YouTube: A global audition stage for discovering new talent

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is well known for its famous tourist sites, and recently, is also getting new attention for having extremely talented homegrown artists.

Filipinos are taking the world by storm — on Broadway and in Hollywood. Internationally recognized artists like Lea Salonga and Allan Pineda Jr. (better known as apl.de.ap) are only some of the Pinoy talents who have conquered the globe.

There has also been a new breed of artists who have made their way to Hollywood through YouTube. The online video site has become a virtual stage for auditioning new talent and has made stars out of Charice, Arnel Pineda, and Maria Aragon.

The video-sharing site allowed them to reveal their talents to the world, and they have gone from local fame to international superstardom, wowing other international celebrity heavyweights like David Foster and Oprah Winfrey.

This is also true with Asian-American guitarist, singer and YouTube sensation Clara Chung, popularly known as “Clara C,” who launched her career using the video-sharing site. She has spent time over the last few years performing to an ever-growing online audience, but now, thanks in part to YouTube, she is embarking on an Asia-Pacific tour, including stops in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Most importantly, Clara C stopped over in Manila recently to perform, at the Music Museum in Greenhills, San Juan.

“YouTube has changed my life, and I’m sure other artists will find this a useful platform to share their work and launch their careers,” she said.

With the growing popularity of YouTube — a platform where people can share anything from the amusing antics of their pets to their amazing performance skills — agents around the world are now scouring the website to look for new and exciting talents they can develop, manage, and groom to be the next superstars.

To help all the aspiring artists out there create the best audition video and stand out from the rest of the pack, here are eight simple tips on how to improve their YouTube videos.

1. Sign up for your very own YouTube account and channel. You cannot upload videos without a YouTube account, so either create a new account or sign in with your username at the top right of the YouTube screen. (You are also able to sign in with your Gmail account if you have one.) Logging in to YouTube not only lets you have your own channel and upload videos but you can also access helpful features like easily saving videos to playlists.

2. Capture videos directly from webcams. Not all audition videos need to be professionally produced. A stable video that captures your best take can do the trick just as well. The Record from Webcam feature (http://www.youtube.com/my_webcam) lets you record a quick video without hauling out the camera, transferring the footage to your hard disc, and going through it with a video editor.

3. Upload in ultra-high definition and beyond. Low resolution is great for mobile phones, but for maximum cinematic impact, videos should be viewed on large screens with the highest resolution possible. YouTube now allows uploads in the ultra-high definition 1080p as well as the theater screen-sized 4K resolution.

4. Streamline your uploads. Uploading a set of videos one by one is time-consuming and, so just head to Advanced Video Upload (http://upload.youtube.com/my_videos_upload) and start uploading videos in batches. This tool is also great for uploading larger HD files.

5. Edit videos in YouTube. Held an impromptu concert, but need to tweak your video before posting on your channel? Just use YouTube’s free online Video Editor (http://www.youtube.com/editor) to splice and trim your footage — without downloading any software.

6. Update your followers automatically. Share your latest videos with your Facebook and Twitter followers immediately with Autoshare. The feature allows you to automatically share your YouTube activity — from uploading new content to rating or commenting — with friends on social networks and aggregator sites like Google Reader. To turn on Autoshare, go to the “Activate Sharing” section of the “Account” page (http://www.youtube.com/account_sharing) and start linking to your accounts on other sites.

7. Learn about your audience. Successful video creators on YouTube know their audience well, and the best place to learn more about who is watching your videos is YouTube Insight (http://www.youtube.com/t/advertising_insight) — a free tool which gives you detailed statistics about your videos and helps establish when and where your videos are popular. What’s more, the YouTube Hot Spots tab will even break down which moments of your video were more popular, and which were less compelling to your audience. With this information, you can determine which scenes in your videos are the hottest so you can edit accordingly.

8. Learn production straight from the pros. For more ideas and production tips, check out YouTube Creator’s Corner (http://www.youtube.com/t/creators_corner), which is ideal for aspiring videographers with big dreams and small budgets. Here you will find tips and tools for editing your footage, creating animations, optimizing your video and even project ideas.

YouTube is a platform that evens the playing field so that anyone can be discovered and become a global sensation. With some talent and a little bit of extra effort to increase views, you may just be the next YouTube superstar.