While I’m unsure if there is a bubble or not, I certainly believe that hype is driving valuations to unrealistic levels (see LinkedIn). On the other hand, here are a few reasons why we are not in a bubble compared with 2000.

1) The Nerds Are Winning
Back in 2000, any sales and marketing guy with half an idea was able to loosen the purse strings of an overzealous investor, as VCs desperately tried to cash in on the buzzing tech industry. Now the founders and CEOs looking for investment are the coders that are developing the products and apps. For start-ups this means that products have often already been developed to a certain extent before investment is sought. Also, giants like Facebook and Google (founded by programmers) realise that developer talent is very important and are remunerating them as such.

2) Broadband
This is quite simple: broadband speeds are multiple times faster than 10 years ago, which has enabled people to stay online for longer (without being annoyed by DSL speeds). Also, websites are more dynamic and intuitive. Sites that epitomised the crash such as boo.com, which relied heavily on Javascript and flash, would have a greater chance of succeeding now as quicker broadband speeds would enable the site to load quicker and enhance the user experience.

3) Internet In Your Pocket
With the advent of smartphones, tablets, wifi, 3G and even social networking, internet users are online more often now than ever, and in ever stranger locations. This has led to sites that are free to end users, with large corporate sponsors and advertisers footing the bill.

As YouTube turns 6 years old, it has come a long way from that first video upload to the full feature length movies that are available today. Many observers questioned the $1.65 billion Google paid for YouTube back in 2006 but five years on it is seen as an astute acquisition for a company who is not afraid to acquire what it cannot quite master itself (to date Google have acquired more than 100 different companies).

There are now 3 billion YouTube video views every day, and 45 hours of footage uploaded every minute of every day, figures which are quite staggering. Think about it, when you want to find a song quickly (let alone a football in the groin video) where do you look first? The way we use YouTube has shaped the direction the company has taken which has led to all sorts of complicated licensing deals with the major record labels (and now the film studios), as they attempt to negate any copyright issues.

They did not set out to become a music hub but as we upload content they have facilitated ways of keeping this content available. Now, the artists themselves have their own channels with links to download their tracks, which in my opinion has been one of the biggest factors in the fall from grace of myspace.

It is through ease of use, quick search results and playback, and, of course, the fact that it remains a free service that lets YouTube handle the second largest amount of search queries on any website on the planet (yes, even more than Bing or Yahoo). Even Facebook can’t ignore the impact of YouTube with more than 150 years of footage watched on Facebook every day, the vast majority of this via YouTube. They have made it easy for us to share our video on any website through the embed code, while still counting every view in their stats.

The vast majority of users will never upload a video, but this figure is growing all the time, as smart phones provide us with the tools to create video and upload directly, from any location.

YouTube really has something for everyone, from ‘how tos’ to music videos to (illegally uploaded) TV shows and it is definitely here to stay, so grab your camera and point and shoot. You could be the internet’s next star and someone may even right a song(ify) about you.

Discover How to Make Music for Video Online
There are great benefits to adding music to your video, it creates mood, tone, atmosphere and suspense…in a nutshell, it brings the vocals and visuals in your video to life!

Making music is not always an easy thing… that’s why we created tunepresto… an online music maker that makes music for you. All you have to do is upload your video, choose a musical style, and click compose.

You can upload your video from YouTube or from your PC.

The musical styles that we have available right now are: ensemble, atmospheric, minimalist one, minimalist two, percussion, electronic, urban. You can click here to read a rough guide to the various muscial styles available right now…

Have fun composing!

We’ve recently launched a demo version of Tunepresto.com. In this demo you get to choose a sample video, then choose a music style and … hey presto… you get music fitted to the video!

So, why do I need to put music to my video?
Picture this… You shot a memorable video and edited it down to the perfect size. You want your friends to look at it and enjoy it. You want to catch their attention and keep them engaged… nothing does this better than music!

Why can’t I just use my favourite tune to make music…?
Well… chances are that your favourite band or song is copyright music. This means if you publish it on the internet on a site like YouTube, your video could get removed for infringing copyright laws.

So tell me again, what does Tunepresto do?
Tunepresto makes original, copyright-free music in the style of your choice, perfectly fitted to your video. You can use the music on your website, on video sharing sites like YouTube, on social networking sites like facebook, in video advertisements… wherever you like!!

We hope you enjoy our service!