Up-and-coming social music stars no longer have to worry about copyright infringement thanks to StarMaker Interactive. The San Francisco-based developer of music video creation apps started its own YouTube multi-channel network, complete with access to a catalog of pre-approved songs by the developer’s music label partners.
The StarMaker Network (which already boasts over 20 million users onboarded by way of its iTunes and Google Play apps) gives creators access to studio-quality effects, vocal guides, and backing tracks and allows those creators to upload their cover songs directly to YouTube. The videos can then be monetized on YouTube without risk of being flagged for copyright violations, because StarMaker has licensing deals with some of the top music labels in the industry, including Atlantic, Columbia, Hollywood, RCA, Island Def Jam, and other major music publishers. So, creators can make their own versions of popular songs from the many artists in StarMaker’s catalog, like Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, and more.
“Cover song videos are a vital entry point for new artists,” stated Nathan Sedlander, president and co-founder of StarMaker Interactive, in the release. “They’re the most shareable type of user-generated content, and thanks to YouTube’s amazing back-end tech, their proliferation has been beneficial to publishers and labels, driving both revenue and artist awareness.” And Sedlander is right. Artists from Justin Bieber to Karmin started out and got big singing someone elses work.
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“By opening wider opportunities for emerging talent, we can direct even more revenue to the publishers who administer the rights of great songwriters,” Sedlander continued. “And we can create even larger activations for labels in support of their artists and for brands seeking authentic engagement with this audience.”
StarMaker Interactive seems more than fit to handle the company’s new music and online video initiative. The app-maker-turned-network has previously collaborated with Fox’s American Idol, as well as NBC’s The Voice for its The Voice: On Stage application.
“With this launch and help from our fantastic partners at YouTube, StarMaker is expanding on that success,” said Jeff Daniel, CEO and co-founder of StarMaker Interactive, in the release. “We’re injecting new talent to the platform en masse, with a state of the art tool in their pockets, a clear path through the maze of rights that have been so challenging for independent artists to navigate, and the ability to build their own careers.”
Daniel is right, too. Music rights have proved to be an incredibly difficult path for YouTubers to navigate. Multi-channel networks like Fullscreen and online video superstars like Michelle Phan had had their fair share of legal issues relating to the use of music in their videos.
Interested artists can take advantage of the network’s unique opportunities and try to become the next big social music star by signing up at join.starmakerstudios.com. For a good example of at least one individual who has found success, check out Jessie Chen’s rendition of Alicia Keys‘ “If I Ain’t Got You”. The young woman recorded her video via StarMaker’s The Voice: On Stage application and got a callback to the show and over 200,000 views for her efforts.
