The big new thing in the latest Instagram app update may sound like a minor feature, but it’s actually big news for bands and brands alike. “Starting today you can upload videos from your phone’s media library and share those moments to Instagram regardless of when they were captured,” explains the company in a blog post about Instagram 4.1. “Once you select the video clip you’d like to import, you can trim it down to the exact part you like best. We’ve also made it so that you can choose how you square-crop your clip so you can keep the action front and center.” Why is this big? Because it means people can import their existing video footage (and ads in the case of brands) rather than having to create it on their iPhone or Android smartphone. That said, we think this will be a double-edged sword: expect a fair few labels and brands to simply shove existing video into Instagram rather than think about creating something more tailored to the app and its community. We talked to some creative agencies when Instagram first got its 15-second video clips, and several said they were pleased at the lack of an importing option, because it would discourage such laziness.
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Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…