YouTube Phenomenon Keeps Growing

Video-Sharing Site Took Off; Meant For Amateurs, Pros Using, Too

(CBS)  But now, many record companies are uploading their band's latest videos onto YouTube. You can just click and watch as often as you'd like.

The band "OK Go" released its second album for Capitol Records earlier this year, but it's their videos on YouTube, not radio airplay, that's made them so popular with fans.

And the low-budget videos, some costing little more than the tape on which they're recorded, don't imply any affiliation with a record label — which is the idea.

"The whole point," says Adweek magazine advertising critic Barbara Lippert, "is that these are (made to look like they're) handmade in the basement or a backyard. Advertisers are equally adept at making it look like it was made that way, and they can get a lot of buzz virally on the Net."

That buzz has worked wonders for products such as the candy Mentos.

"These guys," says Lippert, "who did an experiment (on a video on YouTube) with Mentos and Coke — they end up getting jobs with Mentos.

"People love to waste time on the Internet, and if it's funny they'll go there, regardless of who put it up there," which may be a big part of the burgeoning appeal of YouTube.