It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does happen it is spectacular. A video goes up on YouTube and it takes off like a rocket with tens of millions of views. It happened to Susan Boyle:

Susan Boyle, the overnight sensation

It happened with the wedding video:

How to have a fun wedding

It happened for Justin Bieber.

And now, as everyone knows, it has happened for Rebecca Black. Her video exploded, initially as a lightning rod for derision. But the fact that she made it to Good Morning America in less than two weeks indicates that either: a) her 15 minutes of fame will be exceedingly brief, or b) her life has been completely changed by the event.

So let’s imagine that you are a parent. And let’s imagine that you have a pre-teen or teenage daughter. And let’s say your daughter asks, “Can I make a video like Rebecca Black’s?” How did that video get made, and how much does something like that cost? These two articles give you the lay of the land:

- Who the Hell Made Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ Video?

The answer is Ark Music Factory, a Los Angeles-based company operating as an industry hybrid of Maurice Starr and John Bennett Ramsey. Their casting calls are perfect bait for starry-eyed parents: “If you are a great singer without any material and you want to get discovered,” one reads, “then Ark Music Factory is looking for you.” [It's now been removed; screen grab here.]

The formula is simple: They’ll fly your child between the specified ages of 13-17 to Los Angeles, write her a “hit,” record it in super-compressed Autotuned production, shoot an edge detection-overlay video and BAM! Maybe your kid can notch up a couple thousand YouTube views while you watch your dreams of being a pop-star parent percolate.

- Who is Rebecca Black and How Did Her Video Get Made?

Basically, you’ve heard of vanity publishers? The people you pay to publish your book when no publisher will sink their own money into it? Well meet vanity music producers. Black’s parents paid, according to reports, $2000 to these guys to produce the song and video. Sound like a lot? Not really. Consider how much people pay for their kids’ hobbies and activities and you’ll find out it’s not that much.

In the same way that Glamor Shots popularized the idea of the fashion model photo shoot and franchised the idea across the country, we would expect many copies of Ark Music Factory to pop up within the next several months.

Also fascinating: Rebecca Black Already A Millionaire — In Less Than A Week!

Once again, Rebecca Black is having the last laugh! The singer, whose song “Friday” became a viral sensation in just a matter of days, has incurred over 2 million downloads which, at the iTunes payout rate of $ .70 a single, has earned the singer roughly $1.4 million. Looks like Rebecca isn’t feeling so maligned and ridiculed now!

That’s not all either. The $2,000 Rebecca’s mom shelled out for the video is the only cost that has been incurred, with no marketing, advertising or touring budget to worry about.

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