I uploaded a video to YouTube yesterday in which I use the song “Eye of the Tiger.” Almost immediately, I got this e-mail:
Your video, Taste The Future: The Challenge, may have content that is owned or licensed by Sony Music Entertainment.
No action is required on your part; however, if you are interested in learning how this affects your video, please visit the Content ID Matches section of your account for more information.
Sincerely,
- The YouTube Team
Instead of asking me to remove my video or change the audio track, or trying to sue me, they inserted, 10 seconds into the video, a link to download “Eye of the Tiger” on iTunes. I have absolutely no objections to this. Afterall, I “borrowed” a copyrighted song. It’s only fair the artist should have a chance to profit from that.
…remember when the music industry would have refused to permit this? Because they hadn’t thought of the compromise where we both win?
What opportunities are you missing out on because you haven’t adjusted your business model yet?
And since I’m not going to get sued for it, here’s the video:
And who knows, maybe one of you will click through and buy the song. (You’re welcome, Survivor.)
Nate Riggs says:
Really good thoughts here, Cheryl. Napster was the rave when I graduated high school. (Still miss it :(. I think the music industry has started to realize that they can’t really control the use of music online, but what they can do is leverage the free viral spread to influence users to convert on a purchase. This mentality has so many applications. Nice move by YouTube and iTunes and a good case study example to follow…
Sep 17, 2009, 3:01 pmJohn Edgar says:
I think it’s a great thing. YouTube for a while was actually trying to police and remove these videos, and it quickly got to a point where I think everyone realized that the technology and manpower behind such an enormous task (there are tens of thousands of videos that have some kind of copyrighted music) was better suited toward, as you say, a profitable compromise. Epic win! Maybe one day people will use my songs, no? haha.
Sep 17, 2009, 8:46 pmBlantonious says:
I’ve had videos removed for using copyrighted material before. Definitely a better business model if they just throw up an ad to buy the song. But then again doesn’t everyone have the Rocky 4 soundtrack anyway?
Sep 17, 2009, 2:42 amChristian Adams says:
No Jason. Just you and Cheryl…..
Sep 17, 2009, 11:04 amRobb Landon says:
Just to day getting caught up on my blog reading. Yours resides on my google reader on desktop. I have moved it to my iPhone reader so as to keep up on it daily instead of weekly. BTW Glad your not being sued.
Sep 17, 2009, 9:10 pm