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YouTube, with more than 10 million users per month and more than 625 million page views per month just for its Japan version (according to information issued in March 2007 by NetRatings Japan, Inc.), is the largest video community in the world.
By opening an official channel* on YouTube Japan, Yamaha will be able to bring together and make the content currently available from different sources—including Yamaha’s corporate Web site in Japanese (www.yamaha.co.jp) as well as the content on its in-house blogs and on the Web sites of its subsidiaries around the world—from one source. By drawing on YouTube’s strong power to attract customers, Yamaha aims to promote the awareness of its products and services and guide viewers to its Web sites. At the same time, Yamaha aims to share and make the full use globally of the video assets of Yamaha Group companies, allowing viewers to take excerpts from Yamaha’s movies and other content and use them on their blogs.
* A channel on YouTube is a page (or portal) that facilitates comprehensive access to videos, along with profiles and other content that YouTube users have contributed.
Yamaha, as one of the world’s leading, all-round manufacturers of musical instruments, produces many different kinds of instruments, but because of their nature, it is essential for users to be able to hear and experience the “sound and performance” of these instruments. To make this possible, Yamaha produces many demonstration movies and other video content that convey the “sound and image” of these products. Yamaha has been searching for a way to make a broader range of users aware of and give them access to see and hear this aural and visual content.
For this reason, Yamaha decided to make it easier for a wider range of users throughout the world to access these videos not only through its Web sites but also via the YouTube platform, which is popular throughout the world and has overwhelming customer appeal and drawing power.
Richie Hasegawa, General Manager of Yamaha’s eYamaha Division , has this to say about the opening of Yamaha’s official channel on YouTube Japan, “Under our new medium-term business plan extending from April this year through 2010, we have announced that we are aggressively allocating our corporate resources to the development of our “The Sound Company” business domain that encompasses not only musical instruments but also sound, audio, and networks. This YouTube initiative is part of these activities under our medium-term business plan and is intended to offer truly attractive content to users around the world. Going forward, we intend to go beyond musical instrument-related content and are considering the use of methods to promote awareness that make use of video content in all domains related to sound. We are, therefore, planning to gradually expand these activities.”
When Yamaha’s YouTube channel is inaugurated, it will feature a diverse collection of video content with about 50 titles (20 from Japan and 30 from other countries), including videos produced by Yamaha Group companies in Japan and overseas, such as demonstration performances, promotional videos, reports on events, and knowhow on maintaining musical instruments. Before the end of the current fiscal year, we are scheduled to gradually upload a wide range of additional information and have about 200 videos available through our official channel. By accessing the channel at URL, http://jp.youtube.com/yamahacorporation, viewers can see and hear introductions to the content of the channel, profiles on various subjects, and other information in Japanese or English as well as access information in various languages from YouTube sites around the world. Please note that these videos will be centrally managed by Yamaha’s business departments and the eYamaha Office, and that, through the use of exclusive IDs, confirmations will be made to ensure that copyrights of third parties related to the content offered on the channel will not be infringed, including the transfer of rights to Yamaha or obtaining permission for the use of the content by appropriate methods.
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