Universal Music Group and You Tube are remastering videos in HD

(June 19)Universal Music Group and YouTube are cooperating to remaster many iconic music videos. They will be changed to HD from standard definition videos.

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Many well-known videos to be remastered

The official YouTube blog notes: "Starting today, exclusively on YouTube, you’ll find more than 100 music videos in the highest available video and audio quality, including titles from Billy Idol, Beastie Boys, Boyz II Men, George Strait, Janet Jackson, Kiss, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, Lionel Richie, Maroon 5, Meat Loaf, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, Smokey Robinson, The Killers, Tom Petty and more!"

Remastered videos include songs spanning decades, such as Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin” to Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road,” which was released in 1991. They all have HD-quality video with crystal clear audio. Tom Petty's "Free Fallin" is on the video appended in HD.

The two companies hope to remaster many more videos

The two companies hope to remaster up to 1,000 videos by the end of this year. The new HD videos will replace the original standard versions on YouTube and YouTube Music but they will retain their original URLs, view counts, and likes as before. You can tell if a video is remastered as it will be in the description and labeled "Remastered in HD". Even those videos not originally shot in HD will be noticeably clearer than they were in the old format.

UMG group

The UMG group suffered extensive damage in a 2008 fire that burned up priceless original master tapes of classic albums. The remastering will retain HD quality videos of classic albums. This is a fitting endeavour as UMG celebrates its 20th anniversary. Perhaps other labels will follow suit and upgrade their videos.

Previously published in the DIgital Journal

You Tube trying to stop impersonation scams

YouTube is having trouble with people impersonating celebrity creators and leaving fake messages that entice users to click on a link to receive a prize but it is all a scam.

 

Some top YouTube creators caught in the scam

Among those targeted are top creators: Philip DeFranco, James Charles, Bhad Bhable, Jefree Star and numerous others. The fans are targeted directly on the platform.

Fake messages were appearing in their subscriber inboxes. YouTube allows people to send messages to each other, and is often used by YouTube creators to communicate with each other. The fake messages all had the same wording in the messages instructing users to click on a link and receive a prize. DeFranco has a video on the scam that is appended. YouTube says it is working on a solution to the problem.

A member of YouTube's team tweeted to DeFranco: "Thanks for reporting on this spam issue! We’re in the process of implementing additional measures to prevent impersonation like this. In the meantime, your subs can protect themselves by blocking any account that is spam."" When asked for more detailed information about what measures YouTube was taking a representative would not provide any.

YouTube has policies regarding impersonation, which say that copying a user's channel layout, using a similar username, or posing as another person in comments, emails or videos may be considered a form of harassment. YouTube also has policies regarding scams: “Content that deliberately tries to mislead users for financial gain may be removed, and in some cases strikes may be issued to the uploader.”

It is not clear how YouTube is going to solve this particular brand of scam. The post looks exactly like a direct message and does not appear to be linked to a particular account. The best advice until a solution is found in YouTubes' community guidelines which warn: “Be wary of claims that seem too good to be true, as they likely are.” A good piece of advice for all situations encountered on the Internet!

You Tube to have more ads you cannot skip

- YouTube is increasing the number of non-skippable ads that will appear on its platform. It announced that all creators who can monetize on YouTube will be able soon to turn on non-skippable ads on all videos.

The change will take effect next week.

Those creators who are eligible will receive a notification on their dashboard. Advertisers usually pay more for non-skippable ads. The change could be a way of providing an incentive to creators to stay on YouTube and produce more content. Each ad sale earns Google the owner of YouTube a cut. Even previously published videos on a channel will be able to use non-skippable ads if a creator turns on non-skippable ads.

A special tool added as well

YouTube is aso adding a tool that will allow creators to add or remove non-skippable ads in bulk. It will enable creators to track audience engagement, as well as revenue flow from videos from the both types of ads.

Although the change will likely result in more non-skippable ads on YouTube, the ads are limited in length to 20 seconds. Viewers will not need to wait that long before their video plays.

New rule introduced for 2018 limiting length of non-skippable ads

The rule ends the longer 30-second ads. However, formats of 15-second ad 20-second ads will still exist. There will be many what are called bumper ads that you can move past after five seconds.

The company said that it will focus on formats that are more engaging for both advertisers and viewers. Google said: “We’re committed to providing a better ads experience for users online. As part of that, we’ve decided to stop supporting 30-second unskippable ads as of 2018 and focus instead on formats that work well for both users and advertisers"

YouTube

YouTube is based in San Bruno California. It was created by three former PayPal employees back in February of 2005. YouTube was bought by Google in November of 2006 for $1.65 billion and now operates as one of its subsidiaries.

Wikipedia describes the activities allowed on YouTube: "YouTube allows users to upload, view, rate, share, add to favorites, report, comment on videos, and subscribe to other users. It offers a wide variety of user-generated and corporate media videos. Available content includes video clips, TV show clips, music videos, short and documentary films, audio recordings, movie trailers, live streams, and other content such as video blogging, short original videos, and educational videos. Most of the content on YouTube is uploaded by individuals, but media corporations including CBS, the BBC, Vevo, and Hulu offer some of their material via YouTube as part of the YouTube partnership program."

YouTube gains advertising revenue through the Google AdSense program that targets ads according to the site content and audience. Most videos are free to view although there are exceptions, including for premium channels, film rentals as well as YouTube premium a subscription service offering ad-free access to the website plus access to exclusive content.

As of February of 2017 there was more than 400 hours of content uploaded to the site each minute. One billion hours of content are viewed each day on the site. As of August 2018 YouTube is ranked second in the world in popularity according to web traffic analysis company Alexa.

Previously published in Digital Journal

You Tube CEO claims it has 1.8 registered users watching videos each month

Susan Wojcicki the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of You Tube claimed that 1.8 billion registered users are watching You Tube videos each month and this does not even include those watching who have no account.

Wojcicki made the announcement at You Tube's Brandcast presentation. She announced some of You Tube's other successes as well.

Record setting views

Beyonce had a record 41 million livestream views at Coachella. A video of the event is appended.

Another music video "Despacito" had more than 5 billion views as of the end of April. Variety reports: "The official video of the catchy Spanish-language track, featuring Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, on Wednesday surpassed 5 billion views on YouTube — becoming the first video in the platform’s history to hit that watermark." The video, in Spanish, is appended. The company claimed to have had 1.5 billion logged in viewers as of the middle of last year.

Wojcicki indirectly discusses problems with You Tube

There have been critics of You Tube allowing inappropriate kids videos on the platform as well as conspiracy theories.

Wojcicki said: “This is the impact of an open platform: it brings the world together in ways that were just not possible before. But we’ve also seen that with openness comes challenges, as some have tried to take advantage of our services. It is incredibly important to me and to everyone at YouTube that we grow responsibly.”

The inappropriate kids videos

Wojcicki mentioned that she is making changes for a You Tube Kids option and promised to hire 10,000 moderators. However, that still seems to be in progress. Wojcicki said: “There is not a playbook for how open platforms operate at our scale. But the way I think about it is that it’s critical that we’re on the right side of history.”

Conspiracy theories

You Tube is also home to wild conspiracy theories. A Verge article of February 21st this year notes that the number one trending video in the morning was based on a false conspiracy theory which suggested that a survivor of the Parkland high school shooting is an actor. After the video received more than 200,000 views the company finally removed the video.

In an interview with CNN, David Hogg the 17-year-old victim of the theories noted that he was simply a witness to the events, contrary to the allegations in the theories populating YouTube. "I'm not a crisis actor," Hogg told CNN's Anderson Cooper on AC360. "I'm someone who had to witness this and live through this and I continue to be having to do that."

Previously published in Digital Journal

Academics protest as You Tube shuts down North Korean channels

Academics are angry that YouTube has shut down two North Korean news, and propaganda channels and has urged the company to reinstate them as they provided valuable insights about the country including into their nuclear program.

The two channels that were shut down were Stimmekoreas the top-ranked North Korean channel with 20,000 subscribers, and Uriminzokkiri that is also large with 18,000 subscribers. The channels regularly posted state TV news and other footage that attracted millions of hits. The channels were terminated on Friday September 9th for violating community guidelines. They did not explain how exactly they were doing so. Other countries often at odds with the US such as China, Russia, and Iran have channels that are used for propaganda purposes but have not been shut down. You Tube has not been very forthcoming in its explanation as to why the two channels were shut down.

Perhaps the US government put pressure on YouTube or it may be that You Tube is worried that North Korea is receiving ad revenue from the channels and that You Tube could be charged with violating US trade restrictions. Jeffrrey Lewis, an arms control expert said: “I know when I click on the videos I get ads. So perhaps they are nervous about sending that money on to the North Koreans. But honestly the YouTube ad revenues are not going to make or break the missile program.” If this is the reason for shutting down the stations You Tube could have at least said so instead of talking about community standards without indicating exactly what the stations had done wrong. One wonders if any notice were sent to North Korea explaining why the stations were shut down. I have not seen any response from North Korea as yet.

Stimmenkoreas is thought to be operated by a North Korean supporter who does not live in the country but posts high resolution photos and propaganda from the Korean Central News Agency in several different languages. Uriminzokkiri is directly tied to North Korea's propaganda apparatus and posts content aimed at North Koreans living abroad.

Lewis said that You Tube should reverse its decision in the interests of US national security:“North Korea is a country with thermonuclear weapons sitting on ICBMs [intercontinental ballistic missiles] that can reach the United States. It is really important to understand them even if we don’t like them. That starts by analyzing their propaganda. Even though it’s tendentious, you can learn a lot about a country from the lies they tell.”Not all propaganda are lies. Some of what is published by North Korean propaganda outlets is true while some of the material published against North Korea is sometimes false. Lewis also tweeted about his concerns: "Dear @YouTube, please stop doing this. Academics rely on this information to monitor and assess North Korea's missile programs."

Academics use official footage from the channels to measure how powerful missiles are by how fast they accelerate. They also glean information from the parts and machinery visible when Kim Jong-un makes factory visits. Lewis said: " When he visits a factory in the middle of nowhere and stares at machine tools it provides an important insight into the progress they are making.” If the North Koreans read this, they will no doubt make sure that Kim Jong-un's visits to factories are closely monitored and if they do show machinery it may be a prop designed to provide false information to US intelligence. The channels also give information about who Kim Jong-un surrounds himself one that can show who is more or less important and how his inner circle may be changing. Lewis pointed out that North Korea used You Tube as a primary distribution vehicle for their propaganda. Sometimes you do not know something was important until after an event has happened and the availability of searchable propaganda archives is quite valuable. Scott Lafoy a Washington-based imagery analyst said: “Tracking and digitally reconstructing events is going to be more difficult as these accounts get deleted".

This is not the first time You Tube has closed down North Korean channels. In November 2016 KoreanCentralTV!, NK Propaganda, and KCTV were also shut down. An article at the time claims it was because the stations could have made money through You Tube's built-in advertising system.

You Tube is headquartered in San Bruno California and is a subsidiary of Google. As of February this year more than 400 hours of content are uploaded to You Tube each minute every day. You Tube website is ranked as the second most popular website in the world by Alexa Internet. There are still many videos from North Korea on You Tube including numerous performances of the popular Moranbong all female marching band shown in the You Tube video below.

There are also numerous dramatic films some of which are very propagandistic as the appended video on one of the famous traffic girls. A famous film the Flower Girl an adaption of an opera whose text was said to be produced by founder of North Korea Kim il-Sung while in prison is available in several versions on You Tube. In spite of the fact that the film is mainly about the terrible conditions most of the population suffered under Japanese rule the film was banned at one time in South Korea:In South Korea, the film was deemed as communist propaganda and a symbol of the enemy, and screening was banned; police were often mobilised when university students were found playing the film on campus, and the students were often accused of being sympathetic with the North.[11] In 1998, the Supreme Court of South Korea ruled that The Flower Girl and six other North Korean films were "not favouring anti-ROK sentiments" in regards to national security laws.[11]Although the Japanese are the enemy in the film, they are not depicted as being as evil as some of those South Koreans who cooperated with them.

To watch on full screen click on the You Tube icon and watch on You Tube.

Seventy-year old Korean grandma is a You Tube and Instagram star

. In social media that often prizes youth and good lucks, Park Makrye shows off her wrinkles and her life as a senior.She is so liked by South Koreans that large companies such as Samsung are using her in ads.

Being a celebrity has not changed Makrye's life style. She still gets up at dawn to run her diner. Her videos are called Grandma's Diary. Koreans love just watching her meet up with an old friend or try pasta for the first time.

Lee Injae, 31, who  lives in the capital Seoul says: "She's real. She's not fake. It's refreshing to see the world through the eyes of a grandmother."

Park describes her life before she went on You Tube as "dead like rotten bean sprouts". She said that she used to think that at over 70 her life was over but after her appearances on You Tube she thinks life begins after seventy. Park's rise to fame hardly meets South Korean's expectations of the elderly who are often seen as being poor or as in protests promoting conservative values. South Korea has the highest rate of poverty among the elderly of any developed country. Fewer in the younger generation support their aging parents as the Confucian tradition of revering the aged loses its grip on a younger generation.

Park was encouraged by a grandaughter to start making videos. She thought it would be a way of keeping dementia at bay. Park's fans travel to her diner from far and wide even though it is in a remote part of the city of Yongin about 34 km south of Seoul. There is no easy public access to the diner.

Her granddaughter, Kim Yura, just 27 travels with Park after a doctor told the family that Park had a high risk of getting Alzheimer's disease as had happened to her three elder sisters. Kim even took Park to Australia as a treat. Many of the videos produced on the trip were popular. Park has about 400,000 followers on You tube and Instagram.

Lee Taek Gwang of Kyunghee University said: "The reason she is so popular is that she talks candidly without pretension about things that women feel uncomfortable about. She talks about topics that we don't dare to talk about, especially on women's issues." Park noted that her parents did not educate her even though they were not poor. They wanted to put me to work. However, she continues to write even though she says that her instagram posts are almost illegible. Fans dub Park;s way of expressing herself the "Makrye font".

Makrye was left on her own when her husband ran off after running up debts. She was left with three young children which is why she ended up running a restaurant until after nine every night.However, she was able to see that all three children finished high school.  Kim was the first to attend college. Park says she will continue to run the restaurant until she dies.