The Music Video That Doesn’t Sleep


Here is a math problem for you: If a song takes four minutes to listen to and it loops continuously for 24 hours, how many times does the song repeat?

The answer: 360 times.

Last week Pharrell Williams, the creative genius and Grammy Award winning composer/producer, released a break-the-mold music video. My friends and colleagues know I’m not one for music –- my poor little brain takes music in as mind-numbing noise — but this one caught my eye and sucked me in.

The video plays end-to-end for 24 hours, looping Williams’ song “Happy” from the “Despicable Me 2” soundtrack. It’s a four-minute song, so it repeats 360 times. Each loop features a different artist, dancing to the upbeat song. Shot entirely on the streets of Los Angeles, the set changes once each hour. For you math students, that’s 24 set changes.

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But, that’s not the only interesting aspect of this creative breakthrough. Its interactivity drew me in. The viewer chooses which segment to watch by selecting the hour.minute.second from the midnight-to-midnight dial superimposed on the video screen. Celeb appearances add to the fun. Check out Jimmy Kimmel at 11:48 a.m. or Steve Carell at 5:08 p.m.

A non-interactive YouTube version logged more than a million views in a few days, an accomplishment to be sure. And be sure to check out the interactive version with almost 2 million views on the 24 Hours of Happy microsite.