This course provides an engaging and methodical insight into the past and present cultural and commercial music industry developments, directions, and trends. It will equip the students with the knowledge and skills necessary to appreciate, understand and more productively participate in today’s music industry field.
Methods and Practices Part 2: Music Promotion, Distribution and Sales (Part 6 of 7)
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來自 West Virginia University 的課程
新世界：当代音乐产业导航
62 個評分
從本節課中
CD, MP3, and Online Marketplace
與講師見面
Darko VelichkovskiMusic Industry Program Director
Music Industry
Now, we have mentioned YouTube and YouTube monetization a few times already, and it’s
time to look at that service a little closer, as it became, over time, a necessary component
of music promotion, because of its wide popularity and usage. So what should we do with YouTube
besides from creating our own channel and posting our videos on it? What is that YouTube
“monetization” thing we kept mentioning? Well, theoretically, if your music is used
on any YouTube video, and YouTube places ads on it, you would get paid. I say “theoretically”
because in order for that theory to become practice, you need to do a few things to make
it happen.
First, let’s make it clear that we are talking about two types of videos here. The videos
that you have posted, with your own music in it, and the videos that other people have
posted, with your music in it. Plus, remember that in this whole section on music distribution,
promotion, and sales, we are talking about managing the music that you have written and
recorded. Meaning, that you have the complete copyright ownership of the compositions and
of the master recordings.
Also, keep in mind that regarding You Tube, as well as regarding all the other services
we are talking about in this module, things may change by the time this course goes live.
You Tube for instance, has announced that it intends to add subscription services to
its offerings, and that it will change its subscription-free policies regarding record
labels and artists that post their videos on regular You Tube channels. As usual, reportedly,
the majors are already in on it, while the indies will most likely be offered a “take
it or leave it deal” there, and another controversy is brewing. So some things may
change with You Tube, or with other services, by the time you watch this segment. Just keep
following the industry news and developments on the net to stay current, which is something
we should do as our regular routine anyway, since things change so rapidly nowadays.
Ok, so as of the summer 2014, officially, 55 percent of the revenues that YouTube receives
from the advertisers, whose ads are placed on various videos, YouTube distributes to
the copyright owners. If its your video, and your music in it, that would be you. If it’s
somebody else’s video, and your music in it, it’s again you. So how does YouTube
know it’s your music being used, and how do you actually collect money for the ads?
Well, for the videos you posted, with your own music on it, it’s easy. Just opt for
the “Monetization” option as you are setting up your video, and that’s it. YouTube will
send you 55 percent of any ad revenue they receive from the ads placed on your video.
And how do you monetize for the use of your music on other people’s videos? There are
a few ways to do that. You can try to sign up individually for YouTube’s so-called
Content ID service, and YouTube will automatically and continually search all the videos out
there for the music belonging to you, that you uploaded onto Content ID. Before we go
into what happens next, notice that I said you can “try” to sign up for this service.
That’s because it is up to YouTube to accept your application as an individual. You need
to have a large number of copyrighted songs, and a lot of activity on your channel, in
order to get in independently. It can be done, of course, and a lot of music copyright holders
are in individually, but it is not easy to do so in the early part of one’s music career.
But there are other ways into the Content ID system - through the companies that specialize
strictly in helping clients with YouTube monetization, and have their own agreements with YouTube,
like Audiam, for example; and through YouTube channel aggregators that have large YouTube
channel networks, like INDMusic, and which also have their own deals with YouTube for
monetization on all the individual channels they carry. All you have to do is sign up
for any of those services, and your music will be entered into the Content ID system,
as part of their agreements with YouTube. In both cases, of course the companies take
a cut from your monetization income in exchange for their service. Audiam, for instance, takes
25 percent, and INDMusic 20 percent.
Whichever way you enter the Content ID service on YouTube, once the system has identified
someone’s video using your music, it informs you, and gives you three options for what
you want them to do with it: take the video down, leave it and track the activity, or
place ads on it and monetize. Once you choose your option, the video creator receives the
notice from YouTube regarding that option. If you opt for placing ads on it and monetizing,
the video creator will have a choice to accept, or decline. If he declines, YouTube blocks
the video for the music copyright infringement. If he accepts, the video remains up, ads are
placed on it, and you make money from those ads, if the video accumulates traffic, of
course. So that’s the YouTube monetization mechanics that you could explore, if you have
your music out on YouTube. And you should.
And what was that controversy about YouTube monetization we mentioned earlier? Well, it
involves TuneCore partnering with INDMusic to offer the YouTube monetization service
for the TuneCore users. OK. So what’s the problem? That’s good, right? It is, but
it’s they way that they went about it, that created a lot of discontent and concern with
artists. TuneCore did not properly inform its users that if they sign up for the TuneCore’s
publishing administration option, that we talked about earlier, remember?, they will
automatically be signed up for YouTube monetization through INDMusic. So the TuneCore users who
have already made their own arrangements for monetizing their music on YouTube, all of
a sudden, and without consent, fell under INDMusic monetizing deal, and were being charged
20 percent of their monetizing revenues. They were even being served those “allow monetizing
or take down” notices for their own videos with their own music, because those were identified
by Content ID system to be under INDMusic copyright administration now.
Meaning, this is the scenario: the TuneCore artist who has signed up for a publishing
administration services option with TuneCore, has placed a video with his own music on YouTube,
and has been monetizing that video on his own for a while. TuneCore partnered with INDMusic,
and turned over the artist’s music which is in the TuneCore’s database, to INDMusic
for monetization. INDMusic entered the artist’s music into the Content ID database as the
content they control. Content ID discovers the artist’s video that uses the artist’s
music on YouTube, which is now registered in its database as administered by INDMusic,
not the artist himself. The artist receives a notice from YouTube on behalf of INDMusic
to either take down the video, or allow INDMusic to monetize. So now, instead of receiving
the full pay from YouTube for monetization, the artist receives 20 percent less, because
INDMusic takes a 20 percent cut for its services…that artist (by the way) neither wanted or authorized.
See how that would be a little frustrating for the artists? Just a little, right?
Well, they have rectified the situation somewhat, since. The TuneCore artists who opt for the
TuneCore publishing administration services, now can chose to be a part of the INDMusic
deal or not, as they sign up for the publishing services, instead of being automatically enrolled
in it. But – and this is important - that applies ONLY to monetizing the artist’s
OWN videos on YouTube. Monetization, using INDMusic, of the other people’s videos with
the artist’s music on it, can not be opted out, if the TuneCore’s publishing option
is chosen as a desired service.
By the way, that is in essence the option of so-called “white-listing” your YouTube
channel that you will find as a part of all the YouTube monetization services. When you
sign up with a monetization service company that will put your music on the Content ID
system, this “white-listing” option makes the system bypass your own YouTube channel,
and you will continue monetizing your OWN videos with your music, independently from
the monetizing service you are using, receiving the full amount for the ads placed on your
own videos from YouTube. The monetizing service will thus only collect a percentage from the
ads on the other people’s videos using your music that Content ID discovers.
