Although Trent Reznor quit Twitter back in July, he returned briefly in October to share a link to some fan footage (like the video above) from the final Nine Inch Nails tour. The tour had an open filming policy, allowing users to take whatever photos and video they wanted. This resulted in a bevy of widely-viewed live footage, including NIN’s performance of The Downward Spiral in its entirety, which the band had never done before. Tons of free, user generated, original content was provided and virally spread because of this open filming policy. YouTube Direct takes this concept one step further in allowing artists to embed a YouTube widget directly onto their page, which fans can use to upload their own videos directly to the artist’s site.

To use YouTube Direct, simply paste the code provided into your html. Since it’s an open sourced platform, the code is entirely customizable to fit the look and feel of your site. Videos that are uploaded through the widget then await your approval on a moderator page, where you can preview the videos and decide whether or not to add them to your player.

This is a great tool to engage your fans as it encourages them to be a part of the creation of your website, and helps to develop and maintain dialog between the artist and the fan, as well as from fan to fan. Since you must approve all of the content, only the videos that you want shown will be included. Broadcast full concerts, show footage from your shows around the country, run contests based on user submitted video, and more.

Watch this quick intro video and visit the YouTube Direct website for more info.

Did I mention it’s free?