ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
You might want to make sure Alexa is out of earshot for this next story. You can say basically anything to a smart speaker. You can tell it to set an alarm.
AUTOMATED VOICE: Alarm set for 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.
SHAPIRO: You can ask her what the weather will be.
AUTOMATED VOICE: You can expect a high of 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
SHAPIRO: You can make it play music or turn on the lights or order groceries.
KATIE NOTOPOULOS: Or you can even ask it something, you know, really, really silly. Alexa, play poop.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
That is BuzzFeed reporter Katie Notopoulos. Her 5-year-old son recently discovered that if you tell the smart speaker to play "Poopy Diaper," it will do just that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "POOPY DIAPER")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) I got a poopy diaper, poopy diaper, that...
NOTOPOULOS: I mean, I laughed hysterically. That song is called "Poopy Diaper." It's really, like, serious, musically.
SHAPIRO: Notopoulos found that there are actually a whole bunch of musicians making poop-themed songs.
CHANG: No way.
SHAPIRO: And although there's no way to prove it, she's pretty sure she knows who their most avid listeners are - children yelling potty words at smart speakers.
MATT FARLEY: Everyone loves poop, whether they admit it or not. Luckily, young people are young enough to not be ashamed to admit it.
CHANG: Well, Matt Farley is one of those musicians who loves poop. He learned that making songs with nonsensical lyrics about bodily functions was a recipe for success - the more ridiculous the song, the more streams.
FARLEY: "The Poop Song" was literally me on the piano singing the word poop for a minute-and-a-half.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE POOP SONG")
FARLEY: (Singing) Oh, poop, poop, poop, poop, poop, poop, poop, poop, poop, poop, poop.
CHANG: (Laughter).
SHAPIRO: Notopoulos says musicians making poop songs got a big boost in streams once more people started buying Amazon's Alexa smart speaker.
NOTOPOULOS: 90% of their plays was coming from Amazon Music. That's the clear link that this is being driven by Alexa, rather than someone going into Spotify and typing in the words poop.
CHANG: Musician Matt Farley says, in at least one case, families even want to hear poop songs live - like, one couple who brought their 3-year-old son to a recent show.
FARLEY: Specifically, because he's a fan of my song "Poop Into A Wormhole," everyone's having a grand old time singing, poop, poop, poop into a wormhole.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "POOP INTO A WORMHOLE")
FARLEY: (Singing) Poop into a wormhole. Poop...
SHAPIRO: If you want to find more of Matt Farley's music, just ask Alexa.
CHANG: Hey, Alexa. Turn it up.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "POOP INTO A WORMHOLE")
FARLEY: (Singing) Yeah. Could I please get everybody's attention? I've discovered a wormhole to another dimension. No man alive would go inside... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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