Friday 26 February 2016

Are Fan Edits & Fan Content Really Coming To An End As Manual Hands Take Over Content In Groups?

Are Fan Edits Really Coming To An End?, Is The System That Strapped For Cash They Would Rather Ban In The Hopes Of Sales?

Over the years youtubes been fraught with claims, strikes, inconsistencies and legal battles all over the world and after some dealings it now seams that companies are also hiring staff to "Manually Search"  youtube for content.

A lot of editors would manipulate footage, reduce scenes, alter aspect ratio and FPS to get past googles content ID system, but in todays day and age companies really are paying people to go and look for content. So how ever much you alter it, the moment you throw it out there, be it with a bogus "Video Title"  then post it in the fan base its about.. someones right onto it.

These people are on your blogs, your forums, your facebook pages and groups, places you set up for Fans. Its always been bad that the scum cash sucking creeps hang out trying to scam fans of things with bogus merchandise and over priced collectables, but now we have to deal with companies invading communities to find links to stuff they can either earn off or BAN?

The one that gets me the most is Universal Studios (they tend to hide behind  NBC, CBS CID and another number of Network and Publishing rights) they are happy to leave your video on line as long as they are the only one earning off it. IE if the video has 2 claims, they block it. Not only that but you get a strike on your account until you remove it.

A strike = the inability to upload videos over 15 minuets, it also disables any videos you have already over 15 minuets, in turn if after 60 days if the strike is still in place then all videos over 15 minuets are removed from your account.. Regardless of if they even have claims on or not...

Ive seen some things since ive been on line, im sure we all have.. But as a fan of things and a creator too i have bear whiteness to the mindless plotting of NBC and the likes of MGM as they devastated most Stargate communities over being at number 1 on google for something they then chose to never release to fans (mgm did that twice to thousands of content creators over games that were never even released)

Ive always had my stalkers on line, constantly trying to scuttle projects and ideas, making accusations, pointing fingers, they always hide from you and you never really know who they are. When you add them kinda headaches to the usual life problems you encounter from companies that fail to do what you pay them for then add the ebay sharks and these you content searchers.. Well fan based content for anything seams doomed...

I always thought that anything that promoted something, brought in a crowed, made something old and barely earning now worthy of conversation.. Hell airwolf got remastered after all these years... and NBC forget why they had Figures, Stats that said yeah... its finally worth re-issuing this series... now lets ban everything we can  (that helped Build that fan base back up after 20+ years of nothing official for fans)  Studios, Companies, Rights Holders,  need to understand something that should be pretty obvious already... when you tear a fan base apart, ban the best kinda promotional material you'll ever see.... why not just release a movie and shoot everyone outside the cinema before they even pay?..  you guys are killing off your actual Audience  : /

Ive seen my edits fall, but today i see others on there way out too


He has a mere 2 videos left....

What's more sickening is when people ask about "Missing Things".. the classic Post a link  (thats dead) using one bogus fb account..  saying "anyone got a link or a copy of this?"     then they make a comment with something as simple as  "ive inboxed you"  then that account gets a stack of messages saying (can you send it to me to)   Then comes the reply with a $ or £ sign to get it in the mail on disk..    People selling fan made content  (and they can, and people will buy it)  simply because its no longer online ad people are asking  : /

I have a couple of Airwolf videos left my self, one is Airwolf vs FireFox, it survived for years because the Audio and Visual quality is Very Low... the content ID system has no chance to detect it...

Manually Detected
It's clear someone at Warner Brothers is paying to have interns searching the web for fan made stuff, so are lionsgate and many others (when NBC start paying people)  AwVsFireFox will be deleted because at the moment NBC wont share ad rev

Another tactic now (to get more ownership) is to claim your using Content from a DVD and Also the Bluray..  so you get two claims for the exact same content. You can see here that also the Immediate Music claim and the Globus claim (are kinda Valid)   but clearly the music either belongs to immediate music OR globus (as a company rights holder)  The video doesn't contain Both works.. one has words, one does not..

But what gets me about this is the amount of claims for the VISUAL CONTENT
Like its visual stolen from Betamax, VHS, DVD and Bluray (yet the same thing) wtf  pmsfl
Each publishing company (sub division.. 3rd party, them Initials) its like getting multiple claims off  Fox, 20th Century Fox, Fox Network, Fox Channel for 1 single thing.. are none of them even working together? 


In turn with the amount of fingers in that Pie the video is yet still available World Wide, but will Not play on some devices. maybe those with an ad blocker or even as cheeky as those with location services switched off.. who knows?

That said do they have a right to know the audience their content is reaching?.. wont that lead them to the private groups that share stuff they make? Are creative fans really supposed to now hide? you can't hide, even when ya nice you'll still get trolls.. it all makes it simply not worth the effort at all to do any fan kinda content.

The reality is that the creators are doing more these days than the original thing often ever was, why don't they get on board with the fans who bring them business.. i have no idea.

Ive run several tests in the last few years, ive spoken to several companies and from what i can see its all on a loop with small changes and nothing positive.. everyone wants their cut and yet wont share...

Look at it this way, NBC at some stage will block the firefox video while WMG would be willing to share.. granted the majority of viewers where Airwolf fans.. but without firefox the video wouldn't be...
as its always been about New Unseen that requires Collaboration of content, thats not piracy, its creativity & 100% free marketing that also earns money for the original owners...

The System Needs A Face...
 and this new ad's based on what ever it is that's been implemented is an invasion of privacy and why the firefox web browser now stops bloggers earning ad revenue by default because the ad's are invasive. I don't eevn allow adsense to use "repsonsive" advertising on my blog because its an invasion of your privacy and mine while im here... yet all ad's are blocked :(

I remember when the net had images bigger clearer than the current fuzzy postage stamp sizes, when people had fan sites and the world as a whole was creative.. These days its all memes asking you for personal info to the stage of phishing right on a news feed, then theirs them videos with a playbutton that don't play.. yet open a page with a YT video..... why do people not just share the video?

Its like the guy said in a movie i wont name because my blog might get banned for referencing a phrase... but the guy said...
Operator Dead.. Post Abandoned...

ps
Apparently my first grade teacher is lookin for 87 Billion for every word she taught me that ive been using all these years without giving her royalties...
NO NOT REALLY...  ffs   pmsfl.. but this is just what im on about... the lengths some will go too


Sunday 21 February 2016

Selling Cover Versions And What To Watch Out For


As you all no by now I am pretty Computer Savi and I like to think outside the box...
After recently showing people a simple way to get onto iTunes, GooglePlay, Amazon and Spotify,
I thought It's about time people also learnt another important little trick about Publicity & Marketing

By Performing An IMPROVISED COVER...

 Now i say improvised simply because most good songs and pieces of music have already been covered...    I E: do you really want to try and sell a cover of HURT?,  when clearly Johnny Cash wiped the floor with everyone who's ever sang it?... You'd have to be Epic or just plain old crazy lol

But an Improvised cover (a restyling of the original) so people know what it is, but have never heard it that way.. now that's the way to promote your music (its ALL about SEARCHING and Terminology)
Computers are Thick... they do what their told (and all they show is what people search for)

So if you were to record a cover song, or do your own rendition of a piece of music (something famous) and people find it while searching (searching for the original) then there's a chance they would click "Related" or "Also By This Artist"   to see what ever else you have done...
 (so uploading a few similar style tracks BEFORE HAND would be a wise move)

Obtaining a License to Distribute your version has always been complicated, and involved a label or a manager and many many legal fees and time. A costly and very complicated prospect for many..

BUT now made simple via  LOUDR.

Now i still recommend Distrokid (for your own works, because that covers google, iTunes, amazon and spotify, and more of a percentage of your sales)  BUT with Loudr you can sell Cover Versions via loudr and still get it on iTunes while loudr take care of the legal side for a percentage (iTunes also take a cut, but then your not paying to keep it on their, so its money for nothing in reality) and ber in mind the Original License holder of the (c) will also get a percentage.
But then your not really doing covers for the money, after all its not really yours...

Your Doing It..
To Gain Exposure...
To Get Noticed...
To Get Heard...
To Drive Web Traffic To Your Own Work....

So The Percent You Do Earn From A Cover Is Merely A Bonus...
(not only a form of FREE Advertising, but you also get a little profit back off it to)

Complications?
Its recommended to work alone (on a cover) less of a split with the royalties..
And if you do work with others, work directly and arrange a split before uploading it
(IE,  if you sing over a karaoke backing track that wont be legal)
A cover made using a cover is a license nightmare, because only the original artist can license it, obtaining multiple licenses can be complicated  (i am unsure how this will affect medley based tracks)

Another Interesting Aspect?
Say your in a band & you want to release a song
Loudr can split the royalties between who YOU want..

So How Does It Work?
Well you create a picture (for your track)
You upload the image and the audio file.
You list the original Artist & Original Release Date
You list who is performing on the track "you uploaded"
and then loudr attempt to gain a license from the copywrite holder to sell the track online
iTunes is optional and you would get more royalties only selling via loudr, But you would get much much more exposure having it on iTunes...

One of my most popular covers is a piece of Movie Music I put Lyrics to, i also have some other covers  (ber in mind a cover is that track you keep in a folder such as "can't be sold" or "mine yet not mine"  they are tracks most of us already have sitting their and we've been unable to do anything with them "legally" because their not ours to upload, even though we did them)  but laws change and labels want easy cash.  After all, google already put adverts on videos using music owned by 3rd parties, that alone is an evolution of licensing in the hands of us the artist's. Studios, labels, record companies, they are happy with a percentage, especially when they have done none of the work within the track their making money from   :)

In an industry now being mostly run by musicians you have 2 main options open these days

A) You can pay to have stuff hosted and sold for you (gone once you stop paying)
B) You can have stuff hosted free and sold for you, they take a % per sale (but its on-line indefinitely)

Musicians Have NEVER Had It So Good....
A Chance To Leave Your Music Behind For Future Generations
While Money Builds For You & Down The Line Your Kids....

The % Aspect Is The Only Way To Really Keep Your Music In Stores When Your Gone..

UPDATE:
Distrokid now also offer to deal with cover versions but their is a monthly fee to be paid 12 months in advance. But if your releasing through a specific lable or something then that maybe the way to go.
If you have issues finding the Loudr   JOIN  page try this link.