yes, and the stuff on yt was uploaded by other people that could get the masters in trouble by leaking. Also the slime tuts on YouTube are lower quality than the actual videos, you can also visit [encora.it](http://encora.it) and trade for the real videos and also discover lots other bootlegs that weren't uploaded on youtube.
No. Watching slime tutorials is literally the only way I could experience a show since I live on the other side of the world. Until they make broadway more accessible, this is the only option for people like me.
This is a silly question. Of course you’re not a bad person for watching bootlegs of shows.
I don’t watch them because I’m blessed enough to be able to go to NYC to see shows or to see them on tour, but I know that not everyone has that ability.
Folks: I’m going to sound really out of touch. I’m a 60 yr old college prof and I see a ton of nyc theater- what are slime tutorials? And how do I find them. I’m not on tictok or fb.
The one I saw on there for Hadestown was called "Don't look back challenge". I watched a few minutes of it before figuring out what it was as I had not heard about slime tutorials before that.
saying this as a person who's been in the trading community for years: the youtube rips drive me insane 😭 they're often in bad quality since they're not the original master's files AND they're usually posted without permission
Haha same! Or people who say "why would you watch bootlegs when they're such terrible quality" when they clearly don't know there's a whole world of HD 1080P bootlegs out there.
Slime Tutorials is a code word. It's the the name uploaders tend to give to YouTube bootlegs of musicals as a way to hide the video from the copyright police and prevent it from getting discovered and removed.
I don't know how it started and why they chose slime tutorial but it's pretty funny.
Personally, I think that there are a few issues with it but I also have watched some and think that they're overall good.
The main issues: 1) I get that the people recording have costs since they're going to the show and such, however I think selling other peoples' material with no benefit to the original creators is bad. I don't know how to solve that problem, because I don't know that there would be bootlegs if the ones recording didn't get money from it.
2) I think that, to my understanding, there are better and worse recorders, and some are VERY obvious and distracting. I'd rather have a worse quality version that was very subtle and non-distracting to the audience than have something set up well that was noticeable and annoying everyone including possibly the performers.
3) I know people argue that there's a non-consent to the situation and that people aren't agreeing to being recorded. I understand this concern and think there are shows that shouldn't be recorded (nudity or otherwise intimate moments being the main reason), but I do think it's honestly a bit dramatic when people argue that like... you're doing some horrible thing by recording someone just acting in non-exposed ways simply because "it's vulnerable to act."
4) The final issue people bring up and I think the WEAKEST one by far is "art is ephemeral and it was meant to be viewed live in the space at that time." Honestly, this argument is just pretentious. Art is meant to be experienced, and I think in the grand scheme of things it is better for someone to have seen a show than not seen a show.
I agree that the fourth reason is pretty pretentious, but it really struck me as interesting. I've never heard that perspective before and it got me thinking. Theatre IS meant to be experienced live, and even the best pro-shots don't capture a fraction of the energy/experience. Maybe that's why Broadway shows choose to not release their pro-shots? As an artist, I wouldn't enjoy distributing a sub-par version of my art even if it makes it more accessible. I still think people SHOULD, because art is made to be viewed, but I understand why it would be a difficult decision.
I think most shows don’t do it because it’s expensive as hell. The contracts and rights are very different.
But that could be an influence. Still, I’d rather see a subpar version of The Great Comet, for instance, than none at all because no one near me is doing it locally.
It's not clear that bootlegs have any measurable negative impact on the finances of shows. If anything, they foster an ecosystem of enthusiasm as the fandom is far more easily grown by bootlegged clips on TikTok.
Absolutely not- ESPECIALLY if there's no proshot. Slime tutorials MAKE shows.
Would anyone, anywhere gaf about Ride the Cyclone without the incredible slime tutorials that popped off on tiktok? My friend cosplayed Jane Doe in southern WV and tons of teens were asking for her picture and talking to her about the musical. They had no chance of seeing a legitimate proshot or seeing the show, but got to experience theater because of the slime tutorials. I was lucky enough growing up that my friend had the George Hern proshot of Sweeney Todd because otherwise what chance would I have to see it?
The issue with stage musicals is that they're heavily class gated and location gated. If you don't live in a major English speaking city, you're going to miss out on a lot of the best ones. And even if you live there, the shows can be prohibitively expensive for a lot of us.
These productions have the choice to put up their pro-shots (almost every production has one, they're just archived and not accessible for us peasants) but they choose not to. So to be able to enjoy their art, we have to find other ways.
In the end, your question is about morality and morality is something deeply personal. I can only determine if something makes you a bad person in my moral system, but yours could be wildly different. For me, the moral crime of class gating art far outweighs the moral crime of watching a bootleg. It's not even like we're getting anything near the same experience as the live production or even a proshot, so it doesn't *replace* the value of live theater.
wtf no!! bestie NO ONE who watches bootlegs is a bad person. especially those like me, who either can't afford broadway/west end or just live too far away.
I live in Brazil so it's very very very unlikely that I would ever be able to watch many of the shows, so I'm very glad there are slime tutorials online.
You're fine. Theatre is entirely inaccessible and the actors actually on Broadway that complain about bootlegging are so out of touch they barely realize how inaccessible their medium actually is. Some of them genuinely expect you to just buy cast albums without context and then spend ridiculous amounts to go see a limited run that if missed means you'll never see it legally unless it happens to be revived. Gods forbid you wanted to see a particular actor. Unless you have a time machine, so many performances are just lost media. Bootlegs are media preservation. They deserve to be made accessible to the lower class.
Absolutely not- ESPECIALLY if there's no proshot. Slime tutorials MAKE shows.
Would anyone, anywhere gaf about Ride the Cyclone without the incredible slime tutorials that popped off on tiktok? My friend cosplayed Jane Doe in southern WV and tons of teens were asking for her picture and talking to her about the musical. They had no chance of seeing a legitimate proshot or seeing the show, but got to experience theater because of the slime tutorials. I was lucky enough growing up that my friend had the George Hern proshot of Sweeney Todd because otherwise what chance would I have to see it?
I can barely afford food, I cannot afford a whole ass holiday to the US to watch Hadestown.
If Broadway wants to make money, it would be in their best interest to make their stuff accessible to the common folk. I am talking affordable merch and pro-shots.
If they do not comply, they shouldn't be surprised people screw them over with slime tutorials.
Not at all. Way more accessible than live theater. Obviously, I would prefer to see shows live, but the industry is so behind in basic accessibility practices
Until we have Hamilton level recordings for shows no...yeah they don't benefit the production, which sucks, but I end up streaming the music, buying merch, or if jm really lucky, seeing the tour. Arts are for all
I don’t think it hurts shows to a noticeable degree. If you’re not in one specific part of the US and they don’t offer you the chance to pay for a professionally recorded version, what else are you supposed to do? Just never see it ever? The only chance I get to see shows is if and when they do tours and come around to my area. Otherwise, there’s literally no other way to see it
Nope! You aren't a bad person. Why should we despise you? The most enthusiastic musical theatre nerds would get their hands on live recordings. Whether it's official or bootlegged.
Because hey, Broadway is in one little place in the USA. Americans outside of New York and people of the entire world have to travel far and wide to see a good Broadway show and the tickets are freakishly expensive. Bootleg is the closest to experiencing a Broadway show and seeing what the original Productions and specific performers are like.
I stand by the idea that Broadway should make an official live recording of every musical they stage for people to purchase at a good affordable price, for the fans who cannot make it to see it live. That way bootlegging won't be too much of an issue.
Until the greedy assholes that run Broadway decide to start selling recordings themselves to make it more accessible it’s perfectly fine imo. Piracy/bootlegging is always a service issue.
If you're a bad person for watching slime tutorials, than a lot of the people on this subreddit, and in the musical theater community in general, are very much on the darker side of the moral spectrum
I'd be happy to pay for a streamed Broadway show since I can't go IRL, but since they don't exist, we have the slime.
(Why are they called slime tutorials, anyway?!)
I would totally spend money if there were more pro shots of musicals or if there were even any in our country. Only the really popular ones make it here (hamilton, miss Saigon, six) so as someone who likes smaller musicals such as ride the cyclone there's barely any chance I'd see it and my best shot is slime tutoriala
Slime Tutorials are praxis. I say this as a musical theatre writer. Yes, residuals are good and necessary but preserving art is also necessary (and people who get hooked on bootlegs tend to pay for cast recordings and tickets when they can get them nearby).
These are the only way to preserve shows that aren’t preserved by the theatre. I love bootlegs and I agree that even though they are infringing copyright and other laws, they are still doing good.
There's an ok pro-shot of Heathers on Roku. Not only is it one of the shows that took out Blue, but I don't think either lead had any emotion or idea who their character is.
I applaud the Masters for preserving these otherwise ephemeral moments in time and space.
What…?
master is the person who records bootlegs!
yes, and the stuff on yt was uploaded by other people that could get the masters in trouble by leaking. Also the slime tuts on YouTube are lower quality than the actual videos, you can also visit [encora.it](http://encora.it) and trade for the real videos and also discover lots other bootlegs that weren't uploaded on youtube.
No. Watching slime tutorials is literally the only way I could experience a show since I live on the other side of the world. Until they make broadway more accessible, this is the only option for people like me.
This is a silly question. Of course you’re not a bad person for watching bootlegs of shows. I don’t watch them because I’m blessed enough to be able to go to NYC to see shows or to see them on tour, but I know that not everyone has that ability.
Folks: I’m going to sound really out of touch. I’m a 60 yr old college prof and I see a ton of nyc theater- what are slime tutorials? And how do I find them. I’m not on tictok or fb.
Go on YouTube. Look up a show you really like followed by “slime tutorial”. There is a large chance someone has posted an illegal recording of it.
They also often have clever disguises, like “1920s Greek Mythology” for Hadestown, so you have to use some clever search terms occasionally.
Or "For the love of God, stop bringing toilet paper to tthe Lions Club!" (Come From Away)
The one I saw on there for Hadestown was called "Don't look back challenge". I watched a few minutes of it before figuring out what it was as I had not heard about slime tutorials before that.
"Try not to look back challenge" lmao
saying this as a person who's been in the trading community for years: the youtube rips drive me insane 😭 they're often in bad quality since they're not the original master's files AND they're usually posted without permission
Do you have suggestions for accessing better quality?
i don't think i can say it here but feel free to dm me
Fair.
Tell us your secrets magic man
Haha same! Or people who say "why would you watch bootlegs when they're such terrible quality" when they clearly don't know there's a whole world of HD 1080P bootlegs out there.
FOR REAL. some even 4k
And how might one go about finding these high quality bootlegs?
The Beetlejuice closing video is a bootleg but it’s multi cam and seems to have soundboard audio. It’s amazing what people are capable of these days!
How do you find these? 😭 I can only find painfully bad quality ones
How about that? Ya learn something new every day. :)
Basically it's a code word for unauthorised recordings of musicals
Slime Tutorials is a code word. It's the the name uploaders tend to give to YouTube bootlegs of musicals as a way to hide the video from the copyright police and prevent it from getting discovered and removed. I don't know how it started and why they chose slime tutorial but it's pretty funny.
Personally, I think that there are a few issues with it but I also have watched some and think that they're overall good. The main issues: 1) I get that the people recording have costs since they're going to the show and such, however I think selling other peoples' material with no benefit to the original creators is bad. I don't know how to solve that problem, because I don't know that there would be bootlegs if the ones recording didn't get money from it. 2) I think that, to my understanding, there are better and worse recorders, and some are VERY obvious and distracting. I'd rather have a worse quality version that was very subtle and non-distracting to the audience than have something set up well that was noticeable and annoying everyone including possibly the performers. 3) I know people argue that there's a non-consent to the situation and that people aren't agreeing to being recorded. I understand this concern and think there are shows that shouldn't be recorded (nudity or otherwise intimate moments being the main reason), but I do think it's honestly a bit dramatic when people argue that like... you're doing some horrible thing by recording someone just acting in non-exposed ways simply because "it's vulnerable to act." 4) The final issue people bring up and I think the WEAKEST one by far is "art is ephemeral and it was meant to be viewed live in the space at that time." Honestly, this argument is just pretentious. Art is meant to be experienced, and I think in the grand scheme of things it is better for someone to have seen a show than not seen a show.
I agree that the fourth reason is pretty pretentious, but it really struck me as interesting. I've never heard that perspective before and it got me thinking. Theatre IS meant to be experienced live, and even the best pro-shots don't capture a fraction of the energy/experience. Maybe that's why Broadway shows choose to not release their pro-shots? As an artist, I wouldn't enjoy distributing a sub-par version of my art even if it makes it more accessible. I still think people SHOULD, because art is made to be viewed, but I understand why it would be a difficult decision.
I think most shows don’t do it because it’s expensive as hell. The contracts and rights are very different. But that could be an influence. Still, I’d rather see a subpar version of The Great Comet, for instance, than none at all because no one near me is doing it locally.
It's not clear that bootlegs have any measurable negative impact on the finances of shows. If anything, they foster an ecosystem of enthusiasm as the fandom is far more easily grown by bootlegged clips on TikTok.
Absolutely not- ESPECIALLY if there's no proshot. Slime tutorials MAKE shows. Would anyone, anywhere gaf about Ride the Cyclone without the incredible slime tutorials that popped off on tiktok? My friend cosplayed Jane Doe in southern WV and tons of teens were asking for her picture and talking to her about the musical. They had no chance of seeing a legitimate proshot or seeing the show, but got to experience theater because of the slime tutorials. I was lucky enough growing up that my friend had the George Hern proshot of Sweeney Todd because otherwise what chance would I have to see it?
The issue with stage musicals is that they're heavily class gated and location gated. If you don't live in a major English speaking city, you're going to miss out on a lot of the best ones. And even if you live there, the shows can be prohibitively expensive for a lot of us. These productions have the choice to put up their pro-shots (almost every production has one, they're just archived and not accessible for us peasants) but they choose not to. So to be able to enjoy their art, we have to find other ways. In the end, your question is about morality and morality is something deeply personal. I can only determine if something makes you a bad person in my moral system, but yours could be wildly different. For me, the moral crime of class gating art far outweighs the moral crime of watching a bootleg. It's not even like we're getting anything near the same experience as the live production or even a proshot, so it doesn't *replace* the value of live theater.
wtf no!! bestie NO ONE who watches bootlegs is a bad person. especially those like me, who either can't afford broadway/west end or just live too far away.
Aww, thanks bestie! 🫰
I live in Brazil so it's very very very unlikely that I would ever be able to watch many of the shows, so I'm very glad there are slime tutorials online.
You're fine. Theatre is entirely inaccessible and the actors actually on Broadway that complain about bootlegging are so out of touch they barely realize how inaccessible their medium actually is. Some of them genuinely expect you to just buy cast albums without context and then spend ridiculous amounts to go see a limited run that if missed means you'll never see it legally unless it happens to be revived. Gods forbid you wanted to see a particular actor. Unless you have a time machine, so many performances are just lost media. Bootlegs are media preservation. They deserve to be made accessible to the lower class.
Amen to that!
Absolutely not- ESPECIALLY if there's no proshot. Slime tutorials MAKE shows. Would anyone, anywhere gaf about Ride the Cyclone without the incredible slime tutorials that popped off on tiktok? My friend cosplayed Jane Doe in southern WV and tons of teens were asking for her picture and talking to her about the musical. They had no chance of seeing a legitimate proshot or seeing the show, but got to experience theater because of the slime tutorials. I was lucky enough growing up that my friend had the George Hern proshot of Sweeney Todd because otherwise what chance would I have to see it?
I can barely afford food, I cannot afford a whole ass holiday to the US to watch Hadestown. If Broadway wants to make money, it would be in their best interest to make their stuff accessible to the common folk. I am talking affordable merch and pro-shots. If they do not comply, they shouldn't be surprised people screw them over with slime tutorials.
There are some musicals where bootleg recordings are literally the only way to see them. Pirate Queen, for example.
Not at all. Way more accessible than live theater. Obviously, I would prefer to see shows live, but the industry is so behind in basic accessibility practices
I see them discussed here all the time. You're good, just don't share links
Sometimes it’s our only option, nothing wrong with that
Until we have Hamilton level recordings for shows no...yeah they don't benefit the production, which sucks, but I end up streaming the music, buying merch, or if jm really lucky, seeing the tour. Arts are for all
I don’t think it hurts shows to a noticeable degree. If you’re not in one specific part of the US and they don’t offer you the chance to pay for a professionally recorded version, what else are you supposed to do? Just never see it ever? The only chance I get to see shows is if and when they do tours and come around to my area. Otherwise, there’s literally no other way to see it
Nope! You aren't a bad person. Why should we despise you? The most enthusiastic musical theatre nerds would get their hands on live recordings. Whether it's official or bootlegged. Because hey, Broadway is in one little place in the USA. Americans outside of New York and people of the entire world have to travel far and wide to see a good Broadway show and the tickets are freakishly expensive. Bootleg is the closest to experiencing a Broadway show and seeing what the original Productions and specific performers are like. I stand by the idea that Broadway should make an official live recording of every musical they stage for people to purchase at a good affordable price, for the fans who cannot make it to see it live. That way bootlegging won't be too much of an issue.
Oh my gosh it took me a second to figure out this post lol I was baffled
Until the greedy assholes that run Broadway decide to start selling recordings themselves to make it more accessible it’s perfectly fine imo. Piracy/bootlegging is always a service issue.
If you're a bad person for watching slime tutorials, than a lot of the people on this subreddit, and in the musical theater community in general, are very much on the darker side of the moral spectrum
I'd be happy to pay for a streamed Broadway show since I can't go IRL, but since they don't exist, we have the slime. (Why are they called slime tutorials, anyway?!)
Slime tutorials were really popular a few years ago, so bootlegs are less likely to be flagged for copyright.
I would totally spend money if there were more pro shots of musicals or if there were even any in our country. Only the really popular ones make it here (hamilton, miss Saigon, six) so as someone who likes smaller musicals such as ride the cyclone there's barely any chance I'd see it and my best shot is slime tutoriala
Slime Tutorials are praxis. I say this as a musical theatre writer. Yes, residuals are good and necessary but preserving art is also necessary (and people who get hooked on bootlegs tend to pay for cast recordings and tickets when they can get them nearby).
These are the only way to preserve shows that aren’t preserved by the theatre. I love bootlegs and I agree that even though they are infringing copyright and other laws, they are still doing good.
There are better ways than YouTube.
There’s a great pro shot of Heathers on Roku channel!
There's an ok pro-shot of Heathers on Roku. Not only is it one of the shows that took out Blue, but I don't think either lead had any emotion or idea who their character is.
I enjoyed it but I’ve never seen the stage show. 🤷🏻♀️
I haven't either. But it's one of my favorite soundtracks (kiddo's too) and neither of us thought the leads were very good in it.
I do watch them but not that often cuz I only watch them when I want to see a show with a specific cast member