I have noticed a proliferation of automatically generated videos on YouTube of recently released classical music CDs. I feature on a couple of these (but not as the principal artist!) and a number of my friends and colleagues are wondering where these have come from.
An example is this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQqr_Ya ... wfL61AZVww
Now, the channel is listed as a 'topic' channel and according to this [https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2579942] such channels are auto generated by YouTube. But that help article doesn't detail where these videos being directly uploaded to such channels are coming from - many of these videos are being ripped directly from recently released recordings (the linked recording came out a month ago, ready for this year's Christmas market) without the permission of performers, composers or label.
Does anyone have any idea who is uploading these - surely Google themselves aren't ripping such recordings?! I can't find any information out from a quick search...
YouTube Shenanigans
The description for these videos says 'auto generated by YouTube', as does the little play icon next to the title on the topic page, but that's pretty ambiguous - it could just be the description, but it could equally be the video. As you've said there are a number of these from different artists, but what strikes me is that they have all been uploaded on the same day, but the label the music was released on varies so it's not like it's a label-specific issue. It looks like something YouTube have done, but they can't have done it on a whim so surely they must be a deal in place with someone, somewhere for them to do this? The fact that it's not linked to a channel and instead a topic does suggest it isn't just someone ripping these CDs and uploading them.
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madmusician
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- Location: Worcester, UK
Thanks for your input. The more I think about this, the more I think that YouTube must have done a deal with various labels to have done this. The label that I am involved with do feature on Spotify, for example, so it is not out of this world to think that they might have also done a deal with YouTube - if micropayments filter back to labels and artists (in a similar model to Spotify).
I agree that it certainly doesn't look like a user has done this.
It's interesting that both performers and composers whose music is being featured on these recordings have not been consulted about this, judging by the Facebook thread that prompted my discovery of these videos. The interesting thing is that a number of these recordings are from quite obscure/defunct labels. Who knows - something to keep an eye on, anyway...
I agree that it certainly doesn't look like a user has done this.
It's interesting that both performers and composers whose music is being featured on these recordings have not been consulted about this, judging by the Facebook thread that prompted my discovery of these videos. The interesting thing is that a number of these recordings are from quite obscure/defunct labels. Who knows - something to keep an eye on, anyway...
What's your concern?
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madmusician
- Posts: 153
- Joined: Mon 11 Dec, 2006 19.11
- Location: Worcester, UK
Well, having seen a long Facebook conversation between several artists/composers who were concerned about their music appearing on YouTube without their permission or knowledge I had a look at who had been uploading them and couldn't work it out. Hence, I thought the good people of Metro might know about YouTube now 'doing a Spotify' and auto uploading music tracks for ad revenue. I'm not worried about any potential lost royalties myself (although I am on the track that I linked to in the OPWillPS wrote:What's your concern?
- and friends of mine are concerned about this), but was interested in this development especially as it wasn't really signposted on the help article that the Topic pages link to.(And I'd had a few pints on Sunday before writing that post, so naturally assumed that people would be more interested in my dull opinions than they have the right to be...!)