Just when you thought you could escape Baby Shark, it's back in the news. This time, it's because the music video for the ridiculously catchy children's track about a shark family has just crossed 10 billion views, becoming the first video to do so. It's also increased its lead over the platform's second most-watched video of all time, Luis Fonsi's Despacito.
So, for those who are curious, here is a countdown of the videos that make up the top 10 most-viewed on YouTube, with view counts from January 2022.
10. 'Phonics Song with Two Words' by ChuChu TV, March 2014 (4.40 billion views)
ChuChu TV is an Indian network of YouTube channels which creates edutainment content for children, the most popular of its channels having more than 53 million subscribers. Its video Phonics Song with Two Words has 4.4 billion views and counting. It features a little girl singing the letters of the alphabet, helping young children learn words through phonics.
9. 'Uptown Funk' by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, November 2014 (4.42 billion views)
The earworm was a chart-topping hit when it was released in 2014 and became one of the most popular YouTube videos, with fans repeatedly listening to the track on the platform. Uptown Funk made it to the charts in 19 countries and reached the top 10 in 15 others.
8. 'Masha and the Bear – Recipe for Disaster' by Get Movies, January 2012 (4.47 billion views)
Recipe for Disaster is an episode from the Russian CGI-animated TV show Masha and the Bear. The show is also widely popular outside of Russia (it's also on Netflix) and many episodes have high view counts on YouTube, although none as high as this particular video. It's also the highest viewed non-music video of all time on YouTube.
7. 'Learning Colours – Colourful Eggs on a Farm' by Miroshka TV, February 2018 (4.54 billion views)
This five-minute video, uploaded by Russian-language, child-orientated animation channel Miroshka TV, helps children learn the names of different colours in Russian. Strangely, there's also the tune of English nursery rhyme Old MacDonald Had a Farm playing in the background.
6. 'Bath Song' by Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes, May 2018 (4.86 billion views)
Cocomelon specialises in 3D animation videos of both traditional nursery rhymes and their own original children's songs. As of July 2021, it is the most-viewed YouTube channel in the US and second most-viewed channel in the world. Its video Bath Song has been viewed more than 4.8 billion times as it uses the tune of the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Baby Shark to apply to getting children to take a bath.
5. 'See You Again' by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth, April 2015 (5.38 billion views)
The music video of the track from the Furious 7 soundtrack debuted in April 2015 and serves as a tribute to The Fast and the Furious star Paul Walker, who died in a car accident in 2013. At one point in 2017, it was the most-viewed YouTube video before being eclipsed. See You Again was also the second video to pass the two-billion view mark.
4. 'Shape of You' by Ed Sheeran, January 2017 (5.58 billion views)
It's not a surprise to see an Ed Sheeran track in the top 10. Shape of You is undeniably catchy and holds the record for being the third-fastest video to reach one billion views and the second fastest to the reach two and three billion mark as well. It was also named Billboard Mainstream Top 40's number one song of the 2010s.
3. 'Johny Johny Yes Papa' by LooLoo Kids, October 2016 (6.10 billion views)
Another video created for children, Johny Johny Yes Papa is a short, animated music video about a mischievous baby and his father. It's a song about a baby trying to eat sugar cubes even though his father doesn't approve. The song is short, simple and, maybe more importantly, quite catchy.
2. 'Despacito' by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee, January 2017 (7.70 billion views)
For a while, no one could escape Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's collaboration. The Spanish track debuted on YouTube in January 2017 and racked up more than one billion views in only 97 days, the second fastest to ever do so. It then garnered more milestones including becoming the first video to exceed four, five, six and seven million views on the platform.
1. 'Baby Shark Dance' by Pinkfong! Kids’ Songs & Stories, June 2016 (10 billion views)
This is yet another track for children that also somehow became an inescapable tune for adults as well. The ridiculously catchy song about a shark family, produced by Korean educational entertainment company Pinkfong, because the first YouTube video to surpass 10 billion views.
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Read more:
10 music videos with more than two billion views on YouTube
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Cofe
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 80-100
Amount raised: $13m
Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
Company%20profile
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Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
