Michelle Martinez was recently featured on an article for 7×7 called San Francisco’s Almost Famous Youtube Sensations. The post discusses the use of YT as a medium and how it’s played a part in many aspiring artists’ lives. Being a bay native, Martinez was included due to her rising popularity and following that has largely resulted from the online streaming site. You can read the article in full over at 7×7 or check out the section on just Meesh after the break.
MICHELLE MARTINEZ CHANTEUSE
YouTube Channel: MM2786, est. 2008
Approximate Subscribers: 66,000
Signature Videos: “Take Me Away” and “How to Love”
Prediction: “In the future, I think that TV and the Internet will be pretty much the same thing. We’re seeing that already with Hulu, Google TV, and Apple TV.”
Say Never: “Britney Spears songs don’t sit well on my voice. Love the girl, but watching me cover one of her songs would not be entertaining.”
TV Off: “I’ve tried out for almost every TV talent show you can think of, but they’ve never worked out for me. I don’t worry about it too much. I guess TV isn’t the way I was meant to become famous.”While San Francisco-based pop singer Michelle Martinez’s 66,000 channel subscribers and average $200-per-month payout from the partner program seem paltry in comparison, she won’t be satisfied until she reaches one million subscribers.
Martinez, who has been posting R&B music videos on YouTube since 2008, began to implement higher production values when, in the wake of a floundered artist development deal in Japan, she found herself back home, ready to make original music. “That experience made me realize that nothing in this industry is guaranteed,” says the 25-year-old, whose videos have gained her enough recognition to book weekly paid performances at small venues across the U.S., Canada, and Australia. “I really needed a fallback plan.” At San Francisco State University, Martinez uses the skills she’s acquired as a broadcasting major to finesse her latest videos. For starters, she hires professional actors and producers and skillfully uses Final Cut Pro and iMovie to edit her footage, complete with choreographed dance routines.
“I don’t shoot many videos of me sitting in my bedroom, singing into the camera anymore,” says Martinez. “I’m doing more complete, story-based concepts that require more time to put together.” The singer’s video remix of Lil Wayne’s “Right Above It” reveals Martinez clad in a black lace mini dress and kitten-heel boots, confidently ascending a mountaintop, and belting out: “No one told me that it would be easy/but I never dreamt it would be this hard/Everyday I push a little bit harder/in my hopes to be a superstar.” It’s crystal clear how true for her this is.
a-Tunes 