Finding Your Music in Unexpected Places

[Sacred Synthesis]

From time to time I do internet searches to see where my YouTube videos/recordings have been picked up.  It's easy to know when they've been traveling around; for example, when one piece has received, say, a thousand hits, and the piece next to it only a couple hundred or so.  Then I search for the name of that first piece, and there it is in some unexpected place. 

I realize this is an issue of Internet freedom, but it does at times concern me.  For example, I found a couple of my pieces carried on a non-American video site that didn't have any references to "Sacred Synthesis".  As a result, I recently started adding annotations to the videos with that name at the beginning.  I haven't found any site offering downloads for a fee, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's next. 

Does anybody else care about this issue or feel it's something to be concerned about, considering that I've found some of your music on these sites as well?  On the one hand, it's a nice thought to know some one in Russia is enjoying our music; but on the other hand, lacking our permission, it does seem a bit like robbery.

[Strange Quark Star]

Do you use YouTube's Analysis tools? They give incredibly fine-grained insight into where your views come from and who watches what, when and how.

Did you mean you mean you found your videos re-uploaded on another site, and not just a YouTube link embedded elsewhere? In that case, your annotations would get stripped from that.
I suggest you add the text (maybe a date and a link to your page, as well) directly in your video editing software.

Personally, I am always very happy when someone posts a video of mine on some other website, as long as it's the original YouTube link, of course. That's how they get real exposure, as apparently my recent Chopin piece did  After all, the link to the original YouTube post and the author is always included in these embedded videos.
If, on the other hand, my videos were re-uploaded to, say, Dailymotion or whatever I wouldn't even notice, and that is a kind of theft in my opinion.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Do you use YouTube's Analysis tools? They give incredibly fine-grained insight into where your views come from and who watches what, when and how.

Did you mean you mean you found your videos re-uploaded on another site, and not just a YouTube link embedded elsewhere? In that case, your annotations would get stripped from that.
I suggest you add the text (maybe a date and a link to your page, as well) directly in your video editing software.

Personally, I am always very happy when someone posts a video of mine on some other website, as long as it's the original YouTube link, of course. That's how they get real exposure, as apparently my recent Chopin piece did  After all, the link to the original YouTube post and the author is always included in these embedded videos.
If, on the other hand, my videos were re-uploaded to, say, Dailymotion or whatever I wouldn't even notice, and that is a kind of theft in my opinion.

I mean the same presentation as on YouTube - not just a link to click on that brings you to YouTube, but the video itself, image and all.  And at least in one case, there was no indication that the video was originally from YouTube, but had the appearance of belonging to the individual.  I had never heard of some of these sites before because they weren't American.  But the ones that bothered me the most were the ones that lacked all "Sacred Synthesis" references.

I realize it can be flattering to have your music posted far and wide, but personally - at least in some case - it does seem underhanded.

I think you're right, SQS: I should start adding the annotations on the original video itself, rather than from YouTube.

[Steven Morris]

I know how you feel . I go through the same process when trying to figure out where my views come from.

However, though I have mixed feelings about this as well, I usually try to find whoever shared my videos so I can say thanks. Of course, if one website shares a video, then others will also follow suit, and sometimes, as has been noted, credit isn't given. It's a little frustrating, but I figure all that I have to do is pop in and say thanks, and then my name is linked to the share (for SEO purposes, I suppose).

Of course, it would be beneficial to know who's shared a video in real time. Sometimes people ask questions in the comments sections of the sharing website that I would prefer to answer ASAP rather than later and miss out on an opportunity to link up with someone who is interested in what I do. I wish it were possible to see, through YouTube's alert system, where my videos have been shared!

I usually add a few tags in Japanese in my videos as well, but that leads to my videos being shared on random Chinese websites sometimes. I've also seen my videos come up on websites from all kinds of other countries.

While I don't really mind it, I'm genuinely curious as to what those websites have to gain that seemingly automatically post other peoples' videos without very much info. This seems to be a trend in just about every language now-a-days.

Re: Annotations
I always try to put basic info as a text overlay at the beginning of my videos. Of course I also add annotations through YouTube's system as well. I'm starting to play with the idea of adding, as a water mark, basic info on the lower left throughout my videos.

Speaking of watermarks, have you thought of using your YouTube avatar as a watermark on your videos? I forget how many, but after a certain number of subs that becomes an available feature and I think it's to help your 'brand recognition' (or help prevent piracy). I really think that should be available for anyone on YouTube.

IMO this is a very important issue. Thanks for bringing it up Sacred Synthesis! I'm hoping to learn a few things from this thread .