Los Angeles — For years, a lot of YouTube video creators were eclipsed by the 10 minutes of video upload that was just not enough can now rejoice, as Google owned video-sharing site YouTube is changing that: it is boosting the maximum upload length to fifteen minutes, giving the site’s millions of amateur directors a bit more leg room.
According to a Thursday post on YouTube’s blog: “Without question, the number one requested feature by our creators is to upload videos longer than 10 minutes, though it had to be put on hold while the company explored other projects and behind-the-scenes infrastructure,” Joshua Siegel, a YouTube product manager, announced on the company blog.
YouTube has long imposed the 10-minute limit on most video to help keep full, but copyright-protected versions of TV shows or movies off the site. Previously, only YouTube partners — content owners and some online video agencies — could upload content longer than 10 minutes.
What has changed, Siegel explained, is that YouTube can now manage longer videos because of an enhanced Content ID system, the YouTube technology that major movie studios, music labels and 1,000 other content owners use to manage their videos and block unauthorized versions. Also, in March, for instance, the company announced that 24 hours of video was uploaded every minute. That is up from around six hours just three years ago. Given the new limit, that is a metric that is likely to keep on growing.
To motivate users to take advantage of the new upload breathing room, YouTube announced a “15 Minutes of Fame” contest: Users just need to create a 15 minute-long video about their lives and tag it with “yt15minutes” before August 4.
“Imagine that this video is all the world will ever know about you: what would you want to communicate? What will be the enduring stamp you have left on us all?” Siegel said.
The best videos tagged with “yt15minutes” and uploaded by Aug. 4 will be featured on the YouTube homepage.