2009 / Video / Musical news remix series
Auto-Tune the News
The news had finally learned to sing, and unfortunately it had a very catchy chorus.
The original is off-site. HAHrchives preserves the story and a route back to it.
What happened
The Brothers treated each week’s broadcast noise as raw musical material: find a phrase, tune it into a hook, add a beat, then appear beneath the clip as its extremely committed backing band. The result made cable-news chatter sound accidentally built for a chorus.
Where it came from
The Gregory Brothers began making Auto-Tune the News in April 2009, turning clips of anchors, politicians, and pundits into tightly produced songs. By December, nine episodes had accumulated nearly 12 million views.
Why it mattered
Auto-Tune the News captured a 2009 internet talent: taking something self-important, remixing it with real craft, and making the joke catchy enough to outlive the original broadcast. It was news satire engineered for the replay button.
How it spread
Episodes moved through YouTube embeds, blogs, Twitter, and the same office links that had previously carried “you have to see this” clips. The series made a repeatable public ritual out of waiting to hear which news line would become the next ridiculous refrain.
Keep going
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