[YouTube] They're blocking J-pop and K-pop videos

[Bigtop]

Guys, I just want to have a heads-up: I checked Stage48 (AKB48 forum) last night, and I heard their videos got blocked here stateside, as well as certain other foreign countries.

Turns out I'm hearing that other J-pop - and even K-pop (!) - videos got blocked on YouTube. I checked Rina Katahira...that's a fail. Rina Katahira is part of Pony Canyon; I heard someone on Twitter saying that Pony Canyon videos are blocked on YouTube.

Even hearing word of Up-Front Works (Hello! Project), Victor Entertainment (e.g. Leo Ieiri), Stardust Entertainment, SKE48 and HKT48 (surprisingly, not NMB48, or even Nippon Crown, who does Yanawaraba) getting blocked. Haven't tested out Avex videos (especially Ayumi Hamasaki), but we'll see (anyone please report it here).

What's even worse is that I also heard K-pop got blocked as well. (I mean, Korean music!) Most of the Twitter rant of YouTube blocking is on K-pop, so this isn't exclusive to the J-pop community as well.

Apparently the reason why YouTube is blocking a whole lot of J-pop and K-pop videos...I first speculated on Stage48 about this: YouTube Red.

If you're wondering what YouTube Red is, that's the name of a new subscription service ($10 monthly access) that allows users to view videos without ads (essentially an ad blocker), plus the ability to download videos on mobile for offline viewing, background playing of music on mobile (using apps other than YouTube), exclusive YouTube Red content, and subscription to Google Play Music. YouTube Red is scheduled to start operations on Wednesday, October 28.

However, this has not met without criticism, and I've heard of YouTube creators (not necessarily music) that are backfiring on YouTube, even to a point where ESPN decided to remove almost all videos on YouTube.

http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/21/youtube-red/
http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/21/an-...s-cant-refuse/
http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/23/youtube-red-creators/

But again, this is the Asian Music forum here on AHS, and the main point here is that YouTube is blocking J-pop and K-pop videos, assumedly because of YouTube Red - and possibly the companies that are reluctant to hop on board the 'Red' train. That's possibly the reason why - J-pop music companies (and K-pop; I mean, possibly management companies, record labels, etc.) are probably not willing to agree on the terms of YouTube Red. This makes me upset - not just me, but the entire international J-pop (and K-pop) community as well - and I'm certain at least one here on AHS is going to be upset as well.

Any thoughts? Hopefully YouTube will unblock ALL (if not, then hopefully most of it) J-pop (and K-pop) videos, but I'm assuming that is unlikely as of now. Since this is the weekend, and it's not a business day, we might have to wait until the start of the next week to see what YouTube is going to do as we lead up to the day when YouTube Red starts.

Update 10/25: Arama! Japan just compiled up a list of YouTube channels that got blocked because of this mass YouTube blocking.

http://aramajapan.com/news/youtubes-...ic-fans/51582/

[DonkeyKongRemix]

D: I HATE IT. It f-ing sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All of the websites I used to visit for music are slowly but surely becoming less and less usable (RIP grooveshark...). I mean... I get it, but it is still frustrating as can be.

I just want to listen to Kokia in peace. >.<

[Delicious n Bold]

This isn't affecting Canada, I'm surprised actually.
Oh it says the blockage is initially affecting the US. Well I guess this is a perk of living in Canada (not that I care about any blocked artists listed in arama but hey, it's a reverse Hulu experience)

[YukiUsagi]

Every Thing Will Be Fine

[AyuGAME]

Even custom made video that I created and upload to my youtube chanel blocked in US...so weird..

[Miduhyo]

Originally Posted by nalini-dahlia

D: I HATE IT. It f-ing sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All of the websites I used to visit for music are slowly but surely becoming less and less usable (RIP grooveshark...). I mean... I get it, but it is still frustrating as can be.

I just want to listen to Kokia in peace. >.<

I'm listening to Hontou no Oto right now and that's exactly what I'm thinking.
Like, what the hell? I get the whole point but at the same time I'm furious!!!

[susiowong]

This is semi-unrelated, but they're blocking small clips of anime dubs on ground that it's a violation of Sony Japan, and therefore not viewable in the USA... Really? Blocking short 45-second - 1 minute clip dubs? Even the most minutiae of videos are being blocked.

[BlackSilence]

youtube was never very good in j-pop stuff... but this sucks big time. good thing i'm not in USA. but that could end up as nothing good for other countries too.

[DonkeyKongRemix]

If I payed the monthly fee, would I be able to listen to all the music on there I want.

Edit:

btw, if anyone wants to know how to listen to Jpop as much as possible, playing some of the free international radio stations on iTunes works for me, though you can't be selective.

[orbitalaspect]

I just want to point out that I already pay for YouTube's Music Key and I have to watch 15-30 second ads every 10 minutes of video, regardless of what the content is. I don't think YouTube Red will get rid of ads entirely or meet the other promises. It's just another way for YouTube to monetize it's platform because there are, to date, no widely known alternatives with the same level of social participation.

I really hope sites like dailymotion can redesign themselves to accommodate similar features. It would be nice to see an established site come in and give back what YouTube has been slowly taking away from content creators and end users over the years.

[BlackSilence]

Originally Posted by nalini-dahlia

If I payed the monthly fee, would I be able to listen to all the music on there I want.

Edit:

btw, if anyone wants to know how to listen to Jpop as much as possible, playing some of the free international radio stations on iTunes works for me, though you can't be selective.

do they even have any decent ones?

[MeltingCORE]

They blocked all the official Capsule videos. Lame. : (

[susiowong]

Originally Posted by MeltingCORE

They blocked all the official Capsule videos. Lame. : (

Ok, now I'm really mad.

[DonkeyKongRemix]

Originally Posted by artcika

do they even have any decent ones?

It depends on what you're looking for. They have a lot of Japanese radio stations so there's a good bit available. It has helped me discover some pretty awesome singers/groups which is great.

One of the stations reintroduced me to a heavy metal VK group I liked and now I can't get enough of them.

[XFER]

Sorry for you guys, really But thankfully for now, all those videos are still available in Mexico. I love to watch Morning Musume stuff on youtube <3

[Bigtop]

This article was from December, but it's relevant to this issue. And it's a Network World article (this is a site that usually talks about networking, etc, and it's typically NOT a Japanese material site).

It turns out that J-pop videos are getting blocked for legal issues. And it has to do with one feature of YouTube Red - offline viewing:

Network World: YouTube blocks Japanese contributors' content for refusing to use its paid version

YouTube's new ad-free service conflicts with Japanese copyright law. YouTube's response? Block the Japanese content from being viewed in the U.S.

When it was announced in October, YouTube RED was mostly met with praise. For $9.99 a month, subscribers would get ad-free access to YouTube, access to Google Play, and other bennies.

Not everyone was sold. ESPN has pulled all of its content from YouTube due to what a YouTube spokesperson called "rights and legal issues." At least EPSN (sic) got to choose. YouTube has said that companies that do not sign off on YouTube RED will find their videos unavailable to viewers. And it's keeping that promise, blocking a huge swath of Japanese artists from U.S. fans.

Japan's pop culture is one of its biggest exports, next to cars and electronics. It revived the console business after Atari imploded in the 1980s, and anime and manga have a small but fiercely devoted following. Its musicians are not as widely celebrated here, mostly due to the language barrier, but they do have a following.

Well, you won't find a lot of them on YouTube any more. Major labels like Victor Entertainment and Columbia Music Japan, as well as local labels for the country's biggest acts like Morning Musume, AKB48, and Dir En Gray (sic) are all unavailable to U.S. YouTubers. Either the artist does not show up in a search, or it appears with a message saying, "It is not available in your country."

The problem stems from a YouTube Red feature that allows users to view videos offline or download them to a mobile device for up to 30 days. That kind of functionality is in conflict with Japanese copyright laws, where they have to monitor when, where, and how content is used. Many Japanese artists only post a portion of a music video to YouTube so as to prevent piracy. It's also why Japan has been slow to embrace streaming services. The result, though, is that Japan's CD sales remain strong as the rest of the world abandons the format, and CDs often sell for 3,000 Yen, which is about $30.

Because YouTube Red is only available in the U.S., only American fans are blocked out. Once YouTube Red expands worldwide, those countries will also find themselves unable to access Japanese artists.

This may seem pointless to many of you, but it really is a case of unnecessary hardball on YouTube's part, to force users to pay $10 a month to see what they had been able to see for free just a few weeks ago and asking Japan to ignore its own laws. YouTube is a vital form of music promotion, what with MTV's descent into irrelevance. I found a workaround, using the Tor browser and changing the settings to say I'm in Japan, but the connection is slow.

This probably won't stop with Japanese labels. Does YouTube have to pull this nonsense with Adele and Taylor Swift before people realize how wrong it is?

http://www.networkworld.com/article/...d-version.html

Gosh, we're all disappointed about all those AKB48 or Rina Katahira videos getting blocked here in the United States without some workaround (e.g. here)...but now I do understand why - it's legal issues that are holding Japanese music creators back from YouTube Red. But what happens when YouTube Red goes beyond the United States - and that workaround is cut off???

In either case, why is the Japanese far behind the United States in terms of digital music distribution??? Blame it on Johnny's or something?

[Minttulatte]

I think YouTube owners are stupid and childish on this. It's like they think, "you don't agree with me so I don't give you a access to my party". They should put the blockage off and let it be. Or maybe Japanese labels should move their videos to another video streaming sites like vimeo or dailymotion.