I guess this has been discussed before but wondering about some street musicians that play and post on youtube copyright songs they play and are monetized, making big YT money.
Slippery slope. Most of the time cover songs are ok, if rights fees are paid. Depending on the song and artist, they can be contested and pulled down, or monetized and money goes to the rights holder. There are lots of different variables in copyrights. I doubt YouTube is paying rights fees for people to air cover songs. But I really don't know.
If you play a video with an original version of a song by the original artist, the money generated will go to the rights holder or you will be given a take down. Depends on the artist.
Because of the worldwide availability of YouTube, I don't really know how the cover song business works. If you play in a bar or club, the bar or club is supposed to pay the performing rights org (BMI, ASCAP etc) fees which then allows the music to be played. Plenty of people play songs on YouTube that are copyrighted and owned by someone else.
In this girl's case I believe she has recorded most of these and probably has a mechanical license to do so and also has permission to perform in public and earn from it. Speculation on my part though.
Unless you have purchased the rights, Youtube monitizes your video and remits the income to the copyright owner. You have to show them that YOU have the rights for them to send you the income. If the copyright owner doesn't allow covers, Youtube removes it or doesn't post it in the first place. At least that's how I understand it works.
I posted a video of my farm with a couple of CCM songs as background music.... shortly after it was posted, I got notice of copyright and they monetized the video with commercials. Same deal on some other covers I posted.
I have purchased the royalty free rights to a significant number of commercial backing tracks which my company uses in video promotional material. Another big and very well known music company apparently owns the company that I purchased the royalty free music rights from.
Some of the music phrases I use may only be seconds long.
Whenever a new video is placed on YouTube, almost immediately I get a challenge that I have violated copyright owned by that big music company. I explain that I have purchased the rights, with proof and the challenge is removed, but this usually takes several days.
What is amazing is how quickly that audio is analyzed. Their reference library and comparison software must incredible.
What is most annoying is that YouTube determine that I am guilty until I prove I am innocent.
... determine that I am guilty until I prove I am innocent.
My ex-employer did that first bit, except that they made up the accusations, denied the proof of innocence, threatened me via lawyers and accused me (to the police) of harassment when I tried to protest. Very nasty!
Edit: ... so I'm sorry if I'm sometimes fractious as a consequence.
You all have made me wonder what I purchased when I buy something from MusicNotes or some other similar product??
...Deb
Deb, google/bing is musicnotes legit and you will find many responses saying yes it is legit. It is the same for other music printing sites. The sites pay the royalties to the proper organizations. If they didn't the music police would be on their butts ASAP.
So, if I chose to I could play the music I purchased wherever?
Cool!
...Deb
Technically no! If you play at a bar, club, or party house they must pay to have music played at their establishment, otherwise the music police can shut them down. However the music police rarely go after the performer(s) in those instances. They will go after you if you record a cover song, with or without the purchase of sheet music, and try to sell it or post it on-line.
The pay the royalties clause is why PGMusic and many other sites do not allow covers to be played on their sites.
Do not let this scare you. If you are playing is small venues, nursing homes, retirement homes, VA places, etc you have nothing to worry about. I have played out in party houses, bars, clubs, basically you name it and I probably have played there for many years with no problems.
They are real. I was playing in a house band. Great gig. So one night the club owner came to see us in the dressing room and asked us for copies of set lists. It seems a representative of one of the two big PRO's had showed up, looked at the tunes in the Juke Box, and noticed our gear and wanted to know what songs we were playing on a regular basis. We gave him a whole stack of the set lists that covered several months of 4 sets per night. The PRO wasn't after the band for the money... they were after the venue owner to collect royalty money from him.
In another band.... before I had been hired to play guitar with them, the lead singer/artist had recorded a pop song that was a cover of a hit from several years back. He had it pressed into 45 RPM and was selling them as well as playing the song at his gigs. The music police informed him that he didn't buy the rights to the song and therefore....cease and desist all sales of product immediately. So he had a big box of unsellable vinyl. As it turned out, the copyright owner was refusing all attempts to buy the license needed. Something about the song being tied up in legal limbo and well..... no you can't use it currently. Wasn't any of my business and as long as I was paid for the gigs.... I was good. He gave me a copy of the record....I think I still have it around here somewhere. It's not very good. Maybe that's why they told him to stop selling it.
As of this spring YT reserves the right to monetize your uploads if they so choose and even if you are not a YT partner. And you receive ZERO income. And only as a partner can you receive the income and if you choose turn off the ads. Being a partner requires 5,000 followers and around a zillion plays.
So...they monetized our most popular songs. Great ... now our friends and family can watch a prostate or gut ad before seeing our vid.
I was so POed I opened a subscription account to Vimeo and uploaded all our work there. It's a great site and offers higher quality streaming and after the above I do not mind paying for it.
As of this spring YT reserves the right to monetize your uploads if they so choose and even if you are not a YT partner. And you receive ZERO income. And only as a partner can you receive the income and if you choose turn off the ads. Being a partner requires 5,000 followers and around a zillion plays.
So...they monetized our most popular songs. Great ... now our friends and family can watch a prostate or gut ad before seeing our vid.
I was so POed I opened a subscription account to Vimeo and uploaded all our work there. It's a great site and offers higher quality streaming and after the above I do not mind paying for it.
Bud
YouTube is not a great company to us normal musicians. If you have over a billion views like Taylor Swift, who indeed has several videos in the billion view club, you make a fortune from the ad revenue. Otherwise you just pad the YouTube pocket. Granted it takes a lot, a whole lot, of views to earn ad revenue. The advertisers are paying for eyes and clicks not 1000 views by friends and family.
I'm hardly a YT expert but I am a pretty astute observer. I'm now spending a good 90% of what used to be "TV time" on YT and I have a bunch of favorite creators that I've followed for 3-4 years and watched them grow from literally a part time fun thing in their bedroom to a full time literal network making big money. How do I know they're making big money? They explain it in detail and you can see it in their lifestyle. Just one example LegitStreetCars. I'm a long time car guy and I've been buying 10-12 year old Mercedes with high miles for years. Keep them for 4 or 5 years, sell them, buy another one.
The LegitStreetCars guy was a MB tech for over ten years. Then he went to work for the City of Chicago as a foreman working on all the city heavy equipment. He started posting basic how to vids maybe 4 years ago. Things like how to change the cabin filters, how to buff the fading off the headlights, things like that. He would buy an old Benz for himself, fix it up keep it for whatever time then sell it and he would post vids of all the details. Over the years his channel grew and grew and I noticed his small suburban house garage was getting more sophisticated. He made a big deal of the fact he could afford to buy a lift and some other expensive stuff. He started getting sponsors, mostly car related stuff. He would begin traveling to buy special old Benz's like a 2002 AMG and he would tell us that it's getting harder to do all his car vids with a full time job and he's doing well financially with YT.
Then he made a big announcement last year. He got his 10 years in with the city, his pension vested and he quit and he's now full time on YT. He talked about how he was making about 110K with the city plus bene's. He's making more than that now on YT. How do I know this? He bought, not rented, a building that used to be a detail shop and turned it into his shop with 4 lifts. It all for his channel, he's not working as a repair shop to the public. He's explained all this in detail over the last year. Could this be a slick scam to get viewers? Maybe but I doubt it because he's now doing things like he bought a classic 65 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud for $26,000 and he made a series of vids fixing it all up with zero knowledge about how to work on a Rolls. I find that interesting, YMMV. He says it all due to YT.
I've watched other people doing other subject matter do the same thing. One guy I've watched for years has 2 channels going now. I'm a vet and he's been military commentator for years on YT and the Ukraine War has just exploded his main channel called Speak the Truth. In just the last month he now has a formal studio with a cameraman, he brings in guests like a former Marine who went to Ukraine to fight as a volunteer. He was in combat for 4 months until he caught something and got very sick and had to leave. Very interesting video of him describing his experience over there and he's going back as soon as he recovers. That's not for everyone, he's talking real down and dirty combat. The creator has hired a professional journalist in Ukraine with his own cameraman to create an hour long documentary. He's another one who quit his full time job.
This is just two of about a dozen examples I can cite. In the music and movie field there are tons of "Reaction" vids. They are done by young people reacting to mostly classic music of the 60's and 70's along with movie reactions. The problem is when it comes to music it's all over the place. One guy I really like just quit because he's saying 90% of his vids have been blocked by YT and Rick Beato has talked about that too. Yet there's another guy who's been reacting for several years to the same music and he hasn't said anything about having problems with YT and his vids are all up. By reacting I mean they play the original music either off an album or a live concert then discuss and react to it. Same with movies. One girl reacted to Terminator, played many clips from the movie and commented about it. One guy says he has to quit while the other keeps on chugging along. When it comes to using copyrighted material for anything, it can be a problem but most other subjects are basically good on YT.
I just wish YT has been around 30 years ago. I have many ideas for a channel but it's too late for me now. People can complain about big tech, corporate greed and all that rot but to me YT is one of the greatest opportunities there is for an individual with some personality who likes to talk to really do something they like and make money doing it. Just not using somebody else's copyrighted material.
Well said Bob. Just one thing to add, it is never too late! I am proof of this. My channel only took off 4 years ago and is now making a full time living. You just need to find a unique idea and be consistent
I agree with your comments, Bob. I too spend much more time on YouTube than watching television. My interests are many and varied, from mechanical engineering, to welding, to electronics, to automotive engineering, to steel fabrication, to mechanical repairs, to music and more.
Interestingly, it is clear that people are making a comfortable existence from YouTube.
Rick Beato (whose skills are highly regarded) released his latest offering on August 12 and it has clocked more than 1.3 million views in a couple of days. He also has more than 3 million subscribers.
The LockPickingLawer creates very short videos (3-5 minutes) every few days. His videos must be of interest as he has 4 million subscribers and regularly hits between half and one million views for each episode.
And there are many, many more like them. So in many ways it's a win-win. They make a 'comfortable' income, and provide entertainment that beats commercial television any day.
Well said Bob. Just one thing to add, it is never too late! I am proof of this. My channel only took off 4 years ago and is now making a full time living. You just need to find a unique idea and be consistent
The growth of your channel has been phenomenal! A great example of what both talent and diligence can achieve.
I just wish YouTube would be a more pleasant venue for us casual users who upload primarily to share with family and friends.
Well said Bob. Just one thing to add, it is never too late! I am proof of this. My channel only took off 4 years ago and is now making a full time living. You just need to find a unique idea and be consistent
The growth of your channel has been phenomenal! A great example of what both talent and diligence can achieve.
I just wish YouTube would be a more pleasant venue for us casual users who upload primarily to share with family and friends.
J&B
Thanks j&b. If you want to make a business or career out of YouTube, it is possible with some work. However, it is a little like a “monster” that needs constant feeding.
I just wish YouTube would be a more pleasant venue for us casual users who upload primarily to share with family and friends.
J&B
A couple of ways to do this. One is simple, just use one of the cloud sharing services that allows larger file sizes than email and just send your stuff directly to family and friends. The other is understanding how YT works. Yes they know if anything you put up is copyrighted but it's not all taken down. It's up to the rights holder. Tons of big name covers of classic songs are still up and have been for years. If the owner is ok with it being up you're good or it gets monetized but the money goes to them and they're ok with that then no problem either. It's only the ones who don't allow any covers of their material at all on YT that you'll have a problem with. An easy check of that is search YT for the song you want to upload. If you see several covers that have been up for a while you're probably ok with doing another one.
When certain creators who are making a living off YT complain about this they're not saying they can't post copywritten stuff, they're complaining they get demonetized because of a 10 second clip out of a 20 minute video that caused YT to do that. That has nothing to with you posting a cover if you don't care if you're making any money off it or not.
Wow. A bit off topic but talk about making money on YouTube. One of my favorite military channels Task and Purpose just got a new sponsor. Dell. Yes, that Dell. He's a bit of a comedian but he's also a young and serious military commentator who refers to himself as an average infantryman who loves making jokes about officers. I know some of you guys here are also vets and like gun related stuff. One of his vids was testing a Russian combat helmet against all kinds of pistols and rifles and it was junk. Out of all the channels I follow he's the first to bag a big name like that.
