[youtube]http://youtu.be/N7cY5hwmvX0[/youtube]
It was a matter of time before YouTube sensation Rob Scallon covered Slayer’s “Angel of Death.” After the success of “Raining Blood,” on banjo and “War Ensemble” on ukelele, it was only a matter of time before he took on the most popular song in the band’s catalog. And he did it in style – premiering it on Billboard and talking about his success as a cover artist. Perhaps the most interesting thing to find out is that he’s actually making a living doing it – he’s been a full time YouTuber for a year and a half. He talks about how he monetizes the videos and makes money:
I’m partnered with Google so that revenue is split between YouTube and I. And in the case of the covers, — this is actually pretty new, you weren’t able to do this prior — there’s a three way rev-split that makes monetizing covers possible. So with these Slayer covers, for example, the revenue from those ads is split between Google, Slayer’s management, and myself. So everyone’s happy. The last “Raining Blood” cover had Slayer trending on Facebook, which I was really happy about. They make money, I make money, YouTube makes money. And there’s also the song sales, which are kind of a new thing. I don’t really know how that’s gonna turn out yet because it’s really delayed, but for that I go through a company… they handle all the legal stuff so Slayer gets their proper royalties and then I can also sell the cover on iTunes.
You find out a little more about Scallon in the interview as well. The article includes an original song he wrote on eight-string guitar, “Anchor,” an acoustic song he wrote on eight-string guitar that’s a nice change of pace from the silliness of his ukelele and banjo covers. And it mentions that he’s in two other bands with YouTube artists, Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers and Driftless Pony Club. As for the
