MAINSTREAM vs. BETTERSTREAM
BetterStream surfaced in the wake of mainstream content degradation.
The dictionary defines mainstream as normal and conventional, which is defined as old and boring.
BetterStream's goal is, and has always been, to not only parody the mainstream (as we love to do so much), but also to have content that is "Better Than Mainstream"; in other words, to have content that is unique (as opposed to normal and conventional) and interesting (as opposed to old and boring).
And we don't just strive for Better material than the mainstream, we strive for Better business, Better sponsors, much Better promotion of artists, and much, much, much, much Better treatment of the artists who use our site to share their creative work.
We also have Better streaming than mainstream videos sharing sites like YouTube, and Better video quality too. And, if you're a musician, your songs will sound much, much, much Better than mainstream music sites like myspace.
If, during your time here, you find any additional ways that we can be "Better than Mainstream", please tell us and we will try to implement these changes. Even if those changes are just for you and no one else.
THE MATERIAL ON OUR SITE
Since anyone can sign up and upload videos and audio tracks here, we've divided our site into "All Users" and "Promoted Users".
"All Users" is anyone who signs up and uploads something. We don't always review what's uploaded.
"Promoted Users" are those users we promote because their material is more unique and interesting than the mainstream. If you want to search every mainstream "dog peeing on the carpet" video in the world, go to YouTube. If you want to search "Better Than Mainstream" content, stick around.
If you search BetterStream.com, you will only get results from promoted users, unless you choose "all users" from the advanced search, then you will get results from everyone and everything placed on our site.
ARE YOU A CREATIVE VIDEO ARTIST?
Are you a creative entertainer, satirist, video artist, musician, commentator? If so, BetterStream.com is where you belong. As soon as you join (by signing up), you're an instant partner. You can upload your material here as well as your own ads. Your ads will display on your user homepage as well as on each of your video pages. So if someone is watching one of your videos, then one of your ads will show below.
In addition to being an instant partner here, we also promote certain video creators. To learn how you can be promoted here, please visit our promotion page.
COMMITMENT TO QUALITY, SPEED, and TECHNOLOGY
FLASH vs. HTML
You'll find that our videos stream (or display) faster here than they do even on mega video websites like YouTube and that the quality is much, much Better. Currently, we display full quality .flv conversions. However, and even though .flv is the standard video streaming format, when HTML 5 is official, we will be the first in line to display videos in a much Better format than .flv, if possible. We are working on it as this is written.
HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO
If you are interested in posting full quality or high definition videos, please contact us for even Better conversion options. And of course, you can contact us just to say "hi" too. Or to talk about the weather.. Or tell us off.. Or tell us how stupendous we are and how much Better we are than everyone else, etc..
USER UPLOADS
We do accept most formats for uploading, however and ideally, the video uploader would transcode to a high quality flash (.flv) video and then upload it the .flv to bypass our conversion process and keep the fullest original quality possible. But if you upload a video and it already looks great, then you wouldn't need to transcode yourself. Additionally, if you send us your original video files, we can always convert them ourselves to maximize the quality.
VIDEO PLAYBACK
We strive for Better streaming or playback of videos than any other site. We use one of the top 5 CDNs (Content Delivery Networks) in the world. If you ever, ever experience a video here not playing smoothly, not streaming flawlessly, or stopping, please let us know -- we haven't had the problem yet as of this writing, and if we ever do, we'll solve it right away.
COMMITMENT TO CUSTOMIZATION
BetterStream believes that companies today are too robotic in their policies: its one way for everyone and no exceptions. Period. We don't subscribe to that unyielding policy. We subscribe to a Better one...
If you're a user here and there's something that you'd like to see implemented just for yourself, if it doesn't hurt our site or anyone else here, we'll try to implemenent it just for you. For example, we don't allow general HTML submission by users, just as most sites don't, because a user could rewrite the entire site. The difference is, those other sites never consider an exception. It's their way or the highway. We, however, will definitely consider an exception.
If there's something you really want to add to your homepage, that our basic html doesn't allow, such as an animated logo of some kind, send us the code and we'll most likely put it up just for you.
OUR BETTER TERMS OF USE
You'll find our terms of use very short and sweet, and definitely not loaded with the five to fifty pages of incomprehensive legal jargon that you often see from other sites' terms of use. If there's something in our terms of use that you don't like or don't agree with, or you would like to enter into an additional or different agreement with us, please contact us to discuss it.
As you can see, we're extremely open-minded here. Nothing is set in stone except our Better treatment of artists, our Better video streaming, and our Better content and sponsors.
Please read About The Founder of BetterStream to see how his personal experience with the mainstream entertainment industry led to the creation of BetterStream and its highly principled treatment of artists.
IMPORTANT LINKS:
Our Better Terms of Use
Promotion on BetterStream
Artists Have To Get Paid
Our Declaration of Independence
If you have any questions or want us to further explain anything we've written in these sections, or if you just want to say hi, please contact us.