Official YouTube Blog: April 2011

This week's Trends: tornadoes, weddings, and saxophones

Friday, April 29, 2011

YouTube Trends

We saw incredible and dramatic footage from tornadoes this week in Alabama and Missouri.

We looked back at the 10 most watched NBA highlights from the 2010-2011 season on YouTube.

We discovered three little girls you would NOT want to pick a fight with who had trending videos.

We asked if George Michael's "Careless Whisper" has become the cover song of the month.

On the day of the Royal Wedding, we looked back at 10 popular Romance and Wedding videos from the month of April.

And we asked how one duo's switch to hip-hop covers helped make their videos some of the most shared this month:

www.YouTube.com/TrendsKevin Allocca, YouTube Trends Manager, recently watched "Jersey Shore Gone Wilde."

Party with NFL Rookies - on YouTube

Friday, April 29, 2011

www.youtube.com/nflplayerslive streamAndrew Bangs, sports manager, recently watched “Epicly Later'd Dylan Rieder (PT 1 of 4)."

The Beatification of Pope John Paul II to be Live Streamed on YouTube

Friday, April 29, 2011

www.youtube.com/livewww.youtube.com/johnpaul2www.vatican.va/videowww.youtube.com/johnpaul2

NYLON Young Hollywood Comes to YouTube

Thursday, April 28, 2011

second yearNYLON channel
For their Young Hollywood issue, NYLON magazine visits film sets all over the world and shoots the newest screen stars just as they're beginning to blaze. With NYLON + YouTube's Young Hollywood videos, you can:

Learn about Scream with Emma Roberts
Get a boxing lesson with Rory Culkin
Go behind the scenes at a fashion shoot with Chloe Moretz
Howl with the cast of MTV's new show Teen Wolf
Go backstage at The View with Hayden Panettiere
Watch Lucy Hale try out some of Spring's biggest beauty trends

From Harry Potter's Nataia Tena to Mad Men's Kiernan Shipka and The Vampire Diaries Kat Graham, you'll see the next generation of stars like never before - up close, personal, and with a killer rock 'n roll soundtrack. The Young Hollywood issue is also on stands now!

Lee Hadlow, Ad Programs Associate, recently watched "YOUNG HOLLYWOOD 2011 - HAYDEN PANETTIERE."

Bringing Brazil’s Carnival to the world

Thursday, April 28, 2011

CarnivalchannelIvete SangaloPosted by Lauren Pachaly, Consumer Marketing Manager, Brazil, recently watched "Harmonia do Samba's Carnival performance of Uma Chance."

The Slow Mo Guys are April’s “On The Rise” winners

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Slow Mo GuysOn The RiseYouTube homepagebirds of prey swoopingdroplets collidingball to the face"I have loved watching stuff in slow motion ever since I was a kid. I used to watch fight scenes from movies frame by frame on VHS so I could see all the action. When I got the opportunity to work with high speed cameras I saw this as my opportunity to film as many things as possible in super slow motion. I have been doing it for about 6 years now as a profession, but only recently got a computer powerful enough to deal with such massive files for my own show! Looking at things in slow motion makes you realise what you actually miss out on when you see things at "human speed". Sometimes you see something completely unexpected, sometimes can see how stuff works and sometimes stuff in slow motion just makes you laugh! It has been a great honour to participate in YouTube's On The Rise contest. I would like to thank everyone who voted for us and to welcome all our new subscribers!" Gavin FreechannelbrowseDevon Storbeck, Account Manager, recently watched "The Slow Mo Guys - Fly Eats Fly in Slow Motion."’

World View heads to Africa: Rwandan President Kagame takes your questions

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

YouTube World View has traveled to North America, Europe and the Middle East to offer you the chance to interview the most powerful leaders in the world. Today, we’re introducing our first World View interview with an African leader, Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Starting now, you can submit questions to President Kagame on any topic, like Rwanda’s economy, technology policy, how the country has grown over the 17 years since the genocide or the issue of regional integration. You can also ask questions as wide ranging as issues related to the future of Africa and its young people. Go to www.youtube.com/worldview to submit your question via video or text, as well as vote on your favorites. You can also tweet in your question - make sure to use hashtag #askkagame in your tweet, and it will automatically be added to the World View queue.
On May 5th, the President will sit down for a special interview with Khaya Dlanga, a YouTube partner and one of South Africa’s leading video bloggers. During the interview, President Kagame will answer a range of the most popular questions submitted by you. The deadline to submit your question is May 3 and the final interview will be available on May 7.

Ory Okolloh, Google Africa Policy and Government Relations Manager, and Ramya Raghavan, YouTube News and Politics Manager, recently watched “Karim Massimov: A Question for World Leaders”

Live from space: You talk to Commander Mark Kelly and the Endeavour Crew

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Update 5/18: The interview time has been moved to 6:00am ET on Thursday 5/19, and can be seen on youtube.com/pbsnewshour.
UPDATE 5/13: Pending the launch of STS-134 on May 16 at 8:56am ET, this interview will be conducted on Thursday May 19 at 7:24am ET. Check here for more info.
UPDATE 4/29: NASA has scrubbed the launch attempt today due to a technical problem. We'll provide an update here on the live streamed launch and live interview, and you can follow NASA updates here.
(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog.)
Moon officeMoon raceexpedition to MarsSkyMoonMarsNASA imagesHubble tourSTS-134PBS NewsHourMiles O’Brienwww.youtube.com/pbsnewshour

Video questions are preferred, and should be a max of 20 seconds long

Speak clearly and film in a place with minimal background noise. Keep the camera as still as possible and ask the question directly to the camera

Look through NASA videos on YouTube about STS-134 to learn more about the mission and crew

www.youtube.com/pbsnewshourGinny Hunt, Public Sector Program Manager, recently watched “STS-134: Legacy of Endeavour.”

Music Tuesday: R.E.M. video premiere, Blitz the Ambassador’s new album and more

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

It’s Tuesday, and music fans, we’ve got a feast for you. We’re featuring one full-length album premiere and two innovative videos -- one of which is an exclusive premiere on YouTube. But don’t worry -- we’re not ignoring the great music hitting the streets this week: albums from Steve Earle, EmmyLou Harris, Of Montreal, Prefuse 73 and more. We’ll have a playlist of the week’s freshest sounds later this week; be sure to check back to youtube.com/music to watch it.

Michael Stipe and Jim McKay Pick Their Favorite Videos
R.E.M. premieres their new video “Every Day Is Yours To Win” on YouTube today. The video, a pastiche of clips found on YouTube a la Kutiman, was co-directed by Jim McKay (you may know him from his work on a little HBO show called The Wire). It’s an exercise in humanity, finding and treating with great kindness the surprisingly intimate moments uploaded to YouTube. In honor of its release, longtime friends McKay and R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe assembled a captivating playlist of their favorite YouTube videos; find it on the homepage today.

Blitz the Ambassador “Native Sun”
“Live from Accra city, that’s my city, that’s beyond what they call gritty.”
When Chuck D gives a shout-out on your record (“It’s not where you from; it’s where you at....”), you could say you’ve made it as a hip-hop artist. Ghanaian-born Samuel Bazawule may not be a household name, but if his new album “Native Sun” is any indication, he should be. “Native Sun” is one of the most organic marriages of African music and hip-hop we’ve heard -- an effortless release that incorporates Afrobeat, highlife and kora music into old-school hip-hop. It’s a warm and danceable record with a social conscience, and it speaks to anybody who’s lived between two cultures -- as more and more of us do. We’re thrilled to premiere it a week before the release date.

Jib Kidder’s “Blue”
When we read an interview with Sean Schuster-Craig, aka the audio/visual artist Jib Kidder, in which he talked about his video-making ethic as an extension of the dream world, we were hooked. (“Dreams are like a collage made by your subconscious out of the raw materials of your inner experience,” Schuster-Craig told a blog earlier this year.) His music is a collage, too: a folk-art endeavor made from the found sounds of our digital world. Both the song and video for “Blue” repurpose material from his label’s archives, and they are meticulously crafted and strangely full of heart.

Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “Foo Fighters. Wasting Light Live from 606.”

Screening Room now showing short films from the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival

Monday, April 25, 2011

Tribeca Film FestivalYouTube Screening RoomThe Beaufort Diaries
BrinkIgnorant Bliss of the Sun and MoonLoose ChangeMr. StacheYouTube Screening RoomKinzie Kramer, Associate Product Marketing Manager, Entertainment, recently watched “Charles Bradley - The World (Is Going Up In Flames).”

An update on Google Video - Finding an easier way to migrate Google Video content to YouTube

Friday, April 22, 2011

Google Webmaster Blog

We’ve created an “Upload Videos to YouTube” option on the Google Video status page. To do this, you’ll need to have a YouTube account associated with your Google Video account (you can create one here). Before doing this you should read YouTube’s Terms of Use and Copyright Policies. If you choose this option, we’ll do our best to ensure your existing Google Video links continue to function.

If you’d prefer to download your videos from Google Video, that option is still available.

As we said nearly two years ago, the team is now focused on tackling the tough challenge of video search. We want to thank the millions of people around the world who have taken the time to create and share videos on Google Video. We hope today's improvements will help ease your transition to another video hosting service.

Posted by Mark Dochtermann, Engineering Manager, just watched "SJRI: Stanford Juggling Research Institute," which he recently migrated from Google Video to YouTube.

This week's Trends: mobs, ads, and Passover

Friday, April 22, 2011

YouTube Trends

We featured YouTube's top 10 most-viewed flash mobs of all time.

We examined how T-Mobile's "Royal Wedding Entrance" took off with viewers and discovered popular ads from other countries around the world.

We heard how a tornado... stole a man's hamburger.

We saw unexpected hail videos were popular in Mexico.

We witnessed dramatic tornado footage from America's Southeast.

We closely followed the events in Syria, tracking on the scene videos of reported violence and widespread protests.

For Passover, we pulled together 5 popular videos from a recent trend: Jewish holiday a cappella.

And we enjoyed this surprising, lip-synced music video from some soldiers overseas:

www.YouTube.com/TrendsKevin Allocca, YouTube Trends Manager, recently watched "Super Mario Proposal."

Life in a Day - coming to theaters this summer

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Life in a DayNational Geographic‘Life in a Day’ channelTim Partridge, Marketing Manager, just watched “The ‘Life in a Day’ trailer.”

Northern hemisphere spring brings the return of Live Green

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Live Greenwww.youtube.com/ytlivegreenLilian Leitersdorf, Marketing Programs, recently watched “World’s Greenest Homes: Grass Roof Bungalow”.

Music Tuesday: Record store clerks cut loose in YouTube and Coachella highlights

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

It’s Music Tuesday, and new albums are hitting the shelves from Gorillaz, Eliza Doolittle, Lenka, I’m From Barcelona and many more artists this week. Over here, we’re still recovering from the epic cascade of music that was Coachella. Relive the festival -- and check out this week’s offerings on youtube.com/music.

Record store clerks cut loose in YouTube
Before there was YouTube, people went to record stores to discover new music. The good news is, they still do -- and record store clerks remain some of the best tastemakers out there. So we’re starting a new, occasional series in which we invite influential independent music sellers to share their favorite videos with us. We kick off the series just days after Record Store Day with Amoeba Music, California’s premier tune-peddlers. They share their own original content -- who doesn’t want to find out what’s in ?uestlove’s shopping bag? -- as well as other awesome video finds: salsa great Celia Cruz in Africa, Miles Davis in action, and an excellent, weird video from psych pop outfit the Fresh & Onlys.

Coachella Highlights
You’re back at work, you’re rehydrating, you’re massaging your neck after craning to see Kanye float above the crowd...or chances are, if you weren’t in the desert in Indio, California this weekend, you might have been checking out the music festival live on youtube.com/coachella. It was an epic event, and with cameras on three stages, there was so much to see it was almost befuddling. But in case you missed it, guess what? We’ve got highlights.

Vacationer “Trip”
And now, notes from the underground. This video showed up in our inbox last week -- we’ve got very little information on the band, Vacationer (except that they’re from Brooklyn, natch), but when we heard the glitchy-but-catchy, flat-shoed sound of “Trip,” we started to get hooked. Then there’s the guy moon-walking next a waterfall in the video, plus exotic birds showing off their plumage in slow motion. Trust us; this is entrancing.

Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “DaVinci - Blame Game.”

Mmm mmm good - YouTube videos now served in WebM

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

If you travel abroad frequently, you know that charging your electronic devices is not always an easy task. Power adapters for cellphones and computers don’t always fit into local power outlets, meaning you have to pack converters. Think of video on the web in a similar way. Currently, there are countless devices used to record videos and hundreds of different video file formats. Even more, certain web browsers that you use to view video online only accept certain ‘codecs’ - or programs used to encode, transmit and playback video files - and others require plug-ins (converters) to integrate the video file with the browser.

Despite these complexities, one of our key aims is to deliver great content to you wherever you are - regardless of device, browser or other technical specification, so you never have to remember that complicated “power adapter converter” to watch a video.

To that end, all new videos uploaded to YouTube are now transcoded into WebM. WebM is an open media file format for video and audio on the web. Its openness allows anyone to improve the format and its integrations, resulting in a better experience for you in the long-term. As we work to transcode more videos into WebM, we hope to reduce the technical incompatibilities that prevent you from accessing video while improving the overall online video landscape.

Transcoding all new video uploads into WebM is an important first step, and we’re also working to transcode our entire video catalog to WebM. Given the massive size of our catalog - nearly 6 years of video is uploaded to YouTube every day - this is quite the undertaking. So far we’ve already transcoded videos that make up 99% of views on the site or nearly 30% of all videos into WebM. We’re focusing first on the most viewed videos on the site, and we’ve made great progress here through our cloud-based video processing infrastructure that maximizes the efficiency of processing and transcoding without stopping. It works like this: at busy upload times, our processing power is dedicated to new uploads, and at less busy times, our cloud will automatically switch some of our processing to encode older videos into WebM. As we continue to transcode the remaining inventory, we’ll keep you posted on our progress.

In keeping with our goal of making videos universally accessible, we will continue to support H.264 as an important codec for video on YouTube. We are also committed to continuing to develop our HTML5 video player that we announced last year, and if you’d like to join the opt-in trial, you can do so here.

The world of online video is incredibly complex and dynamic. Yet, our goal is to ensure that nothing stands between you and the great content you’ve always enjoyed. We’ll continue to invest in new video technology that improves the experiences for all users, builds a better infrastructure for online video, leads to greater access of information and spurs continued innovation.

James Zern, Software Engineer, recently watched "HTML5 Video Accessiblity and the WebVTT File Format".

The Royal Wedding live on YouTube

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Google search trendspreviouslywww.youtube.com/theroyalchannel10:00am BST (9:00am GMT, 2:00am PT, 5:00am ET) on Friday, April 29The Royal ChannelRachel Ball, Partner Development Associate, recently watched "The Chapel Royal Choir prepares for the Royal Wedding."

Advertising Age Viral Video Awards

Monday, April 18, 2011

Of the most watched YouTube videos in 2010, two of the top 10 were advertisements, showing that more and more advertisers are creating video campaigns that strike a chord with viewers, sending them viral. Advertising Age and Visible Measures take a look at what campaigns are going viral every week as part of their Top 10 Viral Video Ads Charts, but when you look back on 2010, who comes out on top?

Last week, the Ad Age Viral Video Awards selected 10 video ads from across a variety of verticals to receive awards such as the, "Make a Dull Industry Fun" campaign and "Best Brand Jacking of a Global Sporting Event". All of them put theYouTube platform to work in innovative ways and are fantastic examples of how brands can engage viewers. Check out a sampling below, and for the full list of awards, go here.

Best Video-Only Campaign - BlendTec: "Will It Blend?"

Best Viral Mockumentary - Hi-Tec: "Liquid Mountaineering"

Best Video Advertainment - Red Bull: "Way Back Home"

Kate Rose, YouTube Communications, recently watched, "Opening Ceremony Blog - Spike Jonze Presents: Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma."

Mashups, parodies and lip dubs: Ask a legal expert about Fair use

Friday, April 15, 2011

The strength of the YouTube community lies in its creativity. Often this takes the form of memorable original content, such as Rebecca Black’s recent hit song / music video, Friday.

However, as the Rebecca Black phenomenon demonstrated yet again, this creativity also lies in the community’s ability to produce parodies, mashups, and remixes of well-known original content. In fact, if you love Rebecca Black, thanks to the YouTube community’s endless ability to riff on popular memes, there are a number of examples of Friday-inspired parodies. Here’s one from funnyman Conan O’Brien, which has close to half a million views:

Why are YouTube users like Conan allowed to produce parodies of Rebecca Black’s original song?
Fair use.

Fair use is a legal term that grants creators an exception to the strict copyright that the original content owner controls -- in layman’s terms, it’s the idea that as long as the use is “fair,” someone can reference part of someone else’s work for parody, scholarly reasons, or more.

What constitutes “fair use” is a complicated issue and one that we get asked about quite often. So we’ve asked two leading experts from the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, Anthony Falzone and Julie Ahrens, to help answer your questions.

Falzone is the Executive Director of the Fair Use Project and a lecturer in law at Stanford Law School. Ahrens is the Associate Director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford Law School. As litigators they have defended everyone from video game makers, to writers, to artists (including Shepard Fairey) against copyright claims.

Using Google Moderator you can ask Falzone your questions about fair use and vote on other questions. They will answer a selection of the top-voted questions via video and we’ll post it on this blog on Monday, May 2. Question submission closes April 21. Ask your questions here!

Will Houghteling, YouTube News and Politics, recently watched “The Path to Prosperity”

Coachella broadcasts live on YouTube all weekend

Friday, April 15, 2011

One of the biggest music festivals of the year kicks off today, and you don’t have to be camping in the desert to catch it.

Starting today at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET, YouTube will webcast the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival directly from Indio, California to your computer -- without the 98 degree heat! Thanks to 5GUM, Coachella and YouTube, the world will have a front row seat to over 60 acts being live-streamed all weekend long at youtube.com/Coachella.

Tune in to watch sets by some of the biggest names in music, as well as the bands that have critics buzzing. The lineup is nothing short of astonishing: Kings of Leon. Cee Lo Green. Mumford and Sons. The Strokes. Duran Duran. The National. Nas + Damian Marley. The Black Keys. Ms. Lauryn Hill. The list goes on.

But don’t just take our word for it: check out what the bands themselves have to say about why they’re psyched to play Coachella, and what acts they’re dying to see.

If you miss the live stream, be sure to check out highlights on Coachella’s channel next week. And get ready to rock!

Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “Coachella 2010.”

This week's Trends: Black and Beckham

Friday, April 15, 2011

YouTube Trends

We saw Rebecca Black's "Friday" cross the 100 million view mark.

We tracked the debate around David Beckham's viral trick-shot clip.

We discovered new, dramatic footage from the Japanese tsunami.

We highlighted the return of Seattle's "Glee" flash-mob.

We collected exciting footage from a tornado in Wisconsin.

And this video started out big in Spain and Argentina and spread to the United States:

www.YouTube.com/TrendsKevin Allocca, YouTube Trends Manager, recently watched "Insane Dude Dancing in Cardiff."

Duran Duran answers your questions in a live Q&A tomorrow

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Tomorrow, Friday, April 15 at 2:30 p.m. PT/5:30 p.m. ET, YouTube Presents! Duran Duran live from YouTube HQ. Watch as the band discusses their pioneering role during the early days of music videos, talks about some of their personal favorite YouTube videos, and answers questions from fans. The event will be broadcast on Duran Duran’s YouTube channel.

If you miss the live stream, don't sweat: the Q&A will be rebroadcast on Duran Duran’s channel immediately after it finishes.

Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “US Income Gap Widens.”

YouTube Copyright Education (remixed)

Thursday, April 14, 2011

established starnext breakout artistpowerful toolsnew tutorial on copyrightredesigned copyright help centerYouTube Copyright SchoolYouTube Copyright SchoolTerms of Servicecreative toolsJustin Green, a highly trained monkey, recently watched “N.E.R.D. - Hot-n-Fun (BoysNoize Remix) ft. Nelly Furtado”

Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero is next in World View lineup; takes your questions

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, currently serving his second term as the Prime Minister of Spain, has made some bold choices during his time in office, like removing Spanish troops from the war in Iraq and legalizing same-sex marriage.

Now, he’s taking your questions, about these issues and others, as the first Spanish-speaking participant in the YouTube World View interview series. On April 27, Zapatero will sit down to answer the top-voted questions submitted by citizens from around the world in an interview streaming on YouTube.

The questions are already coming in. For example, Curiso in Madrid, asks, "After the disaster of Fukushima, do you support the closure of nuclear plants in Spain? What are the energy alternatives?" while Juan is curious whether the state will “come to the rescue of thousands of families who have no means to pay their mortgages?"

What are your questions for the Spanish prime minister? Submit them in text or video to www.youtube.com/worldview before April 22 and they could be asked.

Manuel Román , Spain Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “Pregunta”.

Meet April’s On The Rise nominees

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

homepagevideosFacebookTwitteremilynoel83justjesse197joshsundquistPacificPastimeoutofablueskyHollywoodBubbleInctheslowmoguyschannelBrowseSarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “Fredrik - Flora (full album stream).”

Indian Premier League returns to YouTube

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

againwww.youtube.com/indiatimesPune WarriorsKochi Tuskers Keralawww.youtube.com/indiatimesI grew up dreaming of this: Sachin

Music Tuesday: TV On The Radio “Nine Types of Light” film premiere and more

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

This week, the music world is practically groaning under the weight of so many new releases. There’s something for everyone, from Paul Simon to Animal Collective’s Panda Bear, Foo Fighters to Del McCoury and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (!). We can’t cover all the bases, but we can point you towards some good ones.

TV On The Radio curates and premieres the “Nine Types of Light” film
TV On The Radio are one of indie rock’s most idiosyncratic and, dare we say it, magnetic bands. Their constantly evolving sound and restless desire to push the envelope has made them an endlessly interesting act whose albums regularly top critics’ year-end lists. So it should be no surprise that their new release “Nine Types of Light” isn’t just an album -- it’s a film, too, featuring ten different directors and interspersed with man-on-the-street interviews conducted by lead singer Tunde Adebimpe himself. The full-length video LP premieres on YouTube today, along with Adebimpe’s singular playlist of his favorite videos, complete with a gently deranged introductory video that will have you at hello, if you’re weird like us.

Hip-Hop at Coachella
So, there’s a little gathering in the desert this weekend. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? No, we don’t mean Burning Man. Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has evolved from a low-budget, low-visibility gig into a must-play event on a level with SXSW. You might say it’s this country’s Glastonbury. And while the festival has always flown its flag for indie rock, hip-hop is starting to find a foothold. Case in point: Kanye’s headlining on Sunday. Check out what other hip-hop acts will be on offer this weekend.

Dengue Fever “Cannibal Courtship” album premiere
And, last but not least, we have a full album premiere this week from L.A.-based band Dengue Fever. Dengue Fever began life as cover band of sorts, filtering 1960s Cambodian rock through an indie rock lens with the help of the otherworldy, ethereal-voiced Cambodian vocalist Chhom Nimol (the band’s not-so-secret weapon). Over the course of four albums, the group has evolved from imitation to original songwriting, and at their best they marry the familiar with the foreign in wonderful ways. Part psychedelic rock, part punk, part Ethio-jazz -- now with vocal harmonies! -- the group’s sound can be a heady brew. Fast forward to “Uku” at 8:32 to hear their potential fully realized, or just savor it from start to finish.

Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “CHRISSY MURDERBOT ft. DJ SPINN "BUSSIN DOWN" Planet Mu HD.”

Stars line up on YouTube to take action against sex trafficking

Monday, April 11, 2011

Each year, the global sex slavery market generates $32 billion in profit, while the average age of American girls who are forced into prostitution is only thirteen. Today, some of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood are speaking out against this injustice, and they’re turning to YouTube to make sure the world hears them.

Through the DNA Foundation, an organization spearheaded by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, a number of stars from Jessica Biel to Edward Norton, Justin Timberlake to Jason Mraz, are launching the “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” video campaign. Watch the first episodes from the campaign here:

The campaign also makes use of YouTube annotations to help you join the movement and action against child sex slavery.

Ramya Raghavan, YouTube News and Politics, recently watched “Sunitha Krishnan’s Fight Against Sex Slavery”.

New on YouTube: LeBron James’ animated series

Sunday, April 10, 2011

The LeBronshereAndrew Bangs, Sports Manager, recently watched “TEMPEST FREERUNNING ACADEMY - GYM VIDEO”.

This week's Trends: debris, the president and miniature cities

Friday, April 8, 2011

YouTube Trends

We collected 10 captivating and popular "Tilt-Shift" videos from talented filmmakers around the world.

We saw that family videos starring dramatic children are not just popular in the United States.

We tracked how President Obama's 2012 campaign announcement video was shared across the web.

We found a trick shot montage that's big in Cleveland.

We discovered why Rebecca Black's "Friday" might be sticking around longer than lots of other viral phenomenon.

And one of the biggest debates of the week revolved around the authenticity of this incredible footage involving roadside debris:

www.YouTube.com/TrendsKevin Allocca, YouTube Trends Manager, recently watched "Fruit Gushers Review."

YouTube is going LIVE

Friday, April 8, 2011

With over 2 billion views a day, it's easy to think about YouTube as a place to watch videos recorded in the past. But you’ve told us you want more - and that includes events taking place right now. In response, we’ve live streamed a number of popular concerts, sporting events, and interviews, but primarily on a one-off basis.

Today we're announcing the initial roll out of YouTube Live, which will integrate live streaming capabilities and discovery tools directly into the YouTube platform for the first time. This begins with a new YouTube Live browse page (www.youtube.com/live), where you can always find the most compelling live events happening on YouTube and add events to your calendar. Subscribe to your favorite YouTube live-streaming partners to be notified of upcoming live streams on your customized homepage.

Today, we'll also start gradually rolling out our live streaming beta platform, which will allow certain YouTube partners with accounts in good standing to stream live content on YouTube. The goal is to provide thousands of partners with the capability to live stream from their channels in the months ahead. In order to ensure a great live stream viewing experience, we'll roll this offering out incrementally over time. Partners interested in learning more about the livestream experience can check out today's post on the Partner Communications Hub.

So head over to www.youtube.com/live to check out some of the live streams taking place over the next few days. And don’t forget to tune in to the The DigiTour live stream tonight at 7pm PST. Log in to engage with live streamers and the rest of the YouTube community using our live comments feature. As always, let us know what you think of YouTube Live in the comments below.

Joshua Siegel, Product Manager, and Christopher Hamilton, Product Marketing Manager, plan to watch The Digitour live stream tonight at 7pm PST.

The DigiTour: Live from Google HQ!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

The DigiTourDave DaysThe Gregory BrothersDavid ChoiDeStormMysteryGuitarManRicky Ficarelliwww.youtube.com/youtubewww.thedigitour.comCreator Clubs initiativewww.thedigitour.comhereMargaret Healy, Strategic Partner Manager, recently watched “The DigiTour Announcement!!!”

Music Tuesday: YouTube’s budding music stars and more

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

It’s no secret that YouTube is home to a burgeoning number of musicians who nurture their talent with the help of the online community. Over the years, we’ve developed ways for musicians to get more engaged -- with us and with the community. But often, at the end of the day, it’s the musicians themselves who create their own opportunities. Sometimes the most interesting work comes from people who sharpen their chops by covering the big names...until that fateful day when they branch out and start writing their own songs.

This month, we’re featuring four music partners who embody that spirit. Some, like garrethdavis and rosafrancescamusic, are young musicians honing their craft in the public eye. Rosa came to our attention for her subtle renderings of Joanna Newsom songs; we were thrilled to discover she also writes her own. The Dublin-based Garreth snagged our attention with his Everything Series, which sees him regularly uploading songs-in-progress about everything from love to the Irish elections.

The ceaselessly charismatic Todrick Hall seems to be most inspired when he’s paying homage to the chain stores that are ubiquitous in our lives -- and he delights in choreographing real-life Glee moments in which people break out into song in the middle of Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, Joseph Raciti is proving to be as talented at his choral audio quilts as he is with his piano-driven pop songs. (Joseph’s currently at work on his second musical, which he plans to release on YouTube.)

All of them are adding their voices to the cacophonous chorus that is YouTube -- and we treasure them for it. We think you will, too.

If that’s not enough music for you, check out our other features this week: a playlist from French electro-pop sensation Yelle (flanked by android bodyguards from outer space, apparently) and an amazing new video from Israeli phenomenon Kutiman, the artist who crafts songs using YouTube videos as his source material. Prepare to be stunned.

Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “Learn how to audition for the Tupac online casting call with DJ Skee.”

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