Introducing ThePianoGuys, your June On The Rise winner

Congratulations to ThePianoGuys, who received the most votes June’s On The Rise poll and will become the first piano-dealing videographers featured in this program. ThePianoGuys will have their day in the homepage spotlight today, thanks to your support and votes.

ThePianoGuys (aka Paul Anderson, Tel Stewart, and Craig Knudsen) operate a Yamaha piano dealership in St. George, Utah. Over the past decade, they’ve hosted countless musicians at their store and finally decided to combine their two passions—music and filmmaking—showcasing these artists for the world to see. The result: original YouTube hits featuring talented artists such as Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson and Jarrod Radnich.



Here’s a word from Paul Anderson of ThePianoGuys:

We're a just couple of guys with a camera, a computer and some really talented friends. We are passionate about showcasing artists that are not big yet, but we know will be someday, and would love nothing more than to be a part of someone’s "Big Break." It's a joy to bring exciting music to life through video, and we can truly say we love what we do. Thanks to our loyal subscribers we are having the time of our lives and who knows, maybe someday we will be able to do this full-time!

If you’ve enjoyed monthly On The Rise blog series and want to see more rising YouTube partners, check out our On The Rise channel or look for our playlists on the browse page. Keep an eye out for next month’s blog post, as your channel may be the next one On The Rise!

Devon Storbeck, Account Manager, recently watched "To The Summit- by Jon Schmidt ‘Featuring Ray Smith on Tenor Sax.’”

More about → Introducing ThePianoGuys, your June On The Rise winner

The inaugural YouTube U.S. NextUp class gives their commencement address

Editor’s note: We just wrapped up the first ever Creator Camp as part of the YouTube NextUp program in the U.S., and we felt like we should hand it over to the class itself to tell you all how the week went - in (mostly) their own words. The class filled in the blanks for this blog post - you can follow each link to see who contributed that phrase. Huge congratulations to the first ever YouTube NextUp class!

We’re a group of 25 YouTube Partners who were bodacious enough to be selected for the first ever YouTube NextUp program. We received $35,000 from YouTube to take our career to the next level, and were invited to attend a special Creator Camp in New York to perfect our skills.

That first ever YouTube Creator Camp wrapped up last Friday, and it can best be described as stinkin awesome. The week started with a group of alien individuals getting to know each other, and by the end of it, we were our own YouTube wolf pack.

New York city provided a frenetic backdrop to our experience. For some of us, it was our first trip to the Big Apple, and it was common to hear people saying “this isn’t anything like Dallas”. Or sometimes “do you smell that?”

It’s hard to pick out highlights in a week that was so overwhelmingly intense, but they have to include the time when Luke Conard wore a full face of makeup and also the moment when I held back tears after being handed the biggest check I have ever received as an independent filmmaker.

We worked hard during the week and learned a lot. One of the most important lessons we came away with was to bring along Chescaleigh if you want someone to eat a fish eye at a Chinese restuarant, and also that it's a marathon, not a sprint. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that humping the air on occasion was really important too.  (Ok, ok, the main thing we all learned was the importance of collaboration!)

During the final presentation, we learned that our videos have collectively been viewed more than 30 million times this year alone - which made us feel like rock stars.

Shooting the collaborative videos was a crazy and amazing experience. You can see some a sneak preview of our projects below - we think you’ll agree it’s pretty epic, with dashes of sentimental mushiness.

What will the future hold for us, as the first YouTube NextUp class? We’re sure it’s going to involve tons of amazing video collaborations and probably a little bit of sweet sweet YouTube money. (Editor’s note: Each of our YouTube NextUp participants received $35,000 to take their YouTube channel to the next level).

So tune in - watch our videos as they progress towards respectability, and we’ll do our best to keep producing the same genuine, creative and fun-filled videos that you’ve grown used to. The YouTube community is full of awesome and creative people, and we really want to make sure we continue to rock it out in future. Here’s to ever-growing view counts and a happy YouTube future.

YouTube NextUp Class of 2011, recently watched “25 winners, 25 videos, countless memories - YouTube NextUp NYC 2011 Recap.”

More about → The inaugural YouTube U.S. NextUp class gives their commencement address

The DigiTour: Live from Google HQ!

You’ve subscribed to them by the millions, commented thousands of times on their videos, and “liked” them over and over - and now you can see them live, in a city near you. The stars of the YouTube music world are hitting the road for The DigiTour, presented by YouTube. It’s the most comprehensive concert series yet featuring exclusively the stars of the YouTube music world - performers with one billion combined views and more than six million subscriptions.

The DigiTour will run for six weeks across 27 cities in North America, bringing together talented artists who got their big break on YouTube. Artists like Dave Days, The Gregory Brothers, David Choi, DeStorm, MysteryGuitarMan and Ricky Ficarelli will bring their unique sounds and high energy acts to the big stage - and you might also get to discover some new YouTube acts. To give you a taste of what’s to come, the nationwide tour will be previewed with a special live-streamed concert from Google HQ on Friday, April 8, from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. PT. Tune in to www.youtube.com/youtube to watch the event.

After their first official stop in LA, the tour will hit Phoenix, Oakland, Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Washington D.C, New York City, Detroit, Chicago and many other cities. Tickets are on sale now at www.thedigitour.com.

Here’s a taste of what to expect:


If you’re a YouTube Partner in any of the concert cities, stay tuned for more information on YouTube’s new Creator Clubs initiative that we’re starting to roll out across the country. To make it easier for YouTube Partners to stay in touch and collaborate, we’re helping Partners to organize their own Creator Clubs events to share information and ideas, and the club will kick off in each of these towns as The DigiTour visits. We hope some of our newer Partners will be inspired by seeing their YouTube heroes on the big stage.

For more information on The DigiTour lineup, updates and ticket information, visit www.thedigitour.com or follow them on Twitter here. Buy your ticket today!

Margaret Healy, Strategic Partner Manager, recently watched “The DigiTour Announcement!!!”

More about → The DigiTour: Live from Google HQ!

Become a YouTube star in Europe

Thousands of online video creators across Europe are taking their creative talents to YouTube, generating big followings and earning money as part of the YouTube Partner Program. We want more people from across Europe to join in!

That’s why we’re hosting the first ever European YouTube Partner events dedicated to the producers, directors, writers, artists, video and media professionals of the future. The events will take place in six cities across Europe between March 31 and April.

At 'Becoming YouTube Stars', online video creators will:

• Learn how to create and promote their content on YouTube
• Find out about how to become a YouTube Partner and generate revenue
• Get a sneak peak at upcoming product releases and partner dedicated features
• Hear from a panel of successful YouTube Partners about how they’ve built their channels

Details of all the events are below:

• Madrid - March 31, 2011, at Hotel Silken Puerta América Madrid - RSVP here.
• Paris - April 4, 2011, at Les Docks de Paris - Dock Eiffel - RSVP here.
• Berlin - April 6, 2011, at Postbahnhof - RSVP here.
• Amsterdam - April 8, 2011, at Amsterdam Convention Factory - RSVP here.
• Rome - April 11, 2011, at Salone delle Fontane - RSVP here.
• London - April 14, 2011, at Ravensbourne Design College - RSVP here.

Spaces are limited, so register now to secure your seat.

Sara Mormino, Head of YouTube Online Content Partnerships EMEA, recently watched “Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie.”

More about → Become a YouTube star in Europe

5 Questions for Jack Conte and Natalie Dawn, Pomplamoose

What you hear is what you get with YouTube Partners Pomplamoose. Every sound you hear in their music videos is produced by an instrument you see played in their music videos. It’s a novel idea they call the “videosong”. And, in a world with so many artificial, over-produced sounds, Pomplamoose provides refreshing covers and original music. Brands are taking notice of this authenticity, too. If you've been living in a hole for the past few months, you might have missed their Hyundai commercials over the holidays.

Continuing on their quest to make music (and musicians) more accessible, we asked Jack Conte and Natalie Dawn about how they got their start, what it’s like working with brands, and buying Etsy chandeliers to create your very own mysterious aura.



You should also tune into their live webshows on Tuesdays at 6:30pm PT at www.pomplamoose.com.

Shenaz Zack, Product Manager, recently watched, “Pomplamoose - If You Think You Need Some Lovin”

More about → 5 Questions for Jack Conte and Natalie Dawn, Pomplamoose

Musicians Wanted: Now Worldwide

Today, the YouTube Partner Program for Musicians, aka Musicians Wanted, extends beyond the U.S., meaning that musicians in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain, the U.K., Sweden, the Czech Republic, Argentina and New Zealand now have the opportunity to make money from their videos. Here’s more about the program from two longtime partners, Pomplamoose’s Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn:

So, if you’re a musician based in any of the territories listed above – or if you’re based in the U.S. and haven’t gotten around to it yet – head over to this sign-up page and register today. After all, you’ve got nothing to lose and potentially a whole lot to gain!

Jamie Dolling, Product Marketing Manager, UK, recently watched “Professor Green: The Next 48 Hours.”

More about → Musicians Wanted: Now Worldwide

Release Notes: Seven new languages, four new countries get partner program, and lots more...

Bits and bobs that’ve gone live since our last Release Notes...

YouTube is now available in...: Arabic, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Slovenian, Ukrainian and Vietnamese!

Four new countries get YouTube Partner Program: The Partner Program continued its expansion this quarter, with launches in Argentina, Sweden, New Zealand and the Czech Republic. That makes 21 countries in which people can make money from their videos. For more information about partnerships, click here.

Crossfades, wipes and slides: The video editor lets you combine and trim your videos right on YouTube.com, without installing any software. Now you can add transitions, like crossfades and wipes, between video clips. Just select the transitions tab in the media picker, drag the transition and drop it between any two videos in the storyboard.

MySpace Autoshare: Automatically share your YouTube activities on your MySpace account (you can already do this on your Facebook, Twitter, Buzz, Reader and Orkut accounts). To hook this up, go to Account > ActivitySharing and click “Connect accounts” next to the MySpace logo.

More filtering for charts: YouTube Charts can now be filtered by categories such as Comedy, Gaming and Pets & Animals, in addition to time and popularity "slices." We also show more results (20) per page.


Improved screen reader accessibility for YouTube player: One of our engineering interns spent part of his summer improving video accessibility for visually impaired people. If you use a screen reader that supports Flash, we hope you'll find it easier to enjoy videos on YouTube now. We've also added some more captioning features to the YouTube Data API. You can list tracks, request auto-timing, and download the speech recognition captions for videos that you own.

Shows in France: If you’re a YouTube viewer in France, now you can watch full-length TV shows, like BFMTV: Bourdin Direct and Britain’s Got Talent. Check out the page here.

HD and CC badges on search results page: When you search for a video on YouTube, the search results now show HD and CC (Closed Caption) badges, in addition to the NEW, CHANNEL and PLAYLIST badges that already exist. If you click on the badge, it will filter out results that don’t fall under that category.


“Add-to playlist” widget: The [+] button on video thumbnails in search results now includes a menu that allows you to add the video to any one of your playlists or start a new playlist. Additionally, the "save to" button below the video is being renamed "add to" and will have the same functionality.


Visited video styling on search results and video pages: Browsers help people remember links they have previously clicked on by giving them a different color, the standard generally being that links are in blue and visited links are in purple. Many sites, including YouTube, opt to make all links blue regardless of visited state to give a more consistent look to the site and better reflect its dynamic nature. However, having a visited state is specifically useful when exhaustively exploring search results or related videos, and so we are launching a new style for thumbnails and links to videos in related and search results: the thumbnail for visited videos is slightly grayed, and the link color has changed. This should help you explore the site deeper without going in circles.

The YouTube Team

More about → Release Notes: Seven new languages, four new countries get partner program, and lots more...

Investing in the Future of Video: YouTube Announces Partner Grant Program

The YouTube ecosystem is vibrant and growing fast. We have over 10,000 partners, and 94 of Ad Age’s top 100 advertisers have run campaigns on YouTube and the Google Display Network. We’ve made great progress in the last five years. But we think we can do better. That’s why today we are announcing the YouTube Partner Grants program that will invest five million dollars across select new and emerging YouTube partners. Our goal is to catalyze the creation of new ideas and production models from some of our most innovative and original content partners for the benefit and advancement of the entire industry.

The idea behind YouTube Partner Grants is fairly simple. We’ve been amazed by the creativity and resourcefulness of many of our partners. Some, operating on shoe string budgets, have been able to produce incredible videos, generate substantial revenues and command an audience that rivals that of network television. This new creative class often manages 360 degrees of their business operations, from the writing filming and producing of their content to the marketing, post-production and distribution of their videos. Despite their success, many partners lack the resources and deep financial backing available to studio-backed production houses. The goal of YouTube Partner Grants is to act as a catalyst by infusing additional funds into the production budgets of a small group of YouTube partners who are at the forefront of innovation. Funds from YouTube Partner Grants will serve as an advance against the partner's future YouTube revenue share. This additional funding can allow partners to invest in better cameras, achieve higher production quality, expand their marketing efforts, expand their staff, or just hire more talent. Anything that will help them evolve their art, business, and ultimately the entire creator community. We look at this as an investment that will bring an even richer body of content for our users and advertisers and raise the creative bar for online video.

Here’s how it works:

• YouTube is identifying eligible partners based on factors such as video views, subscribers, growth rate, audience engagement and production expertise
• Selected partners are contacted by YouTube and invited to submit a Grant proposal
• Proposals are evaluated by YouTube based on signals which include projected performance, distribution plan, marketing plan, cost requirements and appeal to advertisers
• If approved, funds are transferred to the partner so they can get started on their project

Youtube Partner Grants represents another step forward in the evolution of both video and YouTube. Our hope is that through these investments we’ll help nurture talent and bring more great videos to YouTube for all of you to enjoy.

George Strompolos, Partner Development Manager, recently watched “Pixels by Patrick Jean"

More about → Investing in the Future of Video: YouTube Announces Partner Grant Program