YouTube Australia Blog

Vivid Live: Wrap-up and re-live

Monday, 25 June 2012

Earlier this month, Sydney Opera House celebrated Vivid LIVE, with amazing gigs from world-renowned musicians, and a very special pre-show hangout with the Temper Trap. And in a festival-first, four concerts were live streamed on YouTube with FRONTROW, a custom photo sharing app, which let audiences around the world capture priceless moments, like this streaker at The Temper Trap concert, and share them with friends.

There were over 900k views across the four concerts, with over half a million watching the final eye blasting concert from Amon Tobin, making his show the second largest streaming event in Australia since YouTube Symphony Orchestra. Here’s what he had to say about his latest creation, ISAM:

Back by popular demand, you can now replay and relive some of the best moments of Vivid LIVE on the Sydney Opera House Channel, with two special performances available in their entirety: The Lighting of the Sails by German design collective URBANSCREEN, and The Temper Trap’s live performance from their brand new chart-topping album. As you watch, you can lean forward and relive FRONTROW by zooming and panning within the viewer, taking photos, editing and applying filters and sharing your Vivid Live moments on your social networks.

Posted by Ernesto Soriano, YouTube Australia, just watched URBANSCREEN: behind the scenes.

Get More Into: Sport

Thursday, 7 June 2012

From trick shots and game clips to commentary and live events, sport has always been one of the most popular categories on YouTube. And we recently kicked off a new lineup of action sports channels to bring even more great content to you.

To help you Get More Into Sport, we asked three legendary Aussie surfers to line up their favourite sport videos on YouTube, and are featuring them this week on our homepage. Here’s what they came up with:

See how Australian Surf Hall of Famer Taj Burrow stays stoked on the road:

Push the Limits with Josh “Kerrazy” Kerr, known worldwide for big air and crazy moves:

Claiming back to back victories at the Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach, Sally Fitzgibbons remembers the unforgettable:

It’s easy to create your own playlists too – just log in to your YouTube account, and hit ‘add to playlist’ from any video on YouTube. We hope you’ll enjoy the playlists from these surf legends as much as we have, and keep an eye out for more from athletes around Australia & the World.

Posted by Ernesto Soriano, YouTube Australia, just watched Wizard of Aus: BMX and Hard Knocks Premier

Vivid LIVE from Sydney Opera House puts you in the FRONTROW

Friday, 25 May 2012

Some of the biggest musicians from around the world will gather over the coming week as part of Vivid LIVE, the annual music event held at Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid Sydney, the city’s annual festival of light, music and ideas.

For the first time, audiences around the globe will be able to watch select performances live on YouTube, and share the experience through a custom camera application called FRONTROW.

During the livestream, not only can you sit back and enjoy the tunes of some renowned musicians, you can also participate right from your desktop! In a world first, you can take photos of the event through the FRONTROW camera app: zoom in and out to change your view, take photos during the live stream, apply filters and immediately share on your social networks.

Oh, and what will you be watching? The line-up of performances includes:

Friday 25 May, from 6:30pm AEST (1:30am PST/9:30am BST): Multi award-winning German design collective URBANSCREEN lighting the sails of Sydney Opera House.
Tuesday 29 May, from 6:00pm AEST (1:00am PST/9:00am BST): Grammy award-winning English singer Imogen Heap, in an intimate recital with a spectacular Sydney Harbour backdrop.

Thursday, 31 May, from 9:50pm AEST (4:50am PST/12:50pm BST): Our very own The Temper Trap, debuting their new album in the Concert Hall, with footage from the event available on YouTube following the performance

Saturday, 2 June, from 9:00pm AEST (4:00am PST/12:00pm BST): Brazilian electronica mastermind Amon Tobin in an audiovisual spectacle taking projection mapping and electronic performance to new heights.

For the full schedule of events and to experience Vivid LIVE on YouTube, visit youtube.com/sohfestival.

Posted by Ernesto Soriano, YouTube Australia, recently watched “Seekae 3.”

It's YouTube's 7th birthday... and you’ve outdone yourselves, again

Monday, 21 May 2012

This is a cross-post from the Official YouTube blog
In May 2005 we first shared YouTube with the world. Seven years later, you’re the ones doing the sharing! We’re so honored that you’ve used YouTube to share how-to tips, political moments, home videos, comedy, music, and so much more.

Last year to celebrate our birthday, we wrote you, the YouTube Community, a thank you note for making our first 6 years so special. And on that birthday you gave us a great present by reaching a record rate of 48 hours of video uploaded to the site every minute. Well Community, this year, on our 7th birthday, you’ve outdone yourselves once again.

Today 72 hours of video are uploaded to the site every minute. Like many 7 year olds around the world, we’re growing up so fast! In other words, every single minute you now upload three whole days worth of video instead of two. That's 61 Royal Wedding Ceremonies, 841 Bad Romances, and 1,194 Nyan Cats.

We’ve come along way in the past 7 years. What started as a handful of videos shared among friends has transformed into a global platform delivering the next generation of channels to anyone, anywhere, and on any device. This last year was especially big for us. We helped bring more great channels to YouTube and weredesigned the site, making it easier for you to discover, watch and subscribe to the videos you love. And all 800 million of you all over the world have shown us we’re on the right track by increasing subscriptions 50% and watching over 3 billion hours a month.

Behind the tens of millions of channels on YouTube featuring talented filmmakers, home videos, skateboarding tricks, music, and car enthusiasts there has always been one consistent voice: you. Throughout our seven years you’ve made the YouTube community what it is. Thank you!

Posted by The YouTube Team, recently watched “"How to" throw the PERFECT *Princess Birthday Party*”

You Asked For It! Here Are Your 16 Next Vloggers...

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

Since launching, YouTube Next Creator has helped chefs cook up better videos, trainers get more people into shape, and non-profits extend the reach of their causes. So figuring out which category to tackle, well, next, was a bit of a challenge. Rather than deciding ourselves, we asked you to make the tough decision for us. With a resounding cry, you told us, “BRING US NEXT VLOGGER!”

Not only is vlogging one of the most popular forms of expression on YouTube, but selecting Next Vlogger also resulted in more applications than we’ve received for any previous Next Creator program. Bravo! Although, that still left us with some tough decisions...

After much debate and many sleepless nights, we’re excited to introduce you to the 16 Next Vloggers:

From sports recaps to music parodies, book reviews to space lions, gaming tips to Smurf collecting, advice and self-empowerment to Pokemon mastery, and even some stuff that can’t be categorised, these vloggers--like the art of vlogging--literally touch on every content category.

We are also happy to also announce that we have a local Aussie in the 16 — Louna Maroun, aka Loopy Lady 11. On top of old-school vlogging, the extremely red-headed Louna also sings quite a few tunes on her channel.

Fun bunch, huh? In total, they’ve racked up over 125 million views. Not a shabby start, but like most YouTube creators, they’re eager to reach even more people. To help them get there, the Next Vloggers will participate in three months of trainings via Google+ Hangouts, including mentoring from one of most successful top YouTube vloggers and content creators, iJustine and Sydney’s own Natalie Tran from communitychannel, and receive $5,000 worth of video equipment and $10,000 worth of promotion on and off YouTube. Subscribe to their channels to follow them on their journey over the next few months and beyond.

Not a vlogger but still want to gain some skills to help you go from zero to hero .....views? Then, you’re in luck because we’re kicking off some rad YouTube Creator Workshops that cover a wide range of topics from “Introduction to Cinematography” to “Improving Your Channel with YouTube Analytics.” You can check out the YouTube Creator Events site to see the calendar of workshops that you can attend via Google+ Hangouts on Air from the YouTube Creators page.

Vlog on!

Posted by Austin Lau & Bing Chen, Global YouTube Creator Program Managers, recently watched “INSERT PLAYLIST”.

Get More Into Music: All year long

Friday, 20 April 2012

Summer’s ended, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the music that’s carried us along the way. Today, we’ve got a new doodle on our homepage, and a special collection of videos on youtube.com/music.

With over 60 hours of videos uploaded to YouTube every minute, there’s plenty to help you get into whatever you’re into. Back in December, we thought we’d get more into music, and invited some of our favourite musicians to guide us along the way by creating video playlists showcasing their own musical tastes.

We started in our own backyard with the Australian musicians that would take the stage at the 25th anniversary ARIA awards: Art vs. Science got into the strange & eclectic, Bluejuice found us some hidden gems and we learned what 80s anthems get The Living End Going.

And we followed some of our favourite acts around Australia this summer festival season: From the pumped up kicks, and modern-day lullabies that brought sold out crowds across Australia for Big Day Out, to big-time dream-pop to big-haired rock & roll hanging out at St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Sydney.

Today, we hope you’ll enjoy revisiting some of the playlists from these musicians as much as we have. It’s easy to create your own playlists too – just log in to your YouTube account, and hit ‘add to playlist’ from any video on YouTube.
But that’s not all. You’ll notice we’re also featuring a handful of videos from some of the biggest names heading to this year’s Splendour In The Grass, including a special interview with Ladyhawke and with Kele from Bloc Party Tickets have just gone on sale but even if you can’t make it, never fear. For the second year in a row we’ll be live streaming a special collection of performances live from Byron Bay, courtesy of Virgin Mobile.

We’ll be announcing the live lineup soon. For now we hope you find plenty of music to keep you busy!

Posted by Ernesto Soriano, YouTube Australia, just watched SBTRKT Wildfire, Live from Coachella

10 Most Memorable Coachella Moments

Thursday, 19 April 2012

This post first appeared on The Music Network.
One of the world’s most iconic music events, Coachella Festival has a rich and celebrated history spanning 14 years, over 1000 bands and hundreds of thousands of fans passing through the gates of the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. That adds up to a lot of magic festival moments.

Whether you’ve made the festival pilgrimage or not, you can enjoy it all through our YouTube playlist of the most memorable Coachella moments - the good, the bad and the downright strange...

1. Arcade Fire’s glowing ball drop (2011)

This was certainly one of the most talked about moments in Coachella’s history and something that will be forever ingrained in my memory. An avalanche of light-up, sound activated balls were cascaded into the audience just as the band reached the crescendo of “Wake Up”, their final song for the night. The spectacular, interactive light display that unfolded not only cemented Arcade Fire’s reputation as one of the most formidable live acts, but left fans lucky enough to hold onto the balls (I scored one!) a pretty neat souvenir to take home. NB: my ball did not make it back to Australian shores sadly.
2. You Can’t Stop The Cure (2009)Thanks (or no thanks) to Coachella’s strict midnight sound curfew and to their three (some may say extravagant) encores, frontman Robert Smith informed the crowd that they'd had been instructed to play only one more song and then they played two more tunes without incident. I remember walking away just as they launched into anthem "Boys Don't Cry”, the festival crew cut the main-stage speakers. Now playing acoustically and with no mics, the band triumphantly pushed on, causing the crowd (myself included) to rush the stage and join in an unprompted sing-along.

3. Ariel Pink’s brilliant meltdown (2011)

Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the emotion of finally playing Coachella. Or maybe he was just having a bad day. The eccentric LA artist landed a prime afternoon slot at the festival, only to squander the opportunity by fleeing the stage 15 minutes into his show, moping to the audience "I'm sorry, I know you hate me now." I didn’t hate him, but I was bummed I’d missed Lauren Hill for it.
4. Daft Punk's Pyramid of Lights (2006) Dance duo Daft Punk closed out day one of 2006 with their first U.S. performance in nine years with what has become a one of the most legendary sets of their even more legendary career. It was the first time many fans has witnessed the spectacle that was a 40-foot, LED-encrusted pyramid staging two robot-masked French men throwing out hits such as “Around The World” like it was no-one’s business.
5. Neil Finn gets hits with a bottle and plays on (2007)
Most blame bad scheduling. Some blame a lacklustre set. Either way, it was a bummer. Our beloved Crowded House played to a very irritable audience who were obviously only there to see Rage Against The Machine. The only thing between the fans and “Killing In The Name Of” was a few more songs from the Kiwi boys... and the only thing between the bottle being thrown and the place it was going to land was Neil Finn’s head. He played on like a trooper and I like to think the jerk who did it got escorted all the way out of there before RATM even started.

6. Roger Waters' Pig Takes Flight (2008) This was epic. With a set to rival any NYE party, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters had some surprises in store for the punters of Coachella. Unfortunately, things don’t always go to plan and he was forced to watch in distress as his giant inflatable (and probably expensive) pig that hovered about the crowd during the song "Sheep", floated off into the night sky at the song's conclusion. Coachella organisers offered four free lifetime passes and $10,000 to anyone who found the pig, whose vinyl carcass was recovered in a Palm Springs country club several days later.
7. Paul McCartney and the Hey Jude sing-along (2009)

“Nah, nah, nah, na na na na hey Jude”. What could possibly be better than a Beatle singing one of his finest hits to an overly-appreciative, ecstatic crowd in the middle of the Californian desert? When they all join in and it turns into the festival’s best ever sing-along. I called my dad 5 times during his set. Two generations of Beatles fans united by the moment!
8. Radiohead actually play ‘Creep’ live (2004)Unprecedented. Radiohead are notorious for skipping over their anthemic smash hit “Creep” while planning their set lists. During the 5th annual Coachella where they followed a reunion set by one of their favourite bands ‘The Pixies’, they took a trip down memory lane and dusted off the hit, much to the delight of jubilant fans.

9. Bon Iver steals the show (2012)

Day 2 Coachella 2012: the lineup reads like a current who’s who of the music world. Up against the likes of Radiohead, The Shins, Feist, Azelia Banks and A$AP Rocky, Justin Vernon and crew still managed to steal the show with their near perfect performance of “Beth/Rest”. Fans reacted to the triumphant set with a flurry of praise and from what I understand, grown men did indeed cry.

10. Flip-flop dude can’t get it together (2010)

Last but not least we bring you... a grown man trying desperately to put his plugger back on. Certainly one of Coachella’s finest and proudest moments. It’s equal parts funny and frustrating to watch, but by the end of it you’ll be cheering for him. Almost there mate!

Posted by Sophie Hirst, YouTube Music Manager.