IF I WERE A RICH MAN

To me the three loveliest words in the English language are “I love you.” But to the young Internet entrepreneurs, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, the three loveliest words have to be “I love YouTube.” And if I were a rich man (Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum) I would gather up 1.8 billion dollars and out bid Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s 1.7 billion dollar bid for YouTube just to get the rights to run their video web site all by myself.

It makes me homesick when I see all those amateur YouTube videographers making music so visual and funny. Music you can not only listen to, but also watch and laugh at. I say “homesick” because that is what I, and the thousands of kids on my show, did for so many years back in the wonderful 60s. That’s what the Lloyd Thaxton Show was all about.

The audience available today on the Internet is mind boggling. More people than my show ever reached in its best days watch YouTube videos. Some clips have been watched by more than 40 million viewers. Neilson (ratings), eat your heart out.

I was introduced to YouTube by a LT fan who saw a clip of Marvin Gaye lip-syncing his big hit “You’re a Wonderful One” from a 1965 Lloyd Thaxton Show. It’s a great clip. Here’s the link. Check it out now because I don’t know how much longer it’s going to be available.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrWCzw49NDg

The reason I said “I don’t know how much longer it’s going to be available,” is because there was also a Lloyd Thaxton Show video of Johnny Rivers, “Secret Agent Man” on YouTube.

Yesterday I checked in to see it and I got this message instead:

“THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO TERMS OF USE VIOLATION.”

This could be the future for a lot of videos on YouTube. The problem is that most videos are being played without paying for the rights to use the music or, as in the case of the Marvin Gaye video, the clip itself. Example: The Marvin Gaye clip was licensed by me for use on the Marvin Gaye DVD. The producers also had to pay for the rights to use the song. It is considered illegal to play that clip anywhere else without having the required licensing rights to do so.

I have to say that I have mixed emotions about this. I do feel that the composers who write the music and the owners of the video clips should be compensated when their music is on TV, the Internet or a DVD. That’s how they make a living, by writing songs and producing shows.

However, at the same time one must agree that YouTube is one of the most effective promotion venues around today and with proper use could financially benefit all parties concerned. For example: if YouTube would plug the Marvin Gaye DVD each time a person clicked on that particular clip, somewhat like I used to do when I plugged the same record each time it was played on The Lloyd Thaxton Show, that might be compensation enough. When “You’re a Wonderful One” became a big hit it was helped considerably by its TV exposure. If YouTube plugged the source of every song each time it was played on the web site, this could sell more CDs (like the Marvin Gaye DVD) and it would be money in the bank for the record companies, the composers, AND the producers of the DVD; a win-win situation for all concerned.

When the DVD of my show is released I wouldn’t think twice before offering my finger people presentation of “Jose He Say” free on YouTube as a promotion video. I would be willing to go down on my knees (the little kid) to thank YouTube for the 40 million people who might click-in for a bit of a sample.

The song “Jose He Say, recorded by Linda Laurie,” was a big favorite on my show 40 years ago and the video clip would not only make more people aware of my DVD, it might even put Linda Laurie’s wonderful version of the song back on the record charts.


40 million viewers? You can’t pay enough for that kind of exposure.

It would be interesting to hear what all you Mouse Cliquers think. Do you feel the music recording industry is missing a big bet here by coming down too hard on all free Internet exposure of their product?

Before the rest of the YouTube videos are “removed” like Secret Agent Man, “due to terms of use violation,” don’t you feel a compromise should be attempted? Apple did it with music downloads by introducing a “Favored Nations” fee of 99-cents per downloaded song. And they don’t even offer the advantage of plugging the music. YouTube is on the front line of revolutionizing the art of promotion and choices have to be made. Either we join the Internet promotion revolution … or, like Cuba Gooding Jr. in the movie "Jerry Maguire," just keep yelling,

“SHOW ME THE MONEY !!!!!’ until it all goes away.

My opinion? The train has left the station.

What do you say, Jose?

Stay tuned.

P.S. Since writing this blog I have found that YouTube has put up a new link for "Free Hugs." It's possible they got permission from Sick Puppies, the group playing on video. I would imagine that the producers of Sick Puppies recognizes the value of the millions of people who clicked onto their video. They even use YouTube to plug their yet to be released album and the fact you can buy the song on iTunes for 99-cents. This is more than "promotion." This is "Premotion." They just made my case.

Here's that new link IN COLOR. I love YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4