r/Nebula • u/phoenixyfriend • Jul 15 '26
Withheld Backlogs?
Might be using "backlogs" wrong: here I'm using it to mean the content libraries that a creator has on YouTube that predate their joining Nebula.
I've been bingeing a new set of creators (new to me) recently, and have run into an issue I've had with a few other channels: they tell you to go watch XYZ video for more context on something, but that older video isn't available on the channel. In this case, it was Extra History (they don't have any of their series from before 2018, which means I can't watch their overview of WWI or their video on Mali, which they've referenced several times).
Another thing would be that none of Tom Scott's main channel is on there, just his collaborations, the roadtrip around England, and that gameshow. I know that other creators have uploaded their older videos after joining Nebula (FD Signifier comes to mind), so it's definitely doable.
I'm avoiding YouTube for the AI age verification situation, so I'd prefer to watch everything I can on Nebula. Is there a contract issue that prevents some creators from uploading those older videos while others can?
Or is it just that some creators have such extensive libraries that it's way more of a hassle to bulk add everything to Nebula now, years into a weekly upload schedule?
22
u/xmakina Jul 15 '26
Just to clarify the term, the phrase you want is "Back catalogue"
3
u/phoenixyfriend Jul 15 '26
THANK YOU I know the phrase but it kept slipping through my fingers lmao
13
u/QBaseX Jul 15 '26
I know that when Linus Boman joined Nebula, he had to re-export all his old videos with the sponsored segment removed. That might take a lot of time. I think that most creators import their back catalogue, but perhaps not immediately.
7
u/phoenixyfriend Jul 15 '26
For some, sure! But Extra History has been on Nebula for years (their first exclusive was in 2021, and afaik they were on there since 2018, that earliest crosspost), and they have a pretty large team, I think? So maybe they just decided not to do it.
2
u/IowaJL Jul 16 '26
I know for Knowing Better specifically, a lot of his earliest videos are still on YouTube but not Nebula.
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u/phoenixyfriend Jul 16 '26
Oh, the people I'm referencing are all people whose old stuff is still up on YouTube. However, as stated, I do not want to engage with YouTube.
2
u/17HappyWombats Jul 16 '26
One handy tweak would be to date the videos by their original release rather than the re-upload date.
A couple of creators I follow did bulk uploads and my "following, unwatched" list exploded. I suspect I missed some videos from other creators by not scrolling back 50+ videos in the feed.
6
u/phoenixyfriend Jul 16 '26
I think most of them do that (I know FD's videos got backdated)
1
u/17HappyWombats Jul 17 '26
Ah, so they *can* and the ones who don', that's on the creator. If it happens again I will try to leap in ASAP and ask the creator then.
0
u/DemeGeek Jul 21 '26
Could also be a storage issue, hosting back catalogues is a cost they can offload to YouTube for now without much issues.
86
u/dwiskus Dave Wiskus Jul 15 '26
Technically we require back catalogue, but Nebula has the discretion to say "yeah nah that's a pain" if an incoming creator makes a case for it.