Word of the Code has been ricocheting around the Internet, from Facebook to forums to sites like Guitar Noize. We love reading your comments and emails, and following the discussion that’s been happening around the show. Every one of you who identifies with the project validates all the work we’ve put into this. And we’ve recently gotten some pretty awesome further validation from the web server behemoths and Internet at large: we’re now on the first page of Google results for “Cracking the Code”!

We launched our YouTube channel in earnest just a few months ago, and it’s already proved to be a great avenue for outreach. We’ve garnered over 100,000 channel views and hundreds of comments, and our Steve Vai Crossroads lesson has become the #3 Vai lesson on all of YouTube, behind only two clips of Steve’s world record Berklee webcast.

May the up-and-to-the-right-ward trend continue!

It’s impossible to ignore the vastly superior discoverability, exposure, and community participation that YouTube’s network effects bring into sharp focus. Many of our views are coming not only from search results, but from “suggested videos” — whatever magic powers the YouTube algorithms, it’s gratifying to see that what we make is such a direct hit for our audience that it’s being recommended to viewers at a high rate. We’re not yet at Bieber- or Rihanna-level views, but we’re confident our average viewer is far more musically savvy (and good looking).

Here are a few other fun YouTube statistics:

• 128,000 channel views
• 513,000 minutes watched
• 1,776 subscribers (yep, we planned for that to happen over the July 4th weekend!)
• 291 favorites
• 491 comments
• 1,493 likes, and only 24 dislikes — a 98.5% approval rating

As you can see from the chart above, we’re picking up subscribers at a rapid clip, and it’s been a great way to have conversations around the show and reach a more diverse crowd. (Big shoutout to our metalhead fans in South America!) We have 1,000+ views in 24 different countries, and over 60 videos now online. The momentum is strong, and we’d like it to continue increasing.

Add Your Voice to the Chorus

We believe there’s no such thing as too much buzz, and would love for the show to reach every guitarist who’s ever aspired to plectrum stardom. So many of you have reached out with helpful tips about players we should be looking at and other offers to contribute your digital skills to getting the word out, and we’re super appreciative. Here are a couple simple things you can do:

Simply sharing a link with a friend is great too. And if you know anyone who works for a guitar magazine, runs a relevant blog or podcast, or otherwise might be able to help share this to a wider audience, please drop us a line.

Thanks for the comments, views, and shares, and for helping make Cracking the Code a growing success!