YouTube adds over 12,000 live concert videos

Over 12,000 old concert videos from some of the biggest bands in history are now available on YouTube thanks to a collaboration with Music Vault. While the video streaming service previously hosted around 1000 live concert performances, this new agreement multiplies that number tenfold to allow users to get see some of the rarest performances that cannot be viewed anywhere else. Music Vault explained that they have been collecting video from their archive for several years, before editing to ensure that the sound and picture quality was good enough for viewers. Now that the process is complete they have uploaded all of the performances to YouTube.

Speaking to CNET, Bill Antonucci, the content editor at Music Vault, explained that: “After two years restoring, transferring, mixing and mastering thousands of tapes from our enormous archive, we’re thrilled and extremely proud to share this massive treasure with the YouTube music community.” Some of the most well-known acts included in the uploads are James Brown, The Who, Sex Pistols, Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead. There have also been some rarer artists such as Deer Tick and Fleet Foxes.

The news comes after the recent update to YouTube that brought a number of new features to the service. These included the ability to upload video that had a frame rate of 60fps and the ability for uploaders to add a donation button to their channels. The changes were widely seen as an effort by YouTube to combat the growing popularity of streaming sites such as Twitch. The video streaming site was also in the news recently because of changes they had made to their licensing agreement with musicians. Independent artists who had refused to sign the new agreement over fears that it offered unfair terms have been told they will be removed completely from the site unless they sign.