YouTube has recently introduced an innovative feature that allows users to recreate music videos into ‘Shorts’ by changing multiple parameters from the original full-length video to craft something uniquely different. The strike striking similarity with TikTok doesn’t go unnoticed in this new feature. To use it, users must select the ‘remix’ option on any music video, which then displays four tools: Sound, Green Screen, Cut, and Collab.
While an individual can only pick one of these tools, each provides distinct functionality. The Sound tool extracts the audio from the video that can then be incorporated into a user’s YouTube Short. This feature is comparable to a popular trend on TikTok where users lip-sync to different audio snippets. All music videos and most auto-uploaded tracks on the platform can access the Sound tool.
The Green Screen tool transforms the video into a backdrop, allowing users to perform in front of it. Cut clips a five-second segment from the video to be added to any Short, whereas Collab generates a juxtaposed video merging user’s Short and original content, highly suitable for showing choreographed moves alongside the original artist.
This feature is now accessible on the mobile app even though it might not have been deployed to every user yet. To check for its presence, one simply needs to open the app, select a music video, and look for the ‘remix’ option.
Interestingly, these tools were already available to Shorts creators, albeit in separate tabs. With the release of YouTube Shorts back in 2021, modelled similarly to TikTok, these newly rolled-out features make it even more alike.
The timing of YouTube’s launch aptly coincides with Universal Music Group’s decision to withdraw their artists from TikTok due to unresolved financial deal disagreements. Consequently, TikTok creators have had to replace music tracks as any music from Universal is automatically muted. TikTok stands accused by the record label for its insistence on paying a “fraction” of rates in comparison to other social media sites, while YouTube’s Remix tool is accessible to Universal’s entire artist roster.