Let’s talk about social media stalking. No, not the kind where you scroll back several years on a stranger’s Facebook page and accidentally like a photo from 2010 – the kind where you use advanced technology to find reuploads of your copyrights. At Pex, we track various content-sharing platforms to find uses of audio and video so that rightsholders can monetize and learn from those uses. We’ve published insights from the major platforms, including that 84% of videos on YouTube contain music, nearly 80% of video views on Facebook come from uploads containing music, and over half of the videos on Instagram contain music.
Rightsholders can learn a lot from tracking the use of their content across social media. Let’s take a look at how tracking your music on social media supports monetization opportunities, licensing negotiations, fan engagement, and brand protection.
1. Monetize reuploads of your music
The most tangible benefit to tracking music on content-sharing platforms is monetization. Not all platforms enable direct monetization for rightsholders, but some – like YouTube and Facebook – allow rightsholders to claim uses of their content and earn a share of ad revenue.
Pex’s leading-edge identification technology discovered this use of “First Class” by Jack Harlow that could be eligible for monetization on YouTube. The video was identified based on a match to the original recording, which should be claimed by the rightsholders (both the record label and the publisher).
The video has over 1.7 million views, and the channel has 937K subscribers. This is no small use of a major recording and composition, and because more than a minute of the recording was used (32:40 – 34:14), this video may qualify for monetization by rightsholders.
Using advanced technology will uncover more uses and revenue
Not all uses are as easy to identify as that example. Content is often altered when reuploaded by others, either to suit personal needs or to avoid copyright strikes. One common alteration is a pitch change where the uploader speeds up a song. A pitch change makes audio more difficult to detect because it no longer matches the original recording. Pex’s technology can still detect these uses, however, because it has been trained on all the most common modifications.
For example, Pex also discovered this use on YouTube that contains multiple sped up audios. YouTube has added music information for some of the songs used here, but doesn’t seem to have identified the use of “First Class,” which Pex tracked. Unlike YouTube’s Content ID, Pex technology is trained to detect modified audio, which is why we were able to identify this use.
2. Leverage data to negotiate licenses
Reuploads like the above could mean monetization on YouTube, but could also lead to opportunities on other platforms. The sped up audios are labeled as ‘TikTok audio’ which shows rightsholders how their content is being reuploaded on another major platform. With Pex, rightsholders can track content on over 20 platforms, so they can request licenses. If a significant amount of catalog is being used on a major platform, this data can also be used in negotiations for blanket licenses.
3. Find fans and your most popular tracks
Money aside, tracking music across platforms delivers other valuable insights. Pex technology identifies beats and melodies, as well as full length songs, and discovered 23 uses of the same beat, created and released by FRIDAYLXVE, on SoundCloud. Producers can use this data to understand what happens to their beats after they are uploaded to marketplaces, so they can collaborate with fans and learn which beats are most popular to inform their promotions. Music companies can use this same information to power their marketing strategies across platforms.
4. Protect your brand
If your music is being reuploaded on social media, it may not all be sunshine and rainbows. Digital platforms are loaded with unsafe and offensive content. By tracking your music, you can see if it’s being used on content that’s damaging to your brand so you can quickly send a takedown notice.
Find your content with Discovery
With social media being the main mode of music discovery, one of the biggest challenges facing rightsholders is finding where the uses are. Without that knowledge, rightsholders are at the mercy of the platforms where content is shared. Pex is democratizing data that can be difficult for all but the largest companies to access, creating a more transparent industry where all rightsholders can flourish.
Interested in tracking your content with Pex? Connect with our team to get started for as little as $1 per tracked asset.
