ChilledCow

ChilledCow is a music label and radio-style channel on YouTube run by Dimitri.[lower-alpha 1] ChilledCow runs 24/7 live streams that play lo-fi hip hop songs accompanied by an animation of an anime girl either studying or relaxing, created by Juan Pablo Machado and modeled on the character Shizuku Tsukishima from the Studio Ghibli film Whisper of the Heart.

ChilledCow
The icon of ChilledCow
Personal information
BornDimitri[lower-alpha 1]
1994/1995 (age 25–26)[1]
NationalityFrench
Websitehttps://chilledcow.com
YouTube information
ChannelsChilledCow
Years active2015–present
Genre
Subscribers7.59 million subscribers
(as of February 2021)
Total views773.9 million views
(as of February 2021)

ChilledCow was praised by many for its live streams playing chill songs that help people focus on studying. On February 22, 2020, ChilledCow's channel was mistakenly suspended for copyright infringement, causing many to mourn the channel's loss. YouTube apologized in a tweet and reinstated ChilledCow's channel the next day.

Formation

The YouTube channel was started by Dimitri[lower-alpha 1] on March 23, 2015.[2] ChilledCow started streaming lo-fi hip hop songs meant for people to listen while studying on February 25, 2017.[1][3] The live stream was originally accompanied by an animation that was taken from the Studio Ghibli film, Whisper of the Heart, of a young woman studying. The stream received a copyright strike from YouTube between July and August 2017[4] and was replaced by an original anime girl studying. The animation was designed by a college student studying art, Juan Pablo Machado.[5][6]

The live stream was originally taken down by YouTube for using footage of a young woman studying from the film, Whisper of the Heart.[4] The live stream was reinstated after Dimitri worked with a college student, Machado, to design a new animation of a girl studying to use for the live stream.[5][6]

The music used in ChilledCow's live streams were either released through the ChilledCow label or were given permission to use by another artist.[4] Despite that, on February 22, 2020, ChilledCow announced that its channel was taken down for potentially violating YouTube's Terms of Service, and demanded to know a reason why.[7] He was backed up by many supporters and the loss of the channel was mourned by many.[4][8][9][10] YouTube responded the next day by tweeting an apology, saying it was a mistake and reinstated ChilledCow's channel.[11] The original live stream that was stopped by the take down was 13,000 hours long, making it one of the longest videos on YouTube.[4]

World of Warcraft

To promote the release of the new expansion Shadowlands, the official YouTube account for MMORPG World of Warcraft posted a Warcraft-themed parody of ChilledCow's 'lo-fi beats to relax/study to' stream.[12]

Critical reception

ChilledCow's live streams have received generally positive reviews from listeners, usually about the live stream meant for studying. ChilledCow's viewership has grown ever since the start of the live stream.[1] Farield El Gafy from Washington Square News praised the live stream about studying, saying "Thanks to this playlist, I’ve cranked out a multitude of essays, study sessions, scripts and rough cuts to the tune of pop culture samples, muted snares and artificial record scratches."[3] Xavier Piedra of Mashable praised it for its relaxing songs that keep the listener focused. He also noted that the playlist is updated frequently and often contains a mixture of old and newly added songs.[13] The live stream was the first live stream listed on Cassidy Quinn of KGW's "Top 10 non-news live channels to watch on YouTube while social distancing". Quinn described the songs in the live stream as "a constant stream of low-key music you play in the background while you get work done, do chores, whatever you're doing at home right now".[14]

Notes
  1. His last name is unknown. The New York Times stated that "Dimitri asked that his last name not be used."[1]

References
  1. Bromwich, Jonah Engel (May 3, 2018). "Pirate Radio Stations Explode on YouTube". The New York Times. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  2. Dimitri. "ChilledCow's About Page". YouTube. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  3. Gafy, Faried El (November 22, 2019). "Staff Recs: Good Music for Studying". Washington Square News. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  4. Alexander, Julia (February 24, 2020). "YouTube briefly terminated a popular live stream channel, creating one of the longest videos ever". The Verge. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  5. "Pop Culture: the "lofi girl" of the live Youtube "lofi hip hop radio" lives... in Lyon". April 23, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  6. Freedman, Maxwell (5 July 2020). "You Can Thank Studio Ghibli for YouTube's Lofi Anime Study Girl". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  7. Dimitri (February 22, 2020). "Any explanation on this?". Twitter. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  8. Tesema, Feleg (February 2020). "YouTube Accidently Shut Down "Lofi Hip Hop Radio" Livestream & Fans Lost It". Highs Nobelity. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  9. Darville, Jordan (February 24, 2020). ""Lofi hip hop radio – beats to relax/study to" returns to YouTube after brief ban". Fader. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  10. Gramenz, Jack (February 2020). "YouTube apologises after mistakenly deleting cult-favourite pirate radio station". News.com.au. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  11. YouTube (February 23, 2020). "Thanks for flagging this to us!". Twitter. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  12. Messner, Steven (November 20, 2020). "World of Warcraft releases amazing set of lo-fi beats to relax/study to". PC Gamer. Future US Inc.
  13. Piedra, Xavier (September 28, 2018). "Reboot your mind with this 24/7 lo-fi hip-hop radio station". Mashable. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  14. Quinn, Cassidy (March 31, 2020). "Top 10 non-news live channels to watch on YouTube while social distancing". KGW. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
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