YouTube is remastering hundreds of classic music videos. In a partnership with Universal Music Group (UMG), almost 1,000 iconic music videos will be remastered. This will upgrade them from SD to HD, and bring these old hits up to modern standards.
YouTube Upgrades Classic Music Videos
In a post on the Official YouTube Blog, YouTube explains why it’s embarking on this ambitious project. The company explains that some music videos are “available only in the outdated standards originally intended for tube televisions with mono speakers.”
Given that people watch and listen to music videos on a range of different devices, most of which support HD video, this is a problem. Therefore, YouTube is “upgrading videos, vastly improving the viewing experience, whether on mobile, desktop or living room screens”.
Thousands of iconic music videos are coming YouTube Music in HD for the first time. Watch @ladygaga’s Bad Romance now and explore all of our Remastered videos here ? https://t.co/SvXc0vlGQB pic.twitter.com/G2JuCLuKVx
— YouTube Music (@youtubemusic) June 19, 2019
YouTube has already published 100 remastered music videos from the likes of Boyz II Men, Janet Jackson, Lady Gaga, Meat Loaf, The Killers, Tom Petty, and the Beastie Boys. And by the end of 2020, YouTube expects all 1,000 titles to be available.
You’ll know which of your favorite music videos have been remastered as they’ll be labelled as “Remastered” in the description. The remastered versions will replace the originals, with the URL, view counts and number of Likes being retained in the switch.
Stephen Bryan, Global Head of Label Relations at YouTube, said, “It’s our goal to ensure that today’s music videos — true works of art — meet the high quality standards that artists’ works deserve and today’s music fans expect.”
A Brief History of Music Videos
Given that this is a partnership with UMG, only music videos by Universal artists are currently being remastered. However, let’s hope that other record labels seek similar partnerships so that poor-quality music videos become a thing of the past on YouTube.
Whether they’re presented in high-definition or not, music videos can be utterly compelling to watch. And if you’re a fan, you should read our brief history of music videos. Which discusses their humble origins over 50 years ago to the artform we know today.
Image Credit: Rego Korosi/Flickr
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