Stickaid 2013 is Next Saturday
Stickaid 2013 will begin at 12pm UTC/7am Eastern Next Saturday
click here to find your local time
Stickaid 2013 is a 24 hour fundraising event for Unicef UK held in London, England that will air live on Youtube.
Unicef UK is currently helping the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and refuges of the Syrian war in the Middle-East. Please support their efforts.
Youtube Music Subscriptions ?
Billboard has reported yesterday that Youtube is working on a new premium service that may enable individual subscribers to view music videos offline and/or without adverts.
Apparently Google has already secured licenses with Warner, Sony and Universal. But I’m guessing a Canadian service will take so time to be implemented.
Additional information on the American service can be found on the Billboard article. I will post information related to a Canadian service as soon as it becomes available.
Vevo/Youtube vs Buying Music Videos
As you may or may not know I like to purchase music video compilations.
I have been purchasing music videos since the late 80’s with the release of Def Leppard’s "Historia" on VHS and have since collected hundreds of compilations from various genres, my latest purchases being from iTunes. And I suspect that I will continue purchasing music videos and music video compilations regardless of the renewal of Youtube’s contract with Vevo.
I like Vevo. It enables me to preview music videos and watch videos that I can’t purchase. But I prefer owning music videos because I don’t want to be dependent on the internet and the site being online to watch music videos.
The adverts are acceptable and fund the site. But the logo in the bottom right can get distracting at times and they don’t carry every music video or allow me to every music video they have because of rights issues so I will probably keep searching eBay for that elusive DVD, DVD single and CD/DVD compilation.
Having watched music videos since the first airings of CBC programs Video Hits and Good Rockin’ Tonight, most of the music videos I am looking for are Canadian and from the 80’s, so quite a few music videos that I want are still unavailable on both Vevo and iTunes because they’re mostly interested in the most popular music videos. And the record companies don’t appear to be interested in releasing music video compilations until a certain profit threshold is reached, even when the compilation is already completed and mastered like Platinum Blonde’s "The Complete DVD Collection" and Honeymoon Suite’s "Bed of Nails".
I am definitely not a stranger to the pre-order delay and cancellation, having ordered dozens of video compilations that were eventually shelved. And though being able to access some videos on Vevo would be better than relying on low quality user uploads on Youtube, some of which are plagued with more intrusive logos, I would still prefer the ability to purchase these music videos individually.
Overall I’d say Vevo is a excellent service, when it has the videos you want and when it enables you to view them. And when the plug-in doesn’t crash !
Yes, I was listening to a Mylene Farmer video from Universal France while I was typing this and it crashed. And this happens from time to time on Youtube/Vevo as well. But I haven’t encountered these issues playing music videos I’ve purchased and downloaded to my drive or network drive.
I would of course purchase this particular video but it isn’t available on DVD or online yet. ARGH!
Oh well, time to check my European sources to see if Kate Bush’s "The Whole Story" was released on DVD or blu-ray. 🙂
Good Morning or Happy Birthday ?
Say, did you know that you can’t sing “Happy Birthday To You” on Youtube ?
That’s right. The age old tune is still copyrighted and to use it you need to pay up.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s an adult or group of children that sings it. And when a film production company called Good Morning To You Productions Inc made a documentary about the songs history, they were required to pay a $1,500 synchronization license fee to use it on their film.
Had this company not paid they would have been liable up to $150,000 in damaged for copyright infringement so they paid up. But of course they also decided to launch a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court representing the Southern District of New York, on behalf of all who were forced to pay to use this song.
The composition was originally entitled “Good Morning To All” and composed in 1893 by Patty Smith Hill and her sister Mildred Hill. And the copyright to that song of course expired in 1921 in the States. But a change in lyrics in 1924 and a different arrangement in 1935 caused the copyright to linger.
Fast forward to 2013.
The plaintiffs claim that they have evidence dating the traditional lyrics to 1911. This would date both the composition and traditional lyrics to over 75 years, rendering both public domain.
They also dispute whether copyright was actually established in 1924 because Robert H. Coleman was only credited for compiling, editing and publishing “Harvest Hymns”, a songbook which featured the melody and lyrics to “Happy Birthday To You”.
The class action lawsuit also alleges that copyright for “Happy Birthday To You” had not been established in several subsequent publications and copyright registrations.
What’s annoying about this is that in Canada there’s no dispute whether this song is public domain with lyrics or not. But everything that is uploaded to Youtube is subject to American law so hold off uploading your birthday videos guys and gals until this is settled.
Did Video Truly Kill The Radio Star ?
In the 80’s there was this popular belief that music videos would eventually result in the demise of radio.
Experts had believed that the popularity of music television would cause radio to fade away. And this prediction was so popular that it resulted in two incredibly successful singles based on radio nostalgia ; One from Queen (“Radio Ga Ga“) and one from The Buggles (“Video Killed the Radio Star“).
But it appears that this prediction was premature.
According to Nielson’s “Music 360” study, 48% of the individuals they polled claimed they “discover music most often through the radio”.
Youtube has become a major source for music in teens, 64% of the respondents having stated they listen to music on the service. But 56% of the teens polled also listen to radio.
It appears that radio is adapting and remains one of the main sources for music in teens, over two decades after the predictions were made.
Also noteworthy are the findings that compact discs still remain popular in some circles, 55% of the music fans polled having “identified physical CDs as a very or fairly good value”.
Half of the teens polled also claim to listen to compact discs. And 36% have purchased at least one compact disc within the year.
Three thousand Americans responded this online survey.
iOS 6 Minus Youtube App
The Verge reported that the new iOS 6 operating system for Apple products will not include an app to view Youtube videos because their license expired.
Google is currently working on a standalone version so Apple users will be able to view Youtube videos on the new operating system.