In the latest sign that content owners would rather cash in on mash-up culture than fight it, Warner Music Group and video software company muvee have launched a new app that allows mobile users to remix music videos by inserting video clips shot with their camera-phone.
The app - which will be accessible via the official Web sites of Warner Music artists - lets users choose the music video they want to remix and a style template, then upload their video clips and photos. muvee's back-end service automatically synchronizes and blends highlights of users' footage with scenes from the music video. The resulting video is then sent back to the handset, after which it can be shared with friends or transferred to a PC to be burned on DVD.
PC users can also use the app, which also supports video from camcorders.
Warner Music and muvee have collaborated on video mash-ups before, giving fans of Jason Mraz the chance to create their own videos using footage from one of his music videos. The new video remix app is part of a business agreement between Warner Music and muvee that serves as a "framework deal that allows us to explore many different business models," says Pete Kellock, muvee founder and CEO.
Alex Zubillaga EVP of digital strategy and business development at Warner Music, announced the collaboration during a keynote address at the 3GSM World Congress Asia in Singapore on Monday. "We are the first music company to use this technology, he said.
Warner Music has been relatively quick to back technologies that encourage fans to interact with music, even if it means manipulating copyrighted content in the form of mash-ups. Warner Music was the first of the Big Four record labels to sign a distribution agreement with YouTube before it was acquired by Google. Indeed, Warner also has a deal with Google to stream ad-supported music videos free to users,
Kellock told telecomasia.net that "everyone at Warner is excited about this deal", though he allowed that some artists might be less thrilled.
"Some artists think it's cool and want to be part of it, but some feel that the music video is part of their art and don't want anyone messing with it," he said.
Kellock said that the app is a logical extension of muvee's video products - which have been designed with music video-style editing in mind.