Elton John, Anti-YouTube Crusader, Partners With YouTube For Public Music Competition

from the oh-ok dept

Wed, Dec 14th 2016 1:11pm — Timothy Geigner

Elton John is no stranger either to crazy suggestions for how the internet should be or to flip-flopping on those very same suggestions. For example, he once suggested that the whole internet should be shut down for half a decade in order to foster better musical acts (seriously), then years later he was on a list of artists seeking to keep music pirates from being kicked off of that same internet he wanted shut down, until shortly after that list came out when he was totally behind kicking people off of the internet again.

Well, here we go again, it seems. Earlier this year, Elton John joined other artists in asking Congress to remove safe harbor protections, with a specific eye on YouTube. Shortly after, he also signed onto a letter sent to several ranking EU officials complaining about record label music appearing on YouTube and suggesting that artists weren't being paid enough by the video-sharing site for their content. Which brings us to the present, where we come across Elton John's YouTube video revealing a public music video contest on YouTube, sponsored by YouTube.

‘Elton John: The Cut’ will launch at YouTube’s end-of-year show Brandcast, hosted by James Corden today (December 12), with entries officially opening to the public on January 9, 2017.

Elton John said: “We’re excited to partner with YouTube to bring together generations of artists and music lovers around a shared passion for storytelling. YouTube is a rich tapestry of creativity, and I can’t wait to see how the breadth of talent from the dance, live-action and animation communities apply their vision to these cherished songs.”

YouTube is a rich tapestery of creativity? I mean, I don't want to ding someone who appears to have come around on a more sensible point of view, but this is a far cry from "let's turn off the internet for five years." Not to mention that this partnership with YouTube flies in the face, or at least seems to muddle, the claims that the platform is some kind of problem for musical acts. If anything, this partnership shows how valuable YouTube can be and is for musical artists looking for new avenues to get their music noticed, sponsored, and to engage with the public. It's exactly the kind of thing that YouTube is good for...and has been good for dating back to Elton John's several screeds against it.

And it's quite nice to see that YouTube's involvement appears to be aimed at spawning further creativity.

YouTube’s support provides applicants with funding and use to of the YouTube Space production facilities. The production of the final music videos will be supported by Pulse Films – makers of Beyonce’s Emmy-nominated “Lemonade” film. YouTube will also award the prize fund of ten thousand U.S. dollars to the winning creators to support future video-based creative projects.

I truly hope that one of music's most famous voices has managed to come around and realize that the internet and YouTube are not enemies, but tools for music acts. It's just that the speed at which the flip-flopping is occurring is somewhat jarring.

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Filed Under: business models, elton john, internet, platforms
Companies: youtube

18 Comments

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Mason Wheeler (profile), 14 Dec 2016 @ 12:45pm

Wait... Elton John?

Is he even still around?!? I don't think I've heard anything from him since the 90s!
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Dec 2016 @ 1:32pm

whether vain.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Dec 2016 @ 1:46pm

always a different story when there is free plugging or free publicity being had. even though Elton doesn't need it, it still makes him appear to be good
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Dec 2016 @ 2:51pm

Fail to see the flipflop
Seems to me from all you referenced that he's against extending explicit licenses to cover intellectual property use on the Internet, while he's also in favour of promoting new work via the Internet?

The actual content behind his stances actually makes a lot of sense, even if at first blush the effects seem at odds with each other. Plus, it shows that he's a pragmatist -- go for the big move, and if that doesn't work, try to influence what *is* working.
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Anonymous money grubber, 14 Dec 2016 @ 3:11pm

Money Talks
I wonder how much he's making to sponsor this event?
????
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Seegras (profile), 14 Dec 2016 @ 4:12pm

YouTube is a rich tapestry of creativity
I, however, can't see what this guy is now adding to that tapestry. One song? This is is ridiculous, compared to the hundreds of works other people put on youtube, and are putting onto youtube, every day.

In other news: Once famous artist decides he wants one (in numbers: 1) of his works finally phonographed by Edison.
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Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 14 Dec 2016 @ 4:57pm

Re: YouTube is a rich tapestry of creativity
I wonder what the split on advertising revenue will be?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Dec 2016 @ 5:27pm

Sounds good. Until the Digital Millinium Creativity Abolition notices come through. Probably a week or two after the contest has ended. There'll be a few less pesky pirates on YouTube that way.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Dec 2016 @ 10:03pm

Mountains of cocaine
Elton John once mused that when flying over the European Alps it reminded him of the mountains of cocaine he consumed.
So there's your answer to why he flip-flops on his ideas on just about anything, his mind is addled with coke.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Dec 2016 @ 1:49am

Re: Money Talks
When it comes to opinions, money talks, bulls**t walks!

It seems fair to assume that he at least isn't an idealist at least.
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hij (profile), 15 Dec 2016 @ 3:08am

Who decides royalties?
Why is Sir John worried about YouTube's royalty system? I always assumed that the artists signed with their label, and the label sorted everything else out. He should be upset that his label is not negotiating a better deal for him. It is up to his label to better represent his interests.
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Ninja (profile), 15 Dec 2016 @ 3:38am

If it benefits them directly they'll think it's wonderful, if not they'll say it needs to be destroyed. Happened before. Over and over and over again.

I personally avoid his music like the plague along the likes of Metallica, Kiss and other artists that are morons like him. Sadly some of them are actually good if you ignore this 'old man yells at the cloud' attitude.
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tired of minority bs, 15 Dec 2016 @ 3:59am

gay people tryng to be relevant again alert
next will be an article about them pesky women wanting more rights or man bashing
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Frozen Njal (profile), 15 Dec 2016 @ 4:34am

Re: gay people tryng to be relevant again alert
Way to bigot over an utterly irrelevant and hateful point. Are you really that pathetic?

That or you really need to work on your sarcasm...
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jupiterkansas (profile), 15 Dec 2016 @ 8:23am

Re: YouTube is a rich tapestry of creativity
I'm no Elton John fan, but not all songs are equal.
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That One Guy (profile), 15 Dec 2016 @ 9:11am

Re: Who decides royalties?
Because the labels like to grab the majority of the money from services like YT, hand the artist a few pennies(at most) and claim that it's the fault of those darn services for not paying more, leading to the artists blaming the wrong group and lashing out at YT and the like instead of the greedy labels.
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That One Guy (profile), 15 Dec 2016 @ 9:31am

Re: Who decides royalties?
Unrelated, but in an unsuccessful search(I blame poor search terms) for the article I was thinking of when I wrote my response, I got to enjoy the wonder that was AJ in the comment sections again. All I can say is wow, I haven't seen childish tantrums that bad since I saw an actual child throwing a tantrum.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2016 @ 4:55am

Elton John:

"Close down the Internet"

"I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span."

"Elton John, blaming the internet for destroying good music"

Enough said.
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