You've probably already heard a few songs from Weird Al's latest album, Mandatory Fun. Rather than releasing a lead single as most artists do, Al released a new video every day for eight days straight.
This savvy tactic got him a lot of attention, and sales: this is his first album ever to hit number one in the US.
But his success isn't just from being media savvy; many of the songs riff on the poppiest of pop songs by new artists like Lorde (Foil), Iggy Azalea (Handy), and Imagine Dragons (Inactive). These almost note-for-note parodies capture the mood of the originals, even if the subject matter has been changed to cornball humour.
On other tracks Weird Al offers slightly more original material, but in the style of a band like The Pixies or the Foo Fighters. It seems he can handle almost any style of music: dance, pop, rap, Southern fried rock - and of course, polka. If that's your thing, you'll love his covers of Miley Cyrus, Carly Rae Jepsen, and 1D.
But the videos are where most of the humour lies, and without them, you're just listening to pale imitations of artist you love or - worse - hate.