View of Miami FL on Christmas morning December 25, 2008. Time was about 8AM. Most of the United States suffering under winter storm with ice and snow but not in Miami FL. Video was made with a Casio Exilim EX-Z1080 using the YouTube video mode of the camera. The video file size was 26.8 MB.
A source familiar with the negotiations tells us that Warner and the three other majors — Sony BMG, EMI, and Universal Music Group — all think they could do better creating their own music video Web destinations and are in early talks about forming a joint venture similar in concept to Hulu, the increasingly popular TV-on-the-Web joint venture from News Corp and NBC Unviersal.
A joint venture is just one possiblity each label is considering. Our source said there have been many brain-storming sessions. If we were to contribute to those, we’d say that if the labels do create a joint venture, we think it’ll probably be popular like Hulu, but frought with similar problems. Namely, it’ll be stuck with hosting bills and not allowed to keep most its ad revenue, which we’re not sure there will be that much of, if YouTube’s $25,000 checks are any indication.
This is bad news for YouTube, because it’s likely to have another competitor, like Hulu, offering professionally produced content that’s advertiser friendly.
It’s also bad news for YouTube users, because it increases the likelihood that videos will get yanked from the site because of the music they contain.
If this trend continues, the pressure will only increase for Google to find a way to either move towards mainstream content or find a way to make money on user-generated videos.
John PembleDecember 22nd, 2008 7:15 pm :YouTube can benefit more from indy folks putting up their own videos which is how the site became so popular in the first place. The flash video world is getting bigger and there is enough room for a WB stream service just like Hulu. YouTube users can collectively continue to make a great service work with their own videos assuming they use good metadata. There are many not so great videos on YouTube but you can find great ones. I’m all about using YouTube for my own videos and for finding new ones. It doesn’t bother me that WB is leaving and it doesn’t bother me they’ll want items yanked for using their music. Producers need to find other music for their videos besides copyright music. I have found the synchronization rights issue (among others) not to be a roadblock but a pointer for me to find a solution that is more specific to my voice. My products come out better when I have to develop a workaround or find ways to use my existing material to make the vision work.”
“YouTube today announced a variety of changes at the site that are designed to help you view content that’s relevant to you and avoid content that isn’t. While YouTube’s focus is on making it harder for uploaders to trick people, the changes they’ve made affect everyone.
Here’s a rundown of the changes, from YouTube’s announcement:
* Stricter standard for mature content - While videos featuring pornographic images or sex acts are always removed from the site when they’re flagged, we’re tightening the standard for what is considered “sexually suggestive.” Videos with sexually suggestive (but not prohibited) content will be age-restricted, which means they’ll be available only to viewers who are 18 or older. To learn more about what constitutes “sexually suggestive” content, click here.
* Demotion of sexually suggestive content and profanity - Videos that are considered sexually suggestive, or that contain profanity, will be algorithmically demoted on our ‘Most Viewed,’ ‘Top Favorited,’ and other browse pages. The classification of these types of videos is based on a number of factors, including video content and descriptions. In testing, we’ve found that out of the thousands of videos on these pages, only several each day are automatically demoted for being too graphic or explicit. However, those videos are often the ones which end up being repeatedly flagged by the community as being inappropriate.
* Improved thumbnails - To make sure your thumbnail represents your video, your choices will now be selected algorithmically. You’ll still have three thumbnails to choose from, but they will no longer be auto-generated from the 25/50/75 points in the video index.
* More accurate video information - Our Community Guidelines have always prohibited folks from attempting to game view counts by entering misleading information in video descriptions, tags, titles, and other metadata. We remain serious about enforcing these rules. Remember, violations of these guidelines could result in removal of your video and repeated violations will lead to termination of your account.
The changes make it harder to game the system with tricks like editing your video to create sexy thumbnails.
But the changes will also pose some new challenges to all posters. It will be harder to optimize your video’s thumbnail, because you can’t control what YouTube chooses for your thumbnail options. And, if your video features content that others consider suggestive or profane, it’s more likely to be buried on the site than before.
What do you think of the changes? Are the changes common sense - or censorship?”
