“Baby Shark” has become YouTube’s most-watched video of all time!
On Monday 2nd November, the catchy children’s song, uploaded by Pinkfong, surpassed “Despacito” with 7.04 billion views. With this view count, South Korean company Pinkfong will have made around £4 million from YouTube views alone.
The view count has since increased to over 7.06 billion – and it doesn’t appear to stop any time soon!
Pinkfong’s version shot to fame in 2019 and joined the several recent dance challenges with the hashtag #BabySharkChallenge. The challenge has seen people all over the globe (including Cardi B and several male and female Kpop artists) participating. There are even workout challenges that use the song.
“Baby Shark” is believed the song originates from US summer camps in the 1970s. Another theory suggests the song the popularity of Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” led to its invention in 1975.
With its rise to fame, it is no surprise that the song has been involved in a number of controversies. Children’s songwriter Jonathan Wright sued Pinkfong’s parent company SmartStudy last year, arguing he owns the copyright to that interpretation of the song. The case is still “under consideration” by the Korea Copyright Commission.
Last month, several media companies also reported that three prison workers in Oklahoma used the song to punish inmates. Court documents reveal that inmates the prison workers forced inmates to listen to the song for two hours, whilst handcuffed to the wall.
However, the song has also become a “symbol of hope” in other parts of the world. In Lebanon, a video of anti-government protestors singing “Baby Shark” to a 15-month toddler went viral last October. The toddler, who had just woken from a nap, calmed down after hearing the protestors sing.
Have you gotten “Baby Shark” out of your head yet?
