Skip to main content

Hundreds of iconic music videos are being remastered in HD on YouTube

Hundreds of iconic music videos are being remastered in HD on YouTube

/

Your favorite artists in 1080p

Share this story

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

The YouTube logo on a black background
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Universal Music Group and YouTube have teamed up to remaster iconic music videos from standard definition to HD. The partnership will result in more than 100 music videos from artists like Janet Jackson, Lady Gaga, and Lionel Richie receiving a significant upgrade in visual quality. The two companies are working to bring that number up to 1,000 videos by the end of 2020.

These HD videos will replace the original versions on YouTube and YouTube Music, but will maintain the same URLs, view counts, and likes as before. You’ll know it’s an updated video if there’s a #Remastered label and “Remastered in HD!” in the description. Many of these videos weren’t shot in HD, but the remastering will still make things noticeably clearer than before.

Remastered videos include songs spanning decades, like Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin” to Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road,” which was released in 1991. To celebrate, let’s all enjoy this HD-quality video with crystal clear audio:

It’s welcome news, especially on the heels of a recent New York Times report detailing the extent of damage from the 2008 Universal fire, which burned through priceless original master tapes of classic albums. Hopefully, this YouTube / UMG partnership will prompt other labels to follow suit and upload remastered versions of their artists’ videos in the highest possible quality. In somewhat perfect timing for its 20th anniversary, Smash Mouth’s All Star also got an HD release, so make sure to pay your respects by watching the remastered version.