Chapter 41: YouTube Partner Program

[Chapter 41: YouTube Partner Program]

"You'd have to ask DJ Khaled about that; I'm not really into electronic dance music," Ludacris shook his head. Scooter nodded in agreement.

"What's up? Looking to dive into electronic music? I suggest you take a trip to Europe," Ludacris casually remarked.

"Can't I just buy a lottery ticket without going that far?" Scooter joked.

Scooter had been trying his luck with "lottery tickets" for the past couple of years, and none of those attempts had made any waves. However, with the rise of YouTube, he discovered a new way to scout talent. It was through YouTube that he stumbled upon that young Justin and successfully persuaded his mom to let him come to America.

Just in the last couple of days, he found another promising investment target on YouTube...

At that moment, Ludacris noticed a boy hovering at the door and peeking in. He guessed the kid was too shy to come inside, so he gestured for him to come over.

"Come on, kid, wanna try some real beats? You haven't tasted real music yet? That's fantastic; you're gonna have the time of your life," Ludacris said and nudged the boy forward before he could even respond.

...

"I'm sorry, but I've got my professional classes to catch up on, plus my sorority events are already piling up. I have a lot to manage, so I'm afraid I can't accept your invitation..."

[Delete?]

Ryan didn't hesitate and clicked "confirm" when Elizabeth Olsen declined his offer. He felt a bit annoyed but figured it wasn't a big deal.

There were plenty of women out there to meet.

[Leg girl!]

[Elizabeth!]

[Hello?]

Ryan glanced at the clock and realized it was still early morning, so he closed the private chat window. He then opened up MySpace and posted a recruitment notice for social media operators before hitting send.

Following his routine, Ryan reopened YouTube and searched for "Harlem Shake", pleased to see the number of videos rising again. If the instant sensation of Tremor had merely given him a taste of living the "DJ" life, this second track of Harlem Shake could be the one that really propelled him to fame...

Or so he hoped.

...

Suddenly, he noticed a video that stood out from other viral ones. The title read, "We Interview the Creator of Harlem Shake; Let's See What He Has to Say!"

Clicking to watch, he saw a fat guy he didn't recognize, complete with lip piercings and tattoos. The so-called "interview" was a modest affair, shot on a handheld cam, but that didn't stop this guy from earnestly describing the "hardships" he faced while creating Harlem Shake. He also expressed his "genuine happiness" at the song's popularity.

Scrolling down to the comments, Ryan found a barrage of compliments: "Thank you for bringing us joy," "This track is really amazing," "You're a genius producer..."

Ryan quickly shut the page and felt his heart race.

Am I becoming a substitute?!!

He opened iTunes and searched for Harlem Shake, only to be met with an equally disheartening result.

The top ten entries were all knock-offs, with his Official Harlem Shake sitting at the very bottom of the first page.

The search results were ranked by download numbers, meaning those overhyped versions were selling better than his original!

Rounding it up, he lost a million!

...

"What's going on? I'm busy filming," Trey's voice crackled from the other end of the line.

Ryan shared his problems with her.

"Just reach out to my lawyer. He'll sort it out, and make sure to file complaints against those infringing videos on YouTube," Trey advised.

Ryan hung up and called the lawyer next.

...

"Charging by case number?!" Ryan raised his voice.

"Of course, it's a different infringement for each offender, so they can't be combined," the lawyer explained matter-of-factly.

Harlem Shake hadn't made him a cent yet, and now he had to dish out more money first?

"Don't you have a record deal?" the lawyer asked.

"What?"

"I mean, the record company would handle these matters. They have their own set of lawyers," the lawyer clarified. He and Trey had collaborated for years, so they knew each other well.

"Not at the moment," Ryan shook his head.

...

Once he finished the call, he dialed YouTube's complaint number.

"Please prove you are the original author of this song and hold the copy rights," the customer service agent said lazily.

That was easy for Ryan. He logged into his work email and sent copies of his registered copyright with timestamps of when he uploaded Harlem Shake as proof.

This time, the reply he received wasn't from a customer service agent but from someone claiming to be the head of the music channel.

"We noticed Harlem Shake was going viral at an astonishing rate three days ago. We contacted VEVO, but they couldn't find the related copyright holders," the person explained.

"What's VEVO?" Ryan felt unfamiliar with the term.

"You must be a regular music fan, without any record deal yet?" the person began to explain.

Often the playback rights for an MV belong to the record company, but the artist also shares some of the revenue. The telecasters or video platforms serve as "channels" and also get a slice of the playback revenue, but the tricky part is how to divide those earnings and when to do it.

VEVO emerged to tackle those complex distribution issues. As a multinational video hosting service, VEVO was a joint venture between the major record labels Universal, Sony, and EMI. They negotiated with video platforms to host their massive amount of music videos on sites like YouTube.

As it turned out, the highest played videos on YouTube were primarily music videos. These videos usually had ads that generated a significant amount of revenue, most of which went to video hosting services like VEVO. After deducting operational costs and profits, they then split this revenue with record companies.

Out of every dollar earned, at that point, only around fifty cents remained. Of that, twenty cents had to be shared with songwriters and performers, but even that twenty cents could get intercepted by record companies through various means -- whether via cost share or delaying payment, they had their ways to pocket as much as possible. Though this was just how "the industry" worked.

Meanwhile, Ryan, as an independent artist, surprisingly avoided the typical cuts.

"Since you don't have a record label, you can directly apply for the YouTube Partner Program, or YPP for short. Once you apply, all videos using Harlem Shake as background music will earn you ad revenue shares. Although YouTube takes a larger cut of the ad revenue, you'll end up with more money in your pocket, and it will come on time. We encourage artists like you to showcase your work and creativity on YouTube," the person said with a smile. They also assured Ryan they would deal with the infringing videos.

...

Just an hour later, Ryan noticed that the "knock-off video" had been marked as "demonetized." YouTube officially flagged it as an infringing video, and the new comments were now assertively attacking the creator. The culprit quickly issued a new statement, claiming, "It was all just a joke; there was no ill intent."

'You're not regretting it; you're realizing your bubble has burst,' Ryan snickered.

He then downloaded and saved the video for his records and emailed it to his lawyer to add another infringement case.

While it meant he was currently incurring some legal fees, it promised future revenue. Looking at it this way, did he actually need a record company to cut in?

Perhaps he still did. He had gotten lucky with Harlem Shake, but who knew what his next song would be?

Tremor was a prime example -- great song, but just didn't pop...

Or did it?

...

Ryan opened Beatport's backend and was stunned to find that yesterday's sales had soared to a chilling 6000+, shooting straight to the fifteenth spot on the sales charts.

Ryan was utterly baffled. If it was solely word-of-mouth driving sales, the numbers shouldn't have jumped so dramatically all at once.

Ultimately, he found the answer on Twitter.

Famed Dutch DJ Tiesto had tweeted out a personal recommendation of Ryan's two tracks! Not only that, but these two songs had also made it onto Tiesto's personal radio show Club Life on Radio 538 in the Netherlands, playing as the grand finale.

Ryan recalled chatting with the VJ before. Tiesto not only had his own label but also a business relationship with Spinnin Records.

There was a high chance he had caught the attention of Spinnin Records! A smile crept onto Ryan's face as his previous thoughts began to manifest.

*****

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