Chico Bongalar is a tubby twenty-something guy – real name Grant – and he likes making videos. At the moment Chico is the No 1 attraction on Trouble Homegrown, the UK television channel’s attempt to mirror the runaway success of web sites like MySpace and YouTube.
Chico talks about his life, getting a suntan and eats a slice of bread. Doesn’t sound like much, but he created a bit of a buzz. Chico is part of a new wave of amateur video talent that includes the Beijing karaoke champs, aka the Chinese Backstreet Boys (sponsored by Coca-Cola), the folk singer Sandi Thom (now with a £1 million recording deal) and the Arctic Monkeys, who went from obscurity to the Brit Awards, all kickstarted by the web.
Chico and millions of others who upload amateur videos to the growing number of user-generated content sites such as YouTube have sent shockwaves through big media companies – and executives are sitting up and paying attention.
It’s not just for the size of the audience; there’s the increasingly contentious issue of content ownership and control.
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