Muziic: YouTube approved our site
Muziic, the service that acts as a media player for YouTube music videos, has agreed to make changes asked for by YouTube managers, and the service's 15-year-old co-founder saw nothing else standing in Muziic's way.
Last week, YouTube managers raised objections to the size of Muziic's video player and said it violated the company's API terms of use, said David Nelson, Muziic's teenage co-founder. After discussions that occurred over several days, Nelson agreed to increase the size of the player, which has been postage-stamp size since launch.
On Tuesday, Nelson told CNET News that changes have satisfied YouTube managers and they have raised no other objections to the service or asked for any other changes. YouTube representatives did not respond to an interview request.
"We're very excited about the future of Muziic," Nelson said. "We're happy to be working with YouTube and Google to fine-tune the player."
Since launching, Muziic has received lots of attention, mostly due to Nelson's age. But Muziic has also won favorable reviews for simplifying YouTube's music experience. The service enables users to handle music videos as if they were MP3s. It also raises questions about whether the music licenses acquired by YouTube will cover piggyback services like Muziic.
David Nelson, 15, is celebrating the deal he worked out with YouTube that will allow his site to stay in business.
(Credit: Mark Nelson)I was among those who wondered whether Muziic's tiny video player, which appeared to be included to do little more than satisfy YouTube's terms of service, would be acceptable to Google's video site. It wasn't.
But YouTube has shown some flexibility, said the Nelsons. The new player, which will be distributed to users in a software update, isn't as large as YouTube's traditional player.
"We actually think this will help improve the service," said Mark Nelson, David's father and Muziic's co-founder.
To be sure, Muziic still faces plenty of uncertainty. The major music labels, which are now very aware of the site, according to music industry sources, have not weighed in yet. The Nelsons say they want to deal with the labels in good faith and haven't hired a lawyer.
In addition to getting good news from YouTube, the Nelsons said they have been approached by people who wish to invest in their company, including a "larger Midwestern venture capital firm," said Mark Nelson.
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sandoCNET. 
its a good thing they made the video player larger cos it was too small to watch the videos. some people actually like watching the videos as well as listening to the music.
good luck.
http://www.youtube.com/
At least YouTube was smart enough to avoid being the bad guy and picking on the little boy and his loving father, destroying their dream of using YouTube's API to build a music site, hatched during a particularly boring episode of Star Trek.
- by karpenterskids March 18, 2009 6:39 PM PDT
- I'm glad Youtube made the right decision here...this is/was a smart move on their part.
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(9 Comments)I've been following this kid ever since I first heard about Muziic: glad to hear it's working out for him so far!
In case the music labels decide to hassle them, though (which may very well happen...), David needs to put on his thinking cap and find a non-related need in the industry that's not yet filled. The publicity built up from Muziic will carry over into whatever else he decides to try his hand at, and everything will flow over nicely. (providing that the new device or application works, of course)