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Image: YouTube
Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know is one of the most successful Australian songs ever, and topped charts around the world when it came out in 2011.
The memorably quirky music video is approaching a billion views on YouTube – it currently sits at around 9.3 million views. That would mean big bucks for Gotye, real name Wouter ‘Wally’ De Backer – if he hadn’t declined the royalties.
“I’m not interested in selling my music,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
“That’s the reason I don’t put ads on my You Tube channel, which seems strange to people in today’s climate, but that is a decision you can make.
“I generally never want to synch my music for products (on ads) … ads are calling for our attention anywhere we turn in the world. If you can do something you care about and that other people care about and keep it out of that world that feels like it’s all about ‘hey buy this stuff’ then that’s a good thing.”
De Backer is generous, however, when it comes to students or creative projects that want to use Somebody That I Used To Know.
“I’ve got my own set of rules I made, if a student film wants to use my film I say yes across the board, there’s no money involved. If someone wants to use it commercially I look at what the budget is and the creativity of the project.”
After the massive success of Somebody That I Used To Know and the album it appeared on, Making Mirrors, Gotye moved to Brooklyn in New York, where’s he’s been working on new music that’s being eagerly anticipated by his fans.
