Everybody's favourite time-wasting website, YouTube announced the launch of the YouTube Partner Program this week from SXSW.
Also called "Musicians Wanted," the program urges young independent acts to apply by submitting live performances and music videos to the website. As Wired explains, [via the The Daily Swarm], successful applicants will be allowed to post all tour dates and links to their merchandise on their portion of the site and actually get paid when their YouTube videos are embedded on external websites, including music blogs. On top of this, bands will receive "a majority" of the advertising generated from pre-roll, text and overlay advertising.
YouTube head of music business development Glenn Brown told Wired, "Our goal in all these partner programs is to help people get to that point where they hear the most beautiful words a creative person can hear, which is 'You can quit your day job,' and some of our partners have already done that."
To ensure the bands are accessible, YouTube is gathering all the artists into a browsable, searchable section of the website dedicated to the spread of indie music via Musicians Wanted.
One of the first bands to sign up was recently label-free OK Go, who left after EMI refused their right to have their videos embedded wherever the band desired.
As OK Go singer Damin Kulash put it in a statement, "YouTube has always been a great match for OK Go - creativity flourishes and we can connect directly with our fans. So when we heard about Musicians Wanted, it was a no-brainer: it sounds great for us. We're honoured and excited to be the first applicants. We can't wait to get new videos up on our channel."
More details about the program can be found on the YouTube blog here. And sorry, Canadians, this service is currently only being offered in the U.S.
Here's one reason why OK Go and YouTube make such a good couple:
Also called "Musicians Wanted," the program urges young independent acts to apply by submitting live performances and music videos to the website. As Wired explains, [via the The Daily Swarm], successful applicants will be allowed to post all tour dates and links to their merchandise on their portion of the site and actually get paid when their YouTube videos are embedded on external websites, including music blogs. On top of this, bands will receive "a majority" of the advertising generated from pre-roll, text and overlay advertising.
YouTube head of music business development Glenn Brown told Wired, "Our goal in all these partner programs is to help people get to that point where they hear the most beautiful words a creative person can hear, which is 'You can quit your day job,' and some of our partners have already done that."
To ensure the bands are accessible, YouTube is gathering all the artists into a browsable, searchable section of the website dedicated to the spread of indie music via Musicians Wanted.
One of the first bands to sign up was recently label-free OK Go, who left after EMI refused their right to have their videos embedded wherever the band desired.
As OK Go singer Damin Kulash put it in a statement, "YouTube has always been a great match for OK Go - creativity flourishes and we can connect directly with our fans. So when we heard about Musicians Wanted, it was a no-brainer: it sounds great for us. We're honoured and excited to be the first applicants. We can't wait to get new videos up on our channel."
More details about the program can be found on the YouTube blog here. And sorry, Canadians, this service is currently only being offered in the U.S.
Here's one reason why OK Go and YouTube make such a good couple:
