YouTube Shorts is getting an edge over TikTok thanks to its new remix feature for music videos
YouTube is revamping the Remix feature on its ever-popular Shorts by allowing users to integrate their favorite music videos into content.
This update consists of four tools: Sound, Collaboration, Green Screen and Cutting. The first allows you to extract a song from a video and use it as background audio. Collab places a Short next to an artist’s content, so you can dance next to it or copy the choreography yourself. Green Screen, as the name suggests, allows users to turn a music video into the background of a Short. Then there’s Cut, which gives creators the ability to remove a five-second portion of the original source to add to their own content and replay as many times as they want.
It’s important to note that none of these are brand new to the platform, as they were introduced years ago. For example, Green Screen arrived on the scene back in 2022 although it was only available on non-music videos.
Remixes
The company is rolling out the remix upgrade to all users, as confirmed by 9To5Google, but it will be released gradually. On our Android we only received part of the update as most of the tools are missing. Anyway, implementing any of the remix functions is easy to do. The steps are exactly the same across the board, with the only difference being the option you choose.
To get started, find the music video you want to use in the mobile app and tap the Remix button. You can find it in the description carousel. Then select the remix tool. At the time of writing this we only have access to Sound, so we will use that.
You’ll then be taken to the YouTube Shorts editing page, where you’ll highlight the 15-second portion you want to use in the video. Once everything is settled, you can record the Short with the music in the back.
Analysis: A competitive edge
The expansion of the Remix feature comes at a very interesting time. Rival TikTok recently lost access to its vast music catalogue owned by Universal Music Group (UMG), meaning the platform can no longer host songs from artists represented by the record label. This includes megastars such as Taylor Swift and Drake. TikTok videos containing “music from UMG” will be permanently muted, although users can replace them with songs from other sources.
The split between UMG and TikTok was the result of this contract negotiations fail. Apparently, the social media platform tried to ‘bully’ the record label into accepting a bad deal that would not have adequately protected artists from generative AI and online harassment.
YouTube, on the other hand, was more cooperative. The company announced last August that it was working with UMG to ensure that “artists and rights holders would be appropriately compensated for AI music.” So creators on YouTube can safely take whatever songs they want from the label – for now. It is possible that future negotiations between these two entities will end sourly in the future.
If you plan to make YouTube Shorts, you will need a smartphone with a good camera. Check out Ny Breaking’s list of the best iPhones for 2024 if you need recommendations.