Just as last week was a busy week for developments in the legal music downloads market, this week has seen extensive news coverage of video-sharing site YouTube.
Although the site is only 18 month old, its growth has been extraordinary – It is already visited by 1 in 8 of all UK internet users and its UK user base has grown by 478 percent since January this year.
For the people who haven’t visited YouTube, the site does for short video clips what Flickr does for photos (Read Miles’ review of Flickr) – You can upload and share video clips, leave comments about any of the videos already published, and add clips to blogs and other websites.
YouTube users can save their favourite videos and “subscribe” to automatically see all new videos uploaded by other users with similar interests 
The site’s massive popularity ensure that your videos will reach the widest possible audience, but many experts consider some of YouTube’s less popular rivals to offer a more flexible or efficient service.
Well-established alternatives include Google Video and Yahoo Video, but among the best-reviewed are Vimeo (praised for speed and ease of use), Revver (who share their advertising revenue with site users) and Jumpcut (who let you edit and remix your online clips)
For more details of some of YourTube’s competitors read the following roundups:
>> Digital Video Guru: Ten video sharing services compared
>> Fabric Of Folly: Top 20 video sharing sites rated
And here are just a few of the last week’s headlines about YouTube:
>> BBC News: Microsoft to launch YouTube rival
>> Web User: Record industry threatens YouTube
>> MediaGuardian: The rise and rise of YouTube
>> BBC News: YouTube in 'landmark' music deal
Comments