Apparently there are more than a couple of tutorials online on how to remove the watermarks from our tracks. After looking into the issue, and although most of the methods don’t even get close, I found 2 that actually work, but luckily can be easily prevented:
-Hacking Method #1:
Replacing the watermarked section with a similar one found elsewhere in the track. This is quite effective since a great deal of our tracks are loop based with virtually no tempo fluctuations.
-Tip to prevent this:
Try your best to loop the watermark to the tempo of the song, so that the watermark will always land on the same section. This way that section will never have a clean version for the hacker to edit. It’s a bit more work during file prep, but completely worth it.
-Hacking Method #2
This one is technically very clever. It involves laying a clean watermark on a separate track in the DAW, syncing it to the watermarks in the preview track, and flipping the phase on the clean watermark. If done correctly it’s like the watermark was never there in the first place.
-Tip to prevent this:
Ever so slightly pitch or time shift the AudioJungle Watermark. The slightest unnoticeable change to our ears will render this clever method completely useless, and better yet, frustrating to the hacker.
These are just 2 solutions I found. Hope they help. Please share your fool-proofing tips and tricks if you have any!
Unfortunately applying these tips could get you (soft) rejected.
Tip 1: you’re supposed to place the watermark 10 seconds apart. Some reviewers are stricter than others about this.
Tip 2: you cannot apply effects or otherwise modify the watermark, so I’m guessing pitch shifting would be a no-go.
There are tons of videos published with watermarked music, a lot of people don’t even bother trying to remove it.
Whether thieves find clever ways to remove it, or leave it as is, the AJ watermark is not an efficient protection.
I remember long ago when i have put AJ watermark on top of the track before mastering tools (eq,compressor, limiter etc) it was soft rejected because watermark was dynamically processed. Sometimes i hear accepted tracks with obviously processed watermark, sometimes not.
Am I missing something? I thought AJ automatically added the watermark for you in the preview file? I haven’t been putting in any of my own that’s for sure
For those using FL studio, I recently made a Patcher preset that makes it impossible to phase out a watermark by making inaudible (very small) random changes to the pitch.
Just put it in the channel your watermark is and it works automatically.
I used Patcher, Formula Controller and Pitcher.
Ok Thanks for your tipps! Just copied Method #2 and its truely effective.
Then some changes should be made sides AJ, like allowing to slightest unnoticeable pitching the watermark.
mmm… maybe some kind of “watermark generator”, slightly different file each time (minimal changes in pitch and stretch) and downloadable each time ones need to upload a song.
I thought it’s not allowed to EQing or somehow changing watermark. Even once remember i got soft reject after making watermark in mono and deleting some useless low frequencies from it.
