BATEEmultiverse YouTube channel: R.I.P.

by Aaron Mystery

It was only a matter of time, but YouTube has finally pulled down the 6-million-view and 1,500-member strong (Suckermouth and) BATEEmultiverse channel after two years of not only playing by the rules, but by surpassing what anyone would expect from someone who was - in the fall of 2006 - a very young animator that had no idea what he wanted to do.

The loss of this channel is not the end of the world, as Suckermouth's members archives still host most of the deleted vids (although some of the more oddball stuff may be lost forever), and DailyMotion has proven to be a half-decent and much more liberal alternative to YouTube (http://DailyMotion.com/Suckermouth) NSFW!!!!

So it may or may not surprise you that I've started a new YouTube channel in the spirit of the old one. I will not repost old vids (some deserved to be lost), but have posted clips of my newest stuff. http://www.youtube.com/NewSuckermouth Some asshole took the Suckermouth YouTube name in November 2007, and is just squatting on it. Still, the name New Suckermouth implies a certain freshness, and it's a big improvement over BATEEmulitverse.

To move on past my bullshit, those that should be truly concerned about my YouTube horror story (at least that's how it turned out), are those that own stock in Google and those that think that YouTube is the best place to watch vids.

First, to Google shareholders: I hope you lose all your money. Your company is the biggest corporate hypocrite in all the world, with your bullshit "Don't be evil slogan," and your very evil actions. Every one of you shareholders is responsible for propping up a company that seeks to censor, control, consolidate, aggregate, own, banish, or delete everything in the world, and shows no signs of slowing down, and certainly no signs of communicating with the rest of us. YouTube's business model is now so flawed - between pissing off the big media companies and small filmmakers - that it has no prospect of long term profitability. When Warner Music and I have something in common, and it's a strong dislike for YouTube, there's a larger trend developing.

Second, YouTube should NOT be your video destination. It sucks. All the big boys whose vids you want to see are either at ComedyCentral.com or Hulu or whatever alternative the media corporations have been smart enough to cook up. Also, there's other brilliant sites like FunnyOrDie, that you'll enjoy much more than a typical YouTube viewing session. And apparently, even a nipple print on a cartoon under a shirt has been ruled blasphemous by YouTube, because that's the only thing I could find in common with my last two banned videos. Fascist, much?

So, why, you may ask, why would I do YouTube a single favor, let alone posting new vids for them to profit of? That's partly because I'm probably profiting off of it more with subscribers than YouTube is off ad placement.

We all know that media outlets eventually go out of style and die: Newspapers and tv. Terrestrial radio and the theater. But ideas don't die, and characters only go into hibernation before returning again.

So, as an old man, as I continue to nurture and grow Suckermouth, and someone asks me, "How did you know when you had something truly going with animation?" I will answer YouTube, and that naive young pup will reply, "What's YouTube?"

And I will only smile.