gained a following on [[Vine (service)|Vine]], where he began by taking short videos he had previously only published to his website and Twitter account and repackaging them to fit Vine's 6-second restrictions<ref>{{Citation|last=|first=|title=H3 Podcast #96 - bill wurtz|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_fMuWm5vVA&feature=youtu.be&t=295|volume=|pages=|at=4:55|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref>. Before transitioning fully to YouTube, Wurtz was uploading a video to Vine nearly every day. His most popular vines <!-- as of 31 December 2018 --> were "[https://vine.co/v/eIi1aWjBI3E still a piece of garbage]" (~343,000 likes with ~168,000 revines), "[https://vine.co/v/ex5za62M1JU what are you waiting for you dumb stupid fuck"] (~117,000 likes with ~52,000 revines), and "[https://vine.co/v/OJTQX6xtXqp i don't want to go to school]" (~88,000 likes with ~45,000 revines).
Wurtz first gained a following on [[Vine (service)|Vine]], where he began by taking short videos he had previously only published to his website and Twitter account and repackaging them to fit Vine's 6-second restrictions.<ref>{{Citation|last=|first=|title=H3 Podcast #96 - bill wurtz|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_fMuWm5vVA&feature=youtu.be&t=295|volume=|pages=|at=4:55|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> Before transitioning fully to YouTube, Wurtz was uploading a video to Vine nearly every day. His most popular vines <!-- as of 31 December 2018 --> were "[https://vine.co/v/eIi1aWjBI3E still a piece of garbage]" (~343,000 likes with ~168,000 revines), "[https://vine.co/v/ex5za62M1JU what are you waiting for you dumb stupid fuck"] (~117,000 likes with ~52,000 revines), and "[https://vine.co/v/OJTQX6xtXqp i don't want to go to school]" (~88,000 likes with ~45,000 revines).


=== "history of japan" ===
=== "history of japan" ===
Despite some interest on Vine, Wurtz broke into the spotlight with "history of japan"'','' a 9-minute YouTube video that outlines [[History of Japan|Japan's history]] from 40,000 B.C.E to 1991 C.E.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=history of japan|date=2016-02-02|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5LY4Mz15o|access-date=2018-11-14}}</ref> It fully showcases Wurtz's quirky visual and comedic style through a mixture of fast-paced narration and animation. It went [[Viral video|viral]] after its release on February 2, 2016,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/43wsdi/history_of_japan/|title=r/videos - History of Japan|website=reddit|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/history-of-japan-video_us_56b85b2fe4b04f9b57da2fcc|title=WATCH: Trippy Video Teaches The Entire History Of Japan In Just 9 Minutes|date=February 8, 2016|website=The Huffington Post|accessdate=December 28, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2016/02/06/history-of-japan-youtube/|title=Psychedelic history of Japan turns learning into an acid trip|last=Strange|first=Adario|website=Mashable|accessdate=December 28, 2016}}</ref> receiving 1.7 million views in two days{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}} and more than quadrupling Wurtz's subscriber count in 1 week{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}}. As of November 13, 2018, the video currently has over 44 million views.
Despite some interest on Vine, Wurtz broke into the spotlight with "history of japan"'','' a 9-minute YouTube video that outlines [[History of Japan|Japan's history]] from 40,000 B.C.E to 1991 C.E.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=history of japan|date=2016-02-02|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5LY4Mz15o|access-date=2018-11-14}}</ref> It fully showcases Wurtz's quirky visual and comedic style through a mixture of fast-paced narration and animation. It went [[Viral video|viral]] after its release on February 2, 2016,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/43wsdi/history_of_japan/|title=r/videos - History of Japan|website=reddit|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/history-of-japan-video_us_56b85b2fe4b04f9b57da2fcc|title=WATCH: Trippy Video Teaches The Entire History Of Japan In Just 9 Minutes|date=February 8, 2016|website=The Huffington Post|accessdate=December 28, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2016/02/06/history-of-japan-youtube/|title=Psychedelic history of Japan turns learning into an acid trip|last=Strange|first=Adario|website=Mashable|accessdate=December 28, 2016}}</ref> receiving 1.7 million views in two days{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}} and more than quadrupling Wurtz's subscriber count in 1 week.{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}} As of November 13, 2018, the video currently has over 44 million views.


=== "history of the entire world, i guess" ===
=== "history of the entire world, i guess" ===
Line 65: Line 65:
Lyrically, Wurtz has an aphoristic, economical, and absurdist style, resembling his website's "notebook".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://billwurtz.com/notebook.html|title=billwurtz|website=billwurtz.com|access-date=2018-10-26}}</ref>
Lyrically, Wurtz has an aphoristic, economical, and absurdist style, resembling his website's "notebook".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://billwurtz.com/notebook.html|title=billwurtz|website=billwurtz.com|access-date=2018-10-26}}</ref>


Visually, his videos are lively and often involve cheap clipart, system fonts, and hand-drawn graphics which are digitally manipulated, layered, and animated in time with the music. Common patterns that Wurtz follows are to layer copies of shapes and text together with clashing colors,<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=it's ok to have feelings|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTH7BBe2D78|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> to show screencaps from built-in MacOS applications,<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=unboxing video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1bEWoblGZA|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> and to show himself playing air drums.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=La de da de da de da de day oh|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0HCZ4YGqbw|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> He has stated that this basic style arose out of necessity to publish content regularly and evolved naturally over time, particularly after appearing on Vine.<ref>{{Citation|last=H3 Podcast|first=|title=H3 Podcast #96 - bill wurtz|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_fMuWm5vVA&feature=youtu.be&t=2127|volume=|pages=|at=35:27|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> He uses Final Cut Express 4 to create his videos.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160617143448/https://ask.fm/billwurtz/answers/134445683977|title=What editing software do you use? I'm very new to your videos and I always ask that question as I'm into the editing field :} {{!}} ask.fm/billwurtz|date=2016-06-17|website=web.archive.org|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/editlines/comments/5y498a/bill_wurtzs_timeline_for_his_history_of_japan/|title=r/editlines - Bill Wurtz's timeline for his 'History Of Japan' video [Final Cut Express 4]|website=reddit|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref>
Visually, his videos are lively and often involve cheap clipart, system fonts, and hand-drawn graphics which are digitally manipulated, layered, and animated in time with the music. Common patterns that Wurtz follows are to layer copies of shapes and text together with clashing colors,<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=it's ok to have feelings|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTH7BBe2D78|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> to show screencaps from built-in MacOS applications,<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=unboxing video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1bEWoblGZA|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> and to show himself playing air drums but overlaying images where drumheads would be.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=La de da de da de da de day oh|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0HCZ4YGqbw|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> He has stated that this basic style arose out of necessity to publish content regularly and evolved naturally over time, particularly after appearing on Vine.<ref>{{Citation|last=H3 Podcast|first=|title=H3 Podcast #96 - bill wurtz|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_fMuWm5vVA&feature=youtu.be&t=2127|volume=|pages=|at=35:27|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> He uses Final Cut Express 4 to create his videos.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160617143448/https://ask.fm/billwurtz/answers/134445683977|title=What editing software do you use? I'm very new to your videos and I always ask that question as I'm into the editing field :} {{!}} ask.fm/billwurtz|date=2016-06-17|website=web.archive.org|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/editlines/comments/5y498a/bill_wurtzs_timeline_for_his_history_of_japan/|title=r/editlines - Bill Wurtz's timeline for his 'History Of Japan' video [Final Cut Express 4]|website=reddit|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref>


During the [[VidCon|Vidcon 2018]] panel "Finding a niche and making it work for you", Wurtz answered a question about why his style is so different from other [[YouTube]] musicians. He explained that he doesn't watch any other creators on the platform. Instead, he simply does what he himself thinks is normal: "My secret is just live under a rock, and stay there."<ref>{{Citation|last=WintersDays|title=MIRANDA SINGS & THE EXPO HALL {{!}} VidCon US 2018 {{!}} Day 2|date=2018-06-23|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yPyycggjrc&t=6m12s|access-date=2018-10-26}}</ref>
During the [[VidCon|Vidcon 2018]] panel "Finding a niche and making it work for you", Wurtz answered a question about why his style is so different from other [[YouTube]] musicians. He explained that he doesn't watch any other creators on the platform. Instead, he simply does what he himself thinks is normal: "My secret is just live under a rock, and stay there."<ref>{{Citation|last=WintersDays|title=MIRANDA SINGS & THE EXPO HALL {{!}} VidCon US 2018 {{!}} Day 2|date=2018-06-23|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yPyycggjrc&t=6m12s|access-date=2018-10-26}}</ref>


== Music videos ==
== Music videos ==
Wurtz has worked on full-length music videos, following the same format of his shorter videos. Since May 2014, seventeen of these videos have been uploaded to his [[Youtube|YouTube]] channel. After the popularity of "history of the entire world, i guess", Wurtz has focused almost completely on these videos.
Since May 2014, Wurtz has published full-length music videos, following the same format of his shorter videos, and made them available on his [[Youtube|YouTube]] channel:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Date
!Name
!Number of views
!Notes
|-
|'''May 6, 2014'''
|"new canaan"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=song: new canaan|date=2014-05-06|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2ukpvP5mL8|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|600,000 (as of Jan. 2019)
|
|-
|'''May 8, 2015'''
|"i'm crazy / it's raining"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=song: "i'm crazy / it's raining"|date=2015-05-08|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfyswlszyhg|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|1 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|
|-
|'''August 3, 2017'''
|"i wanna be a movie star"<ref>{{citation|last=Wurtz|first=Bill|title=i wanna be a movie star|date=August 3, 2017|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUs1Popfd8g|accessdate=August 3, 2017}}</ref>
|3.3 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|
|-
|'''September 28, 2017'''
|"outside"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=outside|date=2017-09-28|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MIK7bb69xk|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|4.6 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|
|-
|'''January 16, 2018'''
|"La de da de da de da de day oh"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=La de da de da de da de day oh|date=2018-01-16|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0HCZ4YGqbw|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|8.2 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|Peaked at #1 on the YouTube trending page upon being released
|-
|'''April 25, 2018'''
|"and the day goes on"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=and the day goes on|date=2018-04-25|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHZr6P1csiY|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|4.4 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|Amassed over 2 million views and more than 150,000 likes within
2 weeks of release
<br />
|-
|'''June 21, 2018'''
|"hello sexy pants"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=hello sexy pants|date=2018-06-21|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldaQLGOoJW0|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|2 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|
|-
|'''August 21, 2018'''
|"hallelujah"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=hallelujah|date=2018-08-21|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqxT6KOFRIo|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|1.2 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|
|-
|'''September 4, 2018'''
|"i'm Best Friends with my Own Front Door"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=i'm Best Friends with my Own Front Door|date=2018-09-04|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCxJ4gAt2cs|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|1.5 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|
|-
|'''September 18, 2018'''
|"Mount St. Helens is about to Blow Up"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=Mount St. Helens is about to Blow Up|date=2018-09-18|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elizAugXVcI|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|3.6 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|
|-
|'''October 3, 2018'''
|"the Moon is made of Cheese (but i can't taste it)"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=the Moon is made of Cheese (but i can't taste it)|date=2018-10-02|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpelFcu602A|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|1.5 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|Reached #8 on the YouTube trending page within 2 days of its release
|-
|'''October 16, 2018'''
|"When I Get Older"<ref>{{citation|last=Wurtz|first=Bill|title=When I Get Older|date=October 16, 2018|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX-Qr8iNqm0|accessdate=October 18, 2018}}</ref>
|1.2 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|Despite having been uploaded during the worldwide [[YouTube]] outage,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/10/16/youtube-down-offline-google/|title=YouTube Service Restored After Users Experience Worldwide Outage|date=2018-10-16|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}}</ref>after just 2 days, it reached #37 on [[YouTube]] trending, and received


nearly 700,000 views.
* On May 6, 2014, "new canaan" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. {{As of|2018|11}}, it has received over 590,000 views.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=song: new canaan|date=2014-05-06|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2ukpvP5mL8|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|-
* On May 8, 2015, "i'm crazy / it's raining" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. {{As of|2018|11}}, it has received over 1 million views.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=song: "i'm crazy / it's raining"|date=2015-05-08|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfyswlszyhg|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|'''October 30, 2018'''
* On August 3, 2017, "i wanna be a movie star" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. It has since reached more than 3.3 million views {{As of|2018|11|lc=y}}.<ref>{{citation|last=Wurtz|first=Bill|title=i wanna be a movie star|date=August 3, 2017|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUs1Popfd8g|accessdate=August 3, 2017}}</ref>
* On September 28, 2017, "outside" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. {{As of|2018|November}}, it has attained more than 4.5 million views.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=outside|date=2017-09-28|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MIK7bb69xk|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|"long long long journey"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=long long long journey|date=2018-10-30|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jEm6owSKFU|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|1 million (as of Jan. 2019)
* On January 16, 2018, "La de da de da de da de day oh" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. It peaked at number 1 on the YouTube trending page upon being released. {{As of|2018|November}}, it has attained over 7.8 million views.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=La de da de da de da de day oh|date=2018-01-16|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0HCZ4YGqbw|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|After 17 hours of being uploaded, it received nearly 300,000 views.
* On April 25, 2018, "and the day goes on" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. Within two weeks of the video's release, it had already amassed over 2 million views and more than 150,000 likes. It has over 4.3 million views as of November 2018.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=and the day goes on|date=2018-04-25|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHZr6P1csiY|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|-
* On June 21, 2018, "hello sexy pants" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. As of November 2018, it has attained over 1.9 million views.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=hello sexy pants|date=2018-06-21|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldaQLGOoJW0|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|'''November 13, 2018'''
* On August 21, 2018, "hallelujah" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. As of November 2018, it has garnered over 1.1 million views.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=hallelujah|date=2018-08-21|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqxT6KOFRIo|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
* On September 4, 2018, "i'm Best Friends with my Own Front Door" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. As of November 2018, it has reached 1.4 million views.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=i'm Best Friends with my Own Front Door|date=2018-09-04|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCxJ4gAt2cs|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|"Slow Down"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=Slow Down|date=2018-11-13|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83w4FgVkjUE|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|900,000 (as of Jan. 2019)
* On September 18, 2018, "Mount St. Helens is about to Blow Up" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. As of November 2018, it has over 3 million views.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=Mount St. Helens is about to Blow Up|date=2018-09-18|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elizAugXVcI|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|
* On October 3, 2018, "the Moon is made of Cheese (but i can't taste it)" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. It reached #8 on the YouTube trending page within 2 days of its release and has attained over 1.3 million views.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=the Moon is made of Cheese (but i can't taste it)|date=2018-10-02|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpelFcu602A|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|-
* On October 16, 2018, "When I Get Older" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel, notably during the worldwide [[YouTube]] outage.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/10/16/youtube-down-offline-google/|title=YouTube Service Restored After Users Experience Worldwide Outage|date=2018-10-16|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}}</ref> After just 2 days of being uploaded, it reached #37 on [[YouTube]] trending, and received nearly 700,000 views.<ref>{{citation|first=Bill|last=Wurtz|title=When I Get Older|date=October 16, 2018|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX-Qr8iNqm0|accessdate=October 18, 2018}}</ref>
|'''November 27, 2018'''
*On October 30, 2018, "long long long journey" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. After 17 hours of being uploaded, it received nearly 300,000 views.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=long long long journey|date=2018-10-30|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jEm6owSKFU|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
*On November 13, 2018, "Slow Down" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel.<!-- view count statistics to be added --><ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=Slow Down|date=2018-11-13|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83w4FgVkjUE|access-date=2018-11-13}}</ref>
|"christmas isn't real"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=christmas isn't real|date=2018-11-27|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDYXgsMzwSI|access-date=2018-11-28}}</ref>
|1.2 million (as of Jan. 2019)
*On November 27, 2018, "christmas isn't real" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel.<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=christmas isn't real|date=2018-11-27|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDYXgsMzwSI|access-date=2018-11-28}}</ref>
|
*On December 25, 2018, "i just did a bad thing" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel. <ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=i just did a bad thing|date=2018-12-25|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2yPnnDfqpw|access-date=2018-12-25}}</ref>
|-
*On January 15, 2019, "at the airport terminal" was uploaded to Wurtz's channel (released to other platforms on January 10).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-qqrGtlHkg|title=YouTube|website=www.youtube.com|access-date=2019-01-16}}</ref>
|'''December 25, 2018'''
|"i just did a bad thing"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=i just did a bad thing|date=2018-12-25|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2yPnnDfqpw|access-date=2018-12-25}}</ref>
|1.3 million (as of Jan. 2019)
|
|-
|'''January 15, 2019'''
|"at the airport terminal"<ref>{{Citation|last=bill wurtz|title=at the airport terminal|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-qqrGtlHkg|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref>
|600,000 (as of Jan. 2019)
|Released to other platforms on January 10.
|}
There are other songs Wurtz has created which he has published to his own website, [[Amazon Music]], and [[Spotify]], but not uploaded to YouTube. They include:


*"in california" (released May 30, 2017)
Wurtz has added songs to other platforms such as his own website, [[Amazon Music]], and [[Spotify]]. These songs are not available on YouTube. They include:
*"in california" (May 30, 2017)
*"i love you" (released June 7, 2017)
*"i love you" (June 7, 2017)
*"got to know what's going on" (released June 20, 2017)
*"got to know what's going on" (June 20, 2017)


== Awards ==
== Awards ==

Revision as of 08:26, 31 January 2019

Bill Wurtz
Logo as of January 2019
Personal information
Occupations
  • Musician
  • Video blogger
Websitebillwurtz.com
YouTube information
Channel
Created byBill Wurtz
Years active2000 (on YouTube from 2013) – present
Genres
Subscribers3 million[1]
Total views305 million[1]
100,000 subscribers2016
1,000,000 subscribers2017
Last updated: January 20, 2019

Bill Wurtz (stylized as bill wurtz) is an online video creator and multi-instrumentalist based in New York City.[2] Wurtz is known for his distinctive style of song and video, including dry delivery and singing, paired with colorful surrealist, psychedelic, and non-sequitur graphics.[3] Wurtz posts jingles and songs on his website and on his YouTube channel and has been actively making music since 2005.[4]

Popularity

Vine

Wurtz first gained a following on Vine, where he began by taking short videos he had previously only published to his website and Twitter account and repackaging them to fit Vine's 6-second restrictions.[5] Before transitioning fully to YouTube, Wurtz was uploading a video to Vine nearly every day. His most popular vines were "still a piece of garbage" (~343,000 likes with ~168,000 revines), "what are you waiting for you dumb stupid fuck" (~117,000 likes with ~52,000 revines), and "i don't want to go to school" (~88,000 likes with ~45,000 revines).

"history of japan"

Despite some interest on Vine, Wurtz broke into the spotlight with "history of japan", a 9-minute YouTube video that outlines Japan's history from 40,000 B.C.E to 1991 C.E.[6] It fully showcases Wurtz's quirky visual and comedic style through a mixture of fast-paced narration and animation. It went viral after its release on February 2, 2016,[7][3][8][9] receiving 1.7 million views in two days[citation needed] and more than quadrupling Wurtz's subscriber count in 1 week.[citation needed] As of November 13, 2018, the video currently has over 44 million views.

"history of the entire world, i guess"

However, Wurtz is best known for "history of the entire world, i guess", a 19-minute follow-up to "history of japan" released on May 10, 2017.[10] Expanding greatly on the subject matter — the video took over 11 months to produce, including almost 3 months of research[11] — it briefly covers the topics of natural history and human civilization spanning from the Big Bang to the near future (specifically the year 2028). It went viral after its release,[12][13] receiving 1.1 million views in its first 8 hours, 3.2 million views on its first day, and 13 million views in its first week. It was the top video on the YouTube trending page on the day of its release,[14] and would later be named No. 8 on YouTube's list of the top 10 trending videos of 2017.[15] As of January 24, 2019, it has over 60 million views.

"hi, i'm steve"

The recognition that Wurtz received after "history of japan" and "history of the entire world, i guess" led to a boost in popularity of his subsequent videos. On July 6, 2017, nearly two months after releasing "history of the entire world, i guess", Wurtz uploaded a one-minute video titled "hi, i'm steve".[16] The video describes the life of a fictional character (though it is not clear whether the character's name is Steve). The video went viral upon being uploaded, gaining over 1 million views within the first day,[17] and peaking at #2 on the YouTube trending page in the same day. As of November 13, 2018, it has over 9.6 million views.

Artistic style

Wurtz employs a rich and complicated musical style which blends progressive jazz with pop and easy listening. He frequently makes use of unusual time signatures and chord progressions, often finishing his songs on dissonant or atonal notes and chords.[18] Overall, his music is of an uplifting nature which is often paired with dire circumstances[19] or sobering undertones.[20]

Lyrically, Wurtz has an aphoristic, economical, and absurdist style, resembling his website's "notebook".[21]

Visually, his videos are lively and often involve cheap clipart, system fonts, and hand-drawn graphics which are digitally manipulated, layered, and animated in time with the music. Common patterns that Wurtz follows are to layer copies of shapes and text together with clashing colors,[22] to show screencaps from built-in MacOS applications,[23] and to show himself playing air drums but overlaying images where drumheads would be.[24] He has stated that this basic style arose out of necessity to publish content regularly and evolved naturally over time, particularly after appearing on Vine.[25] He uses Final Cut Express 4 to create his videos.[26][27]

During the Vidcon 2018 panel "Finding a niche and making it work for you", Wurtz answered a question about why his style is so different from other YouTube musicians. He explained that he doesn't watch any other creators on the platform. Instead, he simply does what he himself thinks is normal: "My secret is just live under a rock, and stay there."[28]

Music videos

Since May 2014, Wurtz has published full-length music videos, following the same format of his shorter videos, and made them available on his YouTube channel:

Date Name Number of views Notes
May 6, 2014 "new canaan"[29] 600,000 (as of Jan. 2019)
May 8, 2015 "i'm crazy / it's raining"[30] 1 million (as of Jan. 2019)
August 3, 2017 "i wanna be a movie star"[31] 3.3 million (as of Jan. 2019)
September 28, 2017 "outside"[32] 4.6 million (as of Jan. 2019)
January 16, 2018 "La de da de da de da de day oh"[33] 8.2 million (as of Jan. 2019) Peaked at #1 on the YouTube trending page upon being released
April 25, 2018 "and the day goes on"[34] 4.4 million (as of Jan. 2019) Amassed over 2 million views and more than 150,000 likes within

2 weeks of release

June 21, 2018 "hello sexy pants"[35] 2 million (as of Jan. 2019)
August 21, 2018 "hallelujah"[36] 1.2 million (as of Jan. 2019)
September 4, 2018 "i'm Best Friends with my Own Front Door"[37] 1.5 million (as of Jan. 2019)
September 18, 2018 "Mount St. Helens is about to Blow Up"[38] 3.6 million (as of Jan. 2019)
October 3, 2018 "the Moon is made of Cheese (but i can't taste it)"[39] 1.5 million (as of Jan. 2019) Reached #8 on the YouTube trending page within 2 days of its release
October 16, 2018 "When I Get Older"[40] 1.2 million (as of Jan. 2019) Despite having been uploaded during the worldwide YouTube outage,[41]after just 2 days, it reached #37 on YouTube trending, and received

nearly 700,000 views.

October 30, 2018 "long long long journey"[42] 1 million (as of Jan. 2019) After 17 hours of being uploaded, it received nearly 300,000 views.
November 13, 2018 "Slow Down"[43] 900,000 (as of Jan. 2019)
November 27, 2018 "christmas isn't real"[44] 1.2 million (as of Jan. 2019)
December 25, 2018 "i just did a bad thing"[45] 1.3 million (as of Jan. 2019)
January 15, 2019 "at the airport terminal"[46] 600,000 (as of Jan. 2019) Released to other platforms on January 10.

There are other songs Wurtz has created which he has published to his own website, Amazon Music, and Spotify, but not uploaded to YouTube. They include:

  • "in california" (released May 30, 2017)
  • "i love you" (released June 7, 2017)
  • "got to know what's going on" (released June 20, 2017)

Awards

  • On April 11, 2016, Wurtz won the Shorty Award for "Best in Weird" at the 8th Shorty Awards for his six-second videos on Vine (history of japan was released after the voting and so was not included in the award consideration).[47] His acceptance speech for the award was notably curt, as he simply walked up to the mic, said "Thank you", and walked off the stage right after.[48] He has stated in a video on his website that this was entirely intentional, having been directly inspired by an acceptance speech given by Andre 3000.[49]

Discography

Source:[50]

References

  1. ^ a b "About billwurtz". YouTube.
  2. ^ Wurtz, Bill. "questions". billwurtz.com. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  3. ^ a b "History lesson with a difference: Surreal 'History of Japan' video goes viral". RT International. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  4. ^ stuck in a rut, retrieved September 8, 2018
  5. ^ H3 Podcast #96 - bill wurtz, 4:55, retrieved January 31, 2019
  6. ^ bill wurtz (February 2, 2016), history of japan, retrieved November 14, 2018
  7. ^ "r/videos - History of Japan". reddit. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  8. ^ "WATCH: Trippy Video Teaches The Entire History Of Japan In Just 9 Minutes". The Huffington Post. February 8, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  9. ^ Strange, Adario. "Psychedelic history of Japan turns learning into an acid trip". Mashable. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  10. ^ Wurtz, Bill (May 10, 2017), history of the entire world, i guess, retrieved May 14, 2017
  11. ^ H3 Podcast Highlights, Bill Wurtz On The History of the World, retrieved December 9, 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "r/videos - history of the entire world, i guess". reddit. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  13. ^ Gartenberg, Chaim (May 11, 2017). "History of the Entire World, I Guess could have been the best online video of 2005". The Verge. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  14. ^ Gutelle, Sam (May 11, 2017). "Bill Wurtz's "History Of The Entire World" Gets 3.2 Million YouTube Views In Its First Day". Tubefilter. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  15. ^ Allocca, Kevin (December 6, 2017). "It's time for #YouTubeRewind: Celebrating what you watched, shared, and created in 2017". Official YouTube Blog. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  16. ^ Wurtz, Bill (July 6, 2017), hi, i'm steve, retrieved August 27, 2017
  17. ^ "History of Japan's Bill Wurtz Creates 'Steve' and a Viral Video", Memeburn, July 7, 2017, retrieved September 17, 2017
  18. ^ "Meet Bill Wurtz, the Internet Musical Genius You've Never Heard Of - MEL Magazine". MEL Magazine. October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  19. ^ bill wurtz, Mount St. Helens is about to Blow Up, retrieved January 31, 2019
  20. ^ bill wurtz, i'm a loser, retrieved January 31, 2019
  21. ^ "billwurtz". billwurtz.com. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  22. ^ bill wurtz, it's ok to have feelings, retrieved January 31, 2019
  23. ^ bill wurtz, unboxing video, retrieved January 31, 2019
  24. ^ bill wurtz, La de da de da de da de day oh, retrieved January 31, 2019
  25. ^ H3 Podcast, H3 Podcast #96 - bill wurtz, 35:27, retrieved January 31, 2019{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "What editing software do you use? I'm very new to your videos and I always ask that question as I'm into the editing field :} | ask.fm/billwurtz". web.archive.org. June 17, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  27. ^ "r/editlines - Bill Wurtz's timeline for his 'History Of Japan' video [Final Cut Express 4]". reddit. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  28. ^ WintersDays (June 23, 2018), MIRANDA SINGS & THE EXPO HALL | VidCon US 2018 | Day 2, retrieved October 26, 2018
  29. ^ bill wurtz (May 6, 2014), song: new canaan, retrieved November 13, 2018
  30. ^ bill wurtz (May 8, 2015), song: "i'm crazy / it's raining", retrieved November 13, 2018
  31. ^ Wurtz, Bill (August 3, 2017), i wanna be a movie star, retrieved August 3, 2017
  32. ^ bill wurtz (September 28, 2017), outside, retrieved November 13, 2018
  33. ^ bill wurtz (January 16, 2018), La de da de da de da de day oh, retrieved November 13, 2018
  34. ^ bill wurtz (April 25, 2018), and the day goes on, retrieved November 13, 2018
  35. ^ bill wurtz (June 21, 2018), hello sexy pants, retrieved November 13, 2018
  36. ^ bill wurtz (August 21, 2018), hallelujah, retrieved November 13, 2018
  37. ^ bill wurtz (September 4, 2018), i'm Best Friends with my Own Front Door, retrieved November 13, 2018
  38. ^ bill wurtz (September 18, 2018), Mount St. Helens is about to Blow Up, retrieved November 13, 2018
  39. ^ bill wurtz (October 2, 2018), the Moon is made of Cheese (but i can't taste it), retrieved November 13, 2018
  40. ^ Wurtz, Bill (October 16, 2018), When I Get Older, retrieved October 18, 2018
  41. ^ "YouTube Service Restored After Users Experience Worldwide Outage". October 16, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018. {{cite news}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 58 (help)
  42. ^ bill wurtz (October 30, 2018), long long long journey, retrieved November 13, 2018
  43. ^ bill wurtz (November 13, 2018), Slow Down, retrieved November 13, 2018
  44. ^ bill wurtz (November 27, 2018), christmas isn't real, retrieved November 28, 2018
  45. ^ bill wurtz (December 25, 2018), i just did a bad thing, retrieved December 25, 2018
  46. ^ bill wurtz, at the airport terminal, retrieved January 31, 2019
  47. ^ "Bill Wurtz – The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  48. ^ "Bill Wurtz accepts the Shorty Award for Best in Weird". youtube.com. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  49. ^ ""201604121847.mp4"". billwurtz.com. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  50. ^ "Bill Wurtz discography". RateYourMusic. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
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