Why did AMVs (kinda) die?

[Cirtcele]

Hello, I'm new here on this forum, so I just want to ask this question: Why have AMVs died out? It seems like they aren't as popular as they were, say, five years ago, any reason behind that?

[SQ]

I don't think they've died at all. They've just changed form and communities have become more segmented.

If you look at youtube, tiktok, and/or instagram, there's tons of AMVs still. They might be called "edits" instead. A lot of them are shorter, some loop. The 3-4min AMVs are harder to find but I don't think they've died either. Perhaps gotten less popular or just a victim of algorithms preferring shorter edits.

This website is pretty dead, but that too can be explained by it being designed around a time before mobile internet was a thing. Entering and uploading videos is a somewhat long, tedious process, probably impossible on mobile (to be fair I haven't tried, but I also stopped entering my AMVs here years ago even though I primarily use PC.)
Most internet traffic is from mobile phones, so websites that don't cater to them are going to get left behind, as a rule. Even lots of AMVs are being edited on phones.

Forums as a whole have gone silent for the most part as people have gravitated toward instant communication. But there are still hundreds, if not thousands, of AMV-focused discord servers, and probably telegram chats too. Discoverable AMV discord servers have thousands of members of members in them-- Editor Lounge has nearly 13k, DARK Editing community has 23k+, just to name a few.

So I'd say AMVs are alive and well, they just look a little different now and don't all congregate in one place anymore.

[Rider4Z]

I made 18 AMVs last year and have already entered 11 contests this year and it's only February. And I am one of many.

If you're looking for good new AMVs check out the bounty in the Viewers Choice Awards threads here. Nominations are currently open.

viewforum.php?f=160

[Sayoria]

Back in the 2000s, there were less AMVs entering competitions. Now, some conventions see upwards of 150-250 entries. If you go to conventions, you definitely can see a living, breathing eco-system of modern AMVs and AMV editors.

The thing is, learning an editing program is intimidating. It has taken me about 10 years to fully grasp the capabilities of Sony Vegas and there's still lots and lots of functions I don't even know how to use or what they even do.

I also think if you check youtube, you could search almost any modern anime + AMV and find a video for it if it has finished atleast semi-recently.

I think the thing is, AMV editing has also gotten a little diluted in the public anime fan's eyes. I mean, some of us still joke about 'DBZ + Linkin Park' videos. Lots of people think of AMVs and think of edgy things like that or less time and effort into the videos. But people here are much more dedicated to the art. So much that most conventions still host AMV contests with a one-year age restriction.

If AMVs were really dead, AMV contests wouldn't exist anymore. And conventions wouldn't be willing to spend money on trophies for them.

[speedy180]

Hello, I'm new here on this forum, so I just want to ask this question: Why have AMVs died out? It seems like they aren't as popular as they were, say, five years ago, any reason behind that?

I'm curious as to what brought you to this conclusion? If anything I feel AMVs are hitting a 2nd Renaissance with more and more conventions putting more focus around there AMV contests and events. As Rider pointed out as well check out the VCAs and see the plethora of AMVs created over just the past year.

[.saber]

I don’t think AMV‘s are close to be dying, they are prolly more popular than ever.(btw for all youtube links in the text is a flash warnings just so you know) The style just shifted to mostly a shorter and more vfx based one. I myself prefer these because when done right they just have so much more expression. Some also have really good story telling and sound design. There are also people like xSense (https://youtube.com/@xSense?si=NHNZI5CbAsk4Sl5Y) making complex 3D scenes for their edits or people like nick_graphics (here’s a good example https://youtu.be/yi2_qP6Po5A?si=wc70OXIxyWG156UB) who make complex manga animations (often combined with 3D scenes). I personally also like some of the new styles because they often have really good build ups and aren’t like the old AMV‘s mostly bound to one song. This edit by IZXA (https://youtu.be/6IibDYmemk0?si=PsUt_FhyO81LpgVq ) is a good example for a song change in an edit (second 0:34). I think the old AMV‘s also are even made way more than a few years ago but compared to the other communities, that community is just really really small. Sry for my bad english btw it ain’t my first language so yk.

[PerkyPastry]

There’s a Gigguk video that talks about this actually, so you’re not the only one picking up on the cultural shift

[PerkyPastry]

^Although the video was made 5 years ago so maybe not the same time period you’re referring to

[MagicDarkLight]

This video from Gigguk hurt more than it helped in my opinion. Definitely a fair sentiment coming from people who enjoyed AMVs in the past or experienced the "mania" from some years ago but I think he's omitting the scene that developped during all these years and didn't take the time to learn more about the subject.
Of course, the communities are still as scattered as ever, but there are thriving competitions, teams and events, even if numbers may not be at the level they used to be, there are still new stories being written, meta changing, new artistic visions, new techniques being implemented in videos etc.

Traditional AMVs may be less mainstream but I do believe it's still evolving as we speak and the only reason they're still niche is because we're lacking in promoting our work and events correctly to a new audience. In France, one content creator actually took a completely different stance than Gigguk at more or less the same period 4-5 years ago: instead of talking about how AMVs used to be, he's explaining and hyping up what's going on today. (For reference https://youtu.be/tw6zKC40Ylw?si=BvBJCyuXN9IqxCh6 , some English at 17min with the interview of Lokkiclu).

[Ileia]

This video from Gigguk hurt more than it helped in my opinion. Definitely a fair sentiment coming from people who enjoyed AMVs in the past or experienced the "mania" from some years ago but I think he's omitting the scene that developped during all these years and didn't take the time to learn more about the subject.

Thank you, I've been saying this. He even says in the video that he never really engaged with the community. He has a surface level knowledge, so it's inaccurate in some places, but still good to showcase some cool videos. It's a case of "He's a little confused, but he's got the spirit".

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SQ hit the nail on the head about the evolving nature of the hobby. It moves platforms and changes forms and doesn't have a central hub to keep a finger on the pulse of the hobby, but they're still popular!

Here's a recent one with 78 million views that inspired a whole tiktok dance trend. I'll admit it's a bit of an outlier, but if you search Youtube for videos tagged "amv" that were uploaded in the past year, you can still scroll through pages of them that have millions of views - an impressive feat for a platform where they're battling against official music videos, hollywood trailers, tons of ads/brand-sponsored, and influencer content AND constantly fighting DMCA issues. And that's only for ones actually labeled as AMVs, not anime edits or edits.

There's always been a bit of a gatekeeping issue with new editors and new styles and I think that's a contributing factor, but in general I think the "AMVs are dead" perception stems from how most people only engage with AMVs for a few years. It's rare for someone to be a longtime AMV fan and even more rare to be a longtime AMV editor.

As people drift out of whatever subset of the community they were in, activity dries up. Some people move to different groups, different platforms. And if you're not interacting with AMVs/edits on whatever social/video site you like, algorithms stop feeding new recommended AMVs to you. If the editors you follow go inactive (as most do) and you're not looking for new ones, you don't see AMVs in your subscriber feed, either.

Anyway, my advice is to engage a little more with AMVs. Find videos that are to your taste, like, follow, leave a comment, etc and it'll help retrain your algorithm and put more on your radar.