Volume 003, here’s your rundown 👉🏻 MTV, Nickelodeon and more Viacom networks arrive on fuboTV. YouTube accounts for 35% of worldwide mobile internet traffic. U.S. digital ad spending will pass traditional this year, eMarketer says. Hulu's live TV service catches up with DirecTV Now. Cisco predicts video will account for 79% of global mobile data traffic by 2022. Hulu adds interactive ads allowing viewers to get email offers.
Featured Stories
Why Best Documentary Has Become an Oscar Haven for Female Directors
There’s one place in Hollywood where female directors have made strides toward reaching parity with men: the best-feature-documentary category at the Academy Awards.
It took 82 Oscar ceremonies for a woman to win the prize for best director—and so far, only one has managed that feat: The Hurt Locker’s Kathryn Bigelow. In a different Oscars category, however, female directors have fared slightly better. Since 2009, although only one film directed by a woman has won the Academy Award for best documentary feature (Citizenfour, directed by Laura Poitras), 11 of the films that have been nominated in the category were either directed or co-directed by women.
This year was no different: the documentary-feature nominees include two female-led projects. Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s RBG along with the married filmmaking duo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s Free Solo.
Know any great female filmmakers? Tweet us and tag them so we can show them some love!
NBA Inks Facebook Pact for Video Recaps of All NBA, WNBA, NBA 2K League and NBA G League Games
NBA Digital announced a deal with Facebook under which all NBA, WNBA, NBA G League and NBA 2K League game recaps will be available on Facebook Watch worldwide.
The video recaps will span every game during the season, including the Summer League, preseason and playoffs where applicable. NBA Digital, jointly managed by the NBA and Turner Sports, will make the video recaps available on the social giant’s Facebook Watch platform shortly after the games are completed.
Additionally, the NBA will host a weekly Watch Party on Facebook, allowing fans around the world to watch and interact with game recaps and videos together in real-time. NBA Digital will host monthly Watch Parties for WNBA, NBA G League and NBA 2K League.
Not only is this a smart play by Facebook with its Watch platform, but it’s a great move because of the young, engaged audience that comes along with the NBA. It will be interesting to see if Facebook can create a Twitter-like environment for live sports and if this infuses some life into the platform that seems to be getting older (demographically) by the quarter.
What are your thoughts? Tweet us and use the #bettervideoemail
Learn
How to create a product story that unfolds over time — and drives results
Video/Retail/Sports/Think with Google. Adidas marketing team turned to YouTube’s video ad sequencing tool to move its target audience along a planned sequence of ads in a shorter amount of time — just a few days, for some people.
The results? A 317% lift in product interest1 for users exposed to the ad sequence. For other brands looking to try a similar approach, here are three lessons the Adidas marketing team learned.
The Importance of Licensing Music in Your Video Productions
Music/Aftermarq. Adding music to your video productions is a tried and true way to increase impact. Music adds an emotional aspect to your video that can grab the viewer’s attention and pull them in. Music controls the perception of your brand, so much so that choosing the right music for your video can make the viewer happy or sad.
Music is an important part of branded content. According to Nielsen, viewers rate advertisements with music as more creative and memorable. And while including music in video productions is a must for savvy brands, it is crucial that you understand how to use music legally in a business setting.
You may be asking, “Well, what’s the harm of using some music piece in my video? It’s just online. It’s not harming anyone. No one really cares.” Unfortunately, you’re very wrong.
Take Range Road Music, Inc. v. East Coast Foods, Inc., a court case from 2012. The restaurant chain in question decided to play music at their businesses without a license. $36,000 in statutory damages and $162,728.22 in legal fees later, the restaurant learned a valuable lesson about the importance of licensing music for any business purposes.
Video productions are no exception. They are a business activity meant to generate some type of return on investment.
The musicians’ music you use is a product they created. Would you allow people to profit off a product you created while seeing none of the profits yourself? Most likely not.
Yet, people are cavalier about licensing music because they do not view it as a product. On a basic level, it is not only financially wise to license music properly but morally upstanding as well.
Of course, music companies can be far too aggressive in their approach to protecting their music property. For example, YouTube recently has seen a spat of false copyright claims by music companies that have demonetized many YouTube stars’ videos.
One mind-blowing example was back in 2016 when the YouTube musician TheFatRat uploaded an original song called “The Calling.” The video garnered 47 million views, but a Colombian music company called Ramjets claimed a copyright 19 months later by. A new, remixed version of “The Calling” was created by a musician who worked under the Ramjets’ label. Yet, they claimed TheFatRat’s original song was infringing on their copyright.
The moral of the story is that YouTube is very aware of when you use copyrighted material. Since most brands post their video productions on YouTube, any unlicensed music could get your video taken down. Even worse, your video could start generating money for the copyright claiming company and start serving ads from your competitors.
Important Tips to Remember When Licensing Music
1. Music Rights Are Complicated
Licensing can be a bit complex. Let’s break it down to two broad categories: performances and visual work.
If you plan on playing the music for a public audience, such as at a restaurant, you need a public performance license. For video productions, you will need a synchronization license in order to add the song to the visual work.
2. Synchronization Rights
Video production will almost exclusively deal with synchronization rights. The long name basically means there is an agreement between the owner of the music and the licensee to use the music in a commercial setting. For a more detailed rundown of frequently asked questions, consult ASCAP for more information.
3. The Music Industry Will Defend Their Content
Major viewing platforms like YouTube and Vimeo may immediately block or delete infringing video content. Even honest mistakes can be costly for a business, with statutory damages reaching as high as $150,000. The music industry earns its money through copyrights, so it makes sense that they would be quick to defend their content.
4. Reputational Harm
Your reputation as a brand can be just as valuable as the brand itself. Don’t let all of the hard work you put into creating a brand name be stymied by using unlicensed music. Musicians have huge public voices, and they often utilize this strength in order to shame infringing businesses and even tell their fans not to use a business’s products.
Reasons to Use Royalty-Free Music in Your Videos
Between public condemnation from musicians to frivolous copyright claims on video platforms, licensing music can be a bit of a mess. The music industry can be quite litigious, so the best course of action may be to remove that risk altogether.
Try to use music that has no copyright claim or is in the public domain. PDInfo has a large list of royalty-free music and will even provide proof of being royalty-free and having an international copyright.
The most lucrative benefit is that you will be able to monetize your video production without fear of legal recourse. Many infringing YouTubers not only receive copyright claims against their video content but also lose out on revenues from the ad servings on the site. (The video still stays up, but the money flows to the copyright claimant.) If you only use royalty-free music, then you should not face any legal quandaries.
Resources for Finding Music for Your Videos
There are specific resources that cater to film creators and their video productions. One of the best resources is Music Bed, which helps you find the perfect song. The company offers annual subscriptions or one-time purchases of songs with full synchronization rights. They even offer the ability to create custom music by working with artists who offer licenses.
Another great resource is Epidemic Sound, which is a similar service to Music Bed. They offer a flexible range of music, such as full tracks, melodies, drums, bass, or instrumental tracks. Businesses or individuals can subscribe for $149.99 per month. Large companies such as Netflix, Cheddar, and even Spotify regularly use the service in order to protect themselves against potential copyright infringement.
These are only a few of many resources out there. There’s also Premium Beat, as well as working with family and friends or even directly contracting with qualified songwriters and producers.
It is important to do your homework when working with licensing companies. Consider their reputation, their reliability, and their resources, such as indemnification (compensation for harm or loss).
The best policy, always, is to cover your bases. If you think there’s a question about whether you can use a music piece in your video production, always seek out legal counsel and licensing to protect yourself.
Music can be a great way to add artistic value to your production and capture the attention of your viewers. Just don’t capture the attention of the music industry lawyers!
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Win Free Wine
Do you like wine? My buddy, Gary Vaynerchuk, just started his own winery called Empathy Wines in an effort to deliver $40+ wine at half the price.
I spoke to the team at Empathy Wines on my podcast and we’re offering listeners the opportunity to win a free 3-pack by following the instructions provided in the episode.
Listen here. Cheers!
Network + Collab
This section is going to be dedicated to you. If you have a project where you need creators, or you’re a creator wanting to work with other creators, brands or agencies, either tweet me @vincenzolandino or shoot me an email and let me know. I’ll look through responses and drop them in this spot each edition.