Selamat datang, YouTube Malaysia!

Today in Kuala Lumpur we announced the opening of a brand new localized domain for Malaysia at www.youtube.com.my. This is our 42nd country with an official local site.

While YouTube has already been available in Malaysia’s most widely spoken languages — Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, and English — having a Malaysia-specific homepage can now deliver the most relevant videos for Malaysians as well as make it easier to highlight great content from our local partners such as KRU Studios. If you’re in Malaysia, the site will automatically detect your location and send you to the Malaysia page. Anyone else interested in Malaysian content but outside the country can just as easily get to the homepage by just selecting “Malaysia” in the Location section at the bottom of the page.

 At the YouTube launch event, we had amazing performances from some of Malaysia’s top musicians, such as silky voiced singer Yuna, pop princess and Flo Rida collaborator Mizz Nina, hip-hopper Joe Flizzow, and warm and fuzzy electro-poppers Tenderfist. You can see them here plus some top K-Pop stars like 2NE1, Miss A, Beast, Jang Keun Suk, Sistar and Infinite, sending some congrats to YouTube Malaysia.

 

In the last few years, Malaysians have shown a gift for creating video hits. You may have seen the guy who proposed to his girlfriend using Internet memes. Then there’s singer and ukelele player Zee Avi, who posted a few videos on YouTube in 2007 and ended up signing to Jack Johnson’s Brushfire label. Meanwhile school teacher Cikgu Shida has mimed her way across tons of popular songs to become a sudden Internet star in her homeland.

With YouTube now open in Malaysia, we are excited to see more and more Malaysians join the YouTube community. And hopefully this will also mean the world can more easily discover the amazing culture and talent that exists in Malaysia today.

Adam Smith, director of product management, YouTube Asia-Pacific, recently watched "Tenderfist - Everything's Gone"

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Get More Into: Australia’s Laneway Festival

Since we missed Music Tuesday this week, we wanted to take you back to Australia for another dose of the local music scene. Enjoy!

From big-time dream-pop to big-haired rock & roll, there are plenty of reasons to love festival season in the Southern hemisphere. Following the pumped up kicks, rockabilly licks, and modern-day lullabies that brought sold out crowds across Australia for Big Day Out, we spent the day hanging at St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Sydney. What began as a packed side-alley show in Melbourne has quickly developed into a national touring event and a favourite summer festival.

Between sets in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Auckland, and Singapore, here’s what some of Laneway’s biggest names had to say about touring down under, the Laneway vibe, and their favorite inspirational acts on YouTube:

• The Horrors get into psychadelic pop and out-of-this world sounds of Connan Mockasin
• Multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer and vocalist Jonti talks big beats and big sounds of Flying Lotus
• Hear what outstanding female vocalist have inspired The Drums to come together as a band
• Recorded in their same hometown, Twin Shadows’ At My Heels brings laughs & tears to electronic pop duo Chairlift
• M83, known the world over for reverb effects and loud instrumentals, has his first encounter with the electronic music of Jean Michel Jarre

The Laneway crew’s just completed their tour but you can enjoy your own little taste of this iconic Australian festival right here on YouTube.

Ernesto Soriano III, YouTube Australia, recently watched “Toro y Moi ‘Still Sound’.”

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Get More Into: Big Day Out and the Australian music scene

While those in the Northern hemisphere hit the slopes (Shaun White, anyone?) and anxiously await the first signs of spring, the Australian summer is all about the outdoors. Music lovers are flocking to the land down under where summer festival season is alive and rocking, and even more are coming to YouTube to catch all the sights and sounds.

During the Australian Recording Industry Association awards, we asked a few of your favorite Aussie musicians what YouTube videos get them pumped up. We rang in the new year with a live streamed sustainable arts & music festival. And here, in the heart of summer 2012, we asked three of your favourite musicians in town for Big Day Out how they get into music in YouTube

The Vaccines: all from different backgrounds & tastes and less than a year old as a band, see what live gigs helped inspire the boys from West London to record their first album in just under a month late last year:



The Living End: with six albums, each one a milestone, watch legendary Aussie rockers get into their favorite 80s anthems, from big wigs to big gigs:



Foster The People: From relative obscurity to one of the most talked about bands on the globe (to the tune of more than 63 million views on YouTube!) watch what mischievious musicians have inspired these pumped-up kicks through sold-out shows all across Australia:



So if you’re on a ski lift, by a fire, or just waiting around till the snow thaws...we hope you can enjoy a taste of the Aussie music summer, right here on YouTube.

Ernesto Soriano III, YouTube Australia, recently watched “The Vaccines: Wetsuit instagram video.”

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Madonna premieres “Give Me All Your Luvin” on YouTube

Game day can’t come soon enough? Get in the spirit today with the official premiere of Madonna’s “Give Me All Your Luvin” featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. on YouTube. You can find the video on the Madonna YouTube Channel, along with teasers for her halftime show performance.



We’ll also have her video up on the YouTube Ad Blitz Channel pre-game on Sunday, where you’ll be able to view and vote for your favorite commercials.

Love the song and can’t wait for the album? You can pre-order it now, and stay tuned to her Google+ profile for her latest news and behind-the-scenes photos leading up to the big game.

Craig McFadden, YouTube Partner Development, recently watched “‘W.E.’ - Official Trailer.”

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Get in the DJ booth with Tiësto

Ever been among the thousands of screaming fans rocking out to Tiësto and wanted to see what life is like from the other side of the DJ booth? Check out “In the Booth,” a new series on YouTube that documents the world-traveling, beat-making life of Tiësto, aka Tijs Michiel Verwest. The first episode is available today:



If you add the Channel to your homepage guide you’ll regularly get exclusive commentary and personal insight into Tiësto’s life and work, venues around the world, festival life on and off-stage, and more clubbing than you could ever fit into just one night.

New episodes kickoff today on Tiësto’s YouTube Channel, with more coming every week. And remember you can get into even more great electronic and other music on YouTube Music, with new tunes every Tuesday.

Adam Relis, Content Partnerships manager, recently watched “Mission: Impossible - Theme (Tiësto Remix).”

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K-Pop - the latest genre in YouTube music

The Korean music genre K-Pop had a big global moment in 2011.

The October SM Town Live showcase in New York — featuring SHINEE, Girls’ Generation, and TVXQ — sold out Madison Square Garden. Wonder Girls, who previously opened for the Jonas Brothers’ 2009 North American tour, have seen millions of views from around the world in just a few weeks for their latest single “Be My Baby.” American producers are also moving in on the K-Pop action. Michael Jackson veteran Teddy Riley produced Girls’ Generation’s new track “The Boys.” and will.i.am has been at work with 2NE1 on new material. And when YouTube livestreamed the Mnet Asian Music Awards at the end of November, more than 90 percent of the views were from outside of Korea.

Since K-Pop has broken so big, we thought it was a good time to give this unique set of artists their own genre on YouTube.com/music. If you select “K-Pop” from the menu, you’ll get the latest K-Pop videos and a list of upcoming concerts near you.



We’ll hopefully be adding more and more Korean music labels and artists in the future, so check back on the K-Pop section of the Music page to see the latest singles from your favorite artists and some songs from people you may not have known.

Sun Lee, YouTube Marketing Manager for Asia-Pacific, who recently watched "2NE1 - Lonely + I Am The Best [MAMA 2011 in Singapore]"

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Tune in to the pre-show for the 2011 American Music Awards

The American Music Awards are tonight starting at 8:00pm PT on ABC, but you don’t have to wait that long to tune in. Starting at 2pm PT, you can watch, Coca-Cola Red Carpet Live @ the 2011 AMAs, here on YouTube with hosts Lance Bass, Estelle, Sarah Hyland, Mario, Audrina Patridge, Josh Sussman, and YouTube’s own, Michael Buckley.

The online pre-show will feature 3 hours of live red carpet coverage, and give you the chance through YouTube Moderator to ask questions of the musicians and stars on youtube.com/awardshownetwork. During AMA week and immediately after the show, you can come back to YouTube to watch behind-the-scenes segments, producer blogs and artist interviews.



For the first time in 40 years of AMA history, the show will include a category for “New Media Honorees.” This category recognizes the impact online video has had on the music industry and how fans engage with the artists. There's lots of YouTube love, with the inaugural awards given to DeStorm, Christina Grimmie, and Karmin. Tune in to see them strut the red carpet!

Liuba Petkova, Marketing Programs Manager, recently watched, “Michael Will Be Buckin’ It Up @ The AMAs.”

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New YouTube features for music artists

Update: Added info on new feature for indie labels.

With 800 million people per month coming to YouTube, you have a pretty big stage to share your music, and now we’re adding features to also make YouTube your box office, merchandise table and music store.

The Merch Store
We’re launching a feature called the Merch Store that will allow YouTube partners to offer fans merchandise directly on your channel. Fans will be able to buy artists’ merchandise, digital downloads, concert tickets and even unique experiences like meetups. These features are made possible through affiliates like Topspin for merchandise, concert tickets and experiences; Songkick for concerts; and iTunes and Amazon for music downloads. We’ll be rolling out the Merch Store to music partners globally over the coming weeks, and here's an early look:

Online Indie Label Signups
We’ve also made a few changes to make it easier for indie labels to become YouTube partners and share revenue when their music is played, even in user generated content. The signup form is available here.

If you’d like to learn more, we’re hosting a panel on Thursday October 20 @ Noon ET at the Mercury Lounge in NYC, sharing stories with artists who’ve found success on YouTube. The lineup includes Dru Ha and Buckshot from Duck Down Music, Julia Nunes, Karmin, Portugal. the Man and Ryan Leslie, and an RSVP is available at the YouTube Creator blog.

Whether you’re the main event, the opener or jamming from your living room, we want to give you the chance to find an audience and make music your career on YouTube.

Christian Weitenberner, Senior Technical Account Manager, recently watched “Bust Your Knee Caps - Pomplamoose” and then “Bon Iver - Calgary.”

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A visit from Taylor Swift

Did you know Taylor Swift wanted to be a stockbroker when she was growing up? Or that she can be found reading John Adams' biography or tuning in to CSI marathons when she's not performing?

Earlier today, Taylor Swift answered questions from fans around the world during her YouTube Presents interview. Questions were submitted through Taylor Swift’s channel and the most popular were asked in today’s Q&A, including whether she sings her own songs in the shower, what beauty means in her eyes, and the funniest thing a fan has done to get her attention (it involves a chicken suit).



The four-time Grammy Award winner sat down with us and gave a candid look inside her life as one of the youngest and most successful pop stars in the world.

Kevin Allocca, YouTube Trends Manager, recently watched "Lion Cubs hugs."

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Music Tuesday: Fresh faces, Burning Man’s musical side and more

Summer’s drawing to a close, but there’s still time to discover a new summer anthem. Perhaps it’s a tune from Cults, the indie-popsters Noisey profiled last week on youtube.com/music. Or perhaps you’ll find your summer song in one of this week’s featured playlists.



Fresh Faces: August

Every month, we feature a handful of newly-signed music partners on YouTube’s homepage. This month, the pickings were so rich we couldn’t narrow it down to just four, so we chose six artists to feature, and they’re an inspiring group that spans the gamut, from a sixteen-year-old emcee from New Jersey who’s sworn off cursing to J Dilla protege and former Slum Village member Elzhi. Add a few jazzy singer-songwriters into the mix and there’s something for everyone.







Burning Man Survival Kit

The annual art festival takes place in Nevada Black Rock Desert this week. And while the event’s official focus is art -- kinetic, sculptural and frequently fire-breathing -- it’s also a premier gathering spot for fans of electronic music. Soundsystems on the “playa” vie with each other, putting on all-night raves that host cutting-edge deejays as well as some of the business’ biggest names. We’ve assembled a playlist of some sounds you might hear if you were there.







James Blake and Bon Iver: Fall Creek Boys Choir

Dubstep’s errant child and indie’s golden son have teamed up for an EP that releases later this year. They’ve dropped the first song from it on YouTube, and it’s a mysterious and spacious experiment in sound...just as we expected.







Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “Pigeon John ‘The Bomb.’”

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