57 YouTube singers got together to record a version of "We are the World" to raise money for Haiti through the We are the World Foundation. Take a look:
Lisa Lavie, the popular YouTube singer, who helped put the video together talked to CNN about how it was done. CNN says some people like the YouTuber's version better than the We Are The World 25 For Haiti version. Take a look:
YouTube to Start Showing Independent Films for a Fee
USA Todayreports that YouTube is going to run a test on charging fees with the Sundance Film Festival. USA Today says YouTube will charge $5 for YouTube users to watch films from the 2009 and 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
The Web's most popular video sharing site Friday will offer five films from the 2009 and 2010 Sundance Film Festival for a fee around $5. It's a way, YouTube says, to bring more exposure to independent films. But it's also a test to see if viewers will pay for content, YouTube says.
YouTube product manager Sara Pollack says the program is a response to the problems facing independent filmmakers. Too many movies are getting produced, with few places to exhibit them. For instance, she says of the 9,000 films shown at Sundance last year, only 53 found some form of distribution.
The model could be a way for independent films to get more coverage. YouTube will also be launching a section where filmmakers can upload film. YouTube will let the filmmaker set the price for what to charge.
Ashton Kutcher's The Beautiful Lifewas canceled by the CW network after just two episodes but it has found new life on YouTube. Kutcher decided to relaunch the model drama on YouTube. Seven episodes of the show are available to air on YouTube. Five of them have been posted to the TBL Youtube channel so far. Ashton Kutcher is hoping the show will get enough viewers at YouTube to interest sponsors. If there are enough sponsors then they may be able to produce new episodes of the show. Ashton Kutcher has at least made some fans of the show very happy as there are some positive comments from fans underneath the YouTube videos.
YouTube has released information about the most watched videos on YouTube in 2009. Susan Boyle topped the list. The video of her moving and surprising performance on Britain's Got Talent was viewed over 120 million times.
U2 to Stream Pasadena Rose Bowl Concert Live on YouTube
The Telegraphreports that YouTube will be streaming U2's Pasadena Rose Bowl concert in California live on October 25th. The concert will be streamed live on U2's official YouTube channel.
"Fans often travel long distances to see U2; this time U2 can go to them, globally."
The gig will be the penultimate show of the group's 360º tour, which started in June to coincide with the release of No Line on the Horizon, the Irish group's 12th album.
It will be streamed live to 16 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Israel and Canada. British viewers will be able to tune in to the show from 3.30am on Monday morning.
The live stream will be repeated again after the concert has finished.
The Anne Frank House released this video footage of Anne Frank on YouTube. The video was shot in July 22 1941. The girl next door was getting married and Anne Frank is leaning out of the window of her house in Amsterdam to get a good look at the bride and groom. The footage was taken before Anne Frank and her family went into hiding and before Anne started writing her famous diary. It is the only time Anne Frank has ever been captured on film. Take a look:
YouTube, Studios Talking About On Demand Movie Rentals
The New York Timesreports that YouTube is in talks with major studios about the possibility of launching a service where YouTube users could pay to watch full-length movies streamed online.
YouTube, which already offers some older movies on its site free, is talking with Lionsgate Entertainment, Sony and Warner Brothers about making newer ones available, said one person briefed on the talks, which were intended to be confidential.
YouTube, which has long sought to add more professionally produced video, said in a statement, "While we don’t comment on rumor and speculation, we hope to expand both on our great relationships with movie studios and on the selection and types of videos we offer our community."
Scott Rowe, a spokesman for Warner Brothers, and Jim Kennedy, a spokesman for Sony Pictures, declined to comment. Peter Wilkes, a spokesman for Lionsgate, also would not comment specifically but said that the company was "always exploring alternatives" that would help it make more money from its films.
If YouTube is granted permission to launch this service it would be yet another threat to DVD rental services like those offered by Blockbuster. The race is currently on to get people to use DVD mail rental services and rental kiosks, but this service won't last long. The future of movies outside of the theatre will be to let people pay to watch the movies and have them streamed live to their computer or television set. People aren't going to want to have to hastle with the mailbox, kiosks or subscription queues.
A Reuters story says merchants expect the Michael Jackson sales spike to continue for weeks or even months.
"With the around-the-clock coverage and questions about his death, this story will keep going, with every development giving it a new bit of life," says Kerry Fly, vice president of purchasing and marketing at wholesaler Eurpac.
Jackson's solo album sales in the United States skyrocketed from 10,000 copies in the week before his death to 422,000 in the week ended June 28, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
During the same period, U.S. track downloads surged from about 48,000 copies to 2.6 million. The week of his death, the best-selling track was "Thriller" at 167,000 copies, and the top-selling album was "Number Ones" at 108,000.
In the United Kingdom, Jackson held 11 of the top 200 album positions and 43 of the top 200 singles based on sales monitored by the Official Charts Co. for the week ended June 27. Despite the inclusion of only two full days of sales after Jackson's death, "Number Ones" topped the OCC album chart after selling 46,400 physical copies and 10,000 downloads. "Thriller" also reached the top 10 for album at No. 7, with combined physical and digital sales of 14,900.
The Michael Jackson story is certain to garner headlines for months to come but it won't remain the top story. Limited supply of some of Michael Jackson's albums is also hurting sales. One way to gauge how long Michael Jackson's music stays popular is with YouTube. The homepage of YouTube's music section is currently filled with Michael Jackson videos meaning is still very hot about a week since the news of his death.
Vatican Launches Facebook Application Called Pope2You
The Pope and the Vatican are launching a new Facebook application called Pope2You. The website for the application can be found at pope2you.net.
Launched to coincide with the Vatican's World Communications Day Sunday, the pope's new Facebook application, Pope2You, lets users send "virtual postcards" with photos and messages from Pope Benedict XVI to Facebook friends. Users can also listen to the pope's speeches through the new application.
The Vatican also launched a Pope2You Web site and an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that gives users audio and video news of the pope's travels and speeches.
In a message posted on the new Web site, the pope said the theme for this year's World Communications Day is "New Technologies, New Relationships: Promoting a Culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship."
The Vatican has had a YouTube channel since January, 2009. They launched the YouTube site while warning that obsessive social networking can be harmful. The Pope warned that social networks like Facebook and MySpace can "foster friendships and understanding, but warns they also can isolate people and marginalize others."
YouTube sensation Esmee Denters has launched the first music video from new album. The video is for Esmee's song called "Outta Here." Esmee became popular on YouTube by covering songs by other stars and landed a record contract with Justin Timberlake's Tenman Records in 2007. She has been touring with Justin Timberlake. She also has a new website called Esmee World. This catchy dance song is the first song from her new album. Take a look:
Lauren Luke, a 27-year-old single mom from England, has become a YouTube sensation with her makeup tutorial videos. Her videos have generated over 40 million views. She has been interviewed by major media outlets and has signed a book deal with Hodder & Stoughton. There's even a BBC documentary about Lauren - see here. Lauren's video channel can be found here.
Lauren Luke now also has her own range of makeup called By Lauren Luke. Her makeup is sold online at ByLaurenLuke.com.
Susan Boyle's Performance Garners Over 60 Million Views in One Week
Susan Boyle has gone from obscurity to a household name in just one week. The Washingon Postreports that Susan Boyle's audition on Britain's Got Talent has now been seen over 66 million times. The Post says this breaks a record for the number of views a video has been seen in a week. Over 30 million of the views are from the YouTube video alone, which appears to be racing for the top of YouTube's most-viewed list.
According to Visible Measures, which tracks videos from YouTube, MySpace and other video-sharing sites, Boyle's audition has generated 66.3 million views. On YouTube alone, it's been viewed more than 30 million times. The 7-minute video that was posted on YouTube last Saturday and then widely circulated online easily eclipsed more high-profile videos that have been around for months. Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin has clocked in 34.2 million views, said the folks at Visible Measures, while President Obama's victory speech on election night has generated 18.5 million views. In less than a week, Boyle topped them.
But it's not just online video where Boyle, the unassuming woman from a tiny Scottish town, has dominated. Over the weekend, her Facebook fan page was flooded with comments, at some points adding hundreds of new members within a minute. The page listed 150,000 members on 1 p.m. Friday. It grew to 850,000 by 6 a.m. Sunday. Her Wikipedia entry has attracted nearly half a million page views since it was created last Sunday.
It's amazing how Susan's performance has viraled around the Internet so quickly. Services like Twitter and Facebook allow people to share information very quickly and this has really helped the number grow rapidly. Susan Boyle has also been on a number of talk shows including the CBS Early Show (see clip and CNN's Larry King, where she covered Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." Susan hasn't been on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon yet but he used her video in a skit for his show. These appearances plus people sharing the video on social networks really helped Susan Boyle obtain a massive number of views very quickly.
Domino's President Responds to Disgusting YouTube Video
Patrick Doyle, President, Domino's U.S.A., responded to the video of two disgusting Domino's employees doing gross things to the Domino's food. The Detroit Free Presssays the video "reflects some of the worst fears consumers have about food purchased from restaurants." The two employees were fired and have felony warrants out for their arrest.
Patrick Doyle says in his video response posted on YouTube that it was an isolated incident. He says the North Carolina store where the two employees worked was "shut down and sanitized from top to bottom." He also says they are reviewing their hiring practices to make sure people like this don't ever make it into their stores. Here's Patrick Doyle's video response:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi uploaded the video below to her YouTube channel earlier this year. The video is called "Speaker Pelosi Presents Capitol Cat Cam." The video includes cats exploring the Speaker's office which is interrupted after about 30 seconds by a Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video. Andrew Rasiej, founder of the political technology site Personal Democracy Forum, says, "The more you try to make the video authentic, the more inauthentic it becomes. And Nancy Pelosi's cat video is the perfect example of overdoing it, and watching one’s head disappear in a pool of quicksand."
We enjoyed watching the cats in the Speaker's office. She should have just had more footage of the cats and skipped the rick roll at the end.
YouTube Live debuted today. It was YouTube's first ever live event. The 90-minute show was a mix of comedy and music and included some of the familiar faces seen on YouTube over the past several years. It was a slickly produced and entertaining show with something to offer for everyone. YouTube regulars probably recognized most all of the performers. They included Lisa Nova, Chad Vader, William Sledd, Esmee Denters, Julia Nunes and Tay Zonday to name a few. It was good to see Juan Mann and his Free Hugs back again along with the Sick Puppies band performing the "All the Same" song from the popular Free Huggs video. Bo Burnham's YouTube song was very funny. Queen Rania of Jordan was also awarded the first YouTube Visionary Award as we reported earlier.
Singer Kate Perry was one of the hosts of YouTube Live and she got the show off to a great start with an energetic performance of her latest single "Hot 'N Cold" at the opening. Here's the clip. Note: You can catch all the YouTube Live videos here.
USA Today 
The New York Times 
The Pope and the Vatican are 
Susan Boyle has gone from obscurity to a household name in just one week. The Washingon Post 
