YouTube Enables Music Video Integration in Shorts
In an effort to compete with TikTok, YouTube is allowing users to “remix” or combine music videos into their short movies, known as Shorts. It makes sense for YouTube to use its extensive collection of official music videos, which TikTok lacks, to further its goals for short-form video content.
The removal of the option for users to use music from well-known musicians like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Ariana Grande in their videos, along with the removal of Universal Music Group’s song library from TikTok, make this move particularly noteworthy. It was made a few weeks ago.
When remixing a music video on YouTube, Shorts artists have four options at their disposal. You can see the music video next to your own video by using the “Collab” function. For example, you can use the program to produce a short film in which you dance to the beat of a music video while your own video plays in the background.
You can utilize the music video as the backdrop for your short with the “Green Screen” option. Reaction videos could be produced in this format. This format facilitates the uploading of movies showing users reacting to new music videos, which is something that many people do. A five-second clip from a music video can be added to your short using the “Cut” tool, and you can use the “Sound” tool to use only the sound from a music video in your short.
To begin using the function, navigate to the music video that you wish to remix into a short, hit the “Remix” button, and select one of the four available tools. You won’t be able to remix any old music video, as YouTube mentions that some musicians or record labels may not have allowed their producers to remix their works.
“On YouTube, you can watch the music video on repeat, check out other Shorts that have been created from the same song by fellow fans, and discover deep catalog cuts from your favorite artists and relive those moments by remixing them as your own,” wrote Sarah Ali, a senior director of product management at YouTube, in a blog post. “All of that can happen in one place and it’s only on YouTube.”
According to Ali, Shorts has an advantage over its rivals since it provides a feature that isn’t present in competing products like TikTok and Meta’s Reels.
A few months ago, Google disclosed that YouTube Shorts had surpassed 70 billion daily views. This announcement coincides with that milestone. In February 2023, the corporation had already announced 50 billion views per day. Even if the disparity in numbers indicates positive growth, Shorts’ daily views continue to trail behind Reels’. In October of last year, Meta disclosed that Reels received 140 billion views every day on both social media platforms.
