[Update] Changes to Asset Privacy for Audio

[Dylan56202 (Dylan)]

There is a bigger reason this change is being made instead of “protecting the rights of creators” and I wish that was made more transparent to the community.

A better way to protect the rights of creators would be to set all offsale audio to be blocked from being able to be played in games made by someone other than the creator of the audio. If someone wants to make their audio private, they can just keep it off sale.

But this change is clearly being made for a much bigger reason and it’s frustrating on why this isn’t being made transparent to the community. Maybe it has something to do with copyrighted audios being bypassed onto the platform, and even if this is the case why not be outright transparent about it?

I completely support protecting creators rights but it is very unfortunate the way this is being dealt with. There also needs to be better ways to sort through the massive library of free to use audio uploaded by Roblox. It is impossible to find sound effects or even a specific genre of music that was uploaded by Roblox from the APM library.

[fan1gIam (tyler)]

quite the shame

atleast it won’t be nearly as unbearable for group games now

[UItraEX (UltraEX)]

Roblox responded! Amazing. Thank you so much roblox, we know how stressful this was

[Anteraska]

As much as it’s still not a fantastic outcome I absolutely understand, and appreciate that you’re doing everything in your power to make it as bearable as possible.
The new sound effects aren’t half bad and I think I’ll absolutely be using them!

[Axyanz]

I am happy you actually took the time to read the feedback and criticism that we told you, even if not everything could be fixed we still appreciate that you even noticed and decided to change things for the community.

[Dat1nubIy (dat)]

Will we be able to unprivate audios once its privated though?
Or atleast tell us when you’ll allow us to unprivate audios.

[TheH0meLands]

Thank you for responding. Although the update is still bad, you guys definitely made it imporve. Thank you.

Although there’s more of a reason of “improving creator’s rights”. There is most likely another factor with this update that isn’t in the perspective of the developers. Like a 3rd party company forcing roblox to do this(most likely due to the lawsuit.).

Now we just need to be able to share audios + a larger upload limit for unverified creators.

[BravenwolfTFS (Braven)]

@BitFist

The asset privacy system on Roblox must be strengthened in order to continue to protect the rights of creators.

I do really think a bit more transparency here would be welcome, but I won’t push since I don’t know the full nature of the situation.

@BitFist

Creators who have edit access to an experience will be able to grant permissions for that experience to use audio assets from their account. These permissions will be managed from the Configure Item page of audio assets and will help those who have uploaded audio using personal accounts avoid re-uploading to a Group in order to keep the experience’s audio functional.

Please tell me, can we allow certain account-bound experiences to use group audio? Or can we only make this change for audio that is on an account? It would be nice to keep a “library” of audio that our group members can use in any of their games, and if this isn’t planned, I highly encourage for you to push for this to be added.

Lastly, I appreciate the update on the situation and the fact that we are being listened to. I was worried our backlash may have been falling on deaf ears, and I’m very happy to see that isn’t the case.

[BlockyToby (Toby)]

I’m glad that this update is not targeting the large library of SFX as this was an area that the APM library was lacking severely, and the new partnership with Pro Sound Effects is great news. Although, I am concerned about the length of time this might take because as mentioned in the post

@BitFist

This work will continue past March 22nd

If the system won’t be able to detect all of the SFX by then why keep the March 22nd date?
Can’t you delay the date to a time when you are sure that NO SOUND EFFECTS will be affected? This basically means that it’s like a coin-flip if the sound effects in our games will be public or not… What is the rush for? You should take your time to ensure no experiences are ruined from the update.

TL;DR if all sfx wont be public by the 22nd then just delay the change till they are all ready

[Y_VRN (Y_VRNDLL)]

I’m certainly happier with the clarifications, and much more the response. I really thought there wouldn’t be any, given how long the asset privacy post was up, and having 4k+ replies already. I’m looking forward to the audio upload limits too!

I might not have to worry about that one SFX sound file I found that is literally 6.1 seconds long anymore lol.

[ittrgrey (Ittr)]

As a foreword to this critical, but I feel necessary post, I think I speak for many in saying that many managerial heads need to roll for the utter disaster in both the scheduling and announcement of this update. It is clear that this has been rushed out the door, for some reason or another (many suspect due to a recent lawsuit, though the wording of the OP in this thread with relation to other assets makes me begin to doubt this…), and is NOT in the best interests of Roblox developers.

@BitFist

We deeply regret how disruptive the changes are, but unfortunately, they are necessary. The asset privacy system on Roblox must be strengthened in order to continue to protect the rights of creators.

Why are they “necessary”? Why must the system be “strengthened”? What reason genuinely is there for fundamentally breaking and destroying years worth of pre-existing games dependent on the current system - why can’t there, internally, be another legacy asset state that preserves the current permissions and usability of the asset, changeable to the new system by the asset owner? No one asked for this.

@BitFist

March 22nd is a hard deadline . We recognize that the schedule is abrupt and fundamentally changes how creators, experiences, and audio assets work together.

It’s more than abrupt. And why is it a “hard” deadline - what manager decided to plough on with this, as-is, in spite of an overwhelming community response? Whilst I don’t use many sound effects in my own experiences, this is simply not good enough notice or a sustainable timetable for millions to update their places.

@BitFist

Our vision is to give you full control over the privacy of your assets and how you share them with the rest of the community, other users and groups.

In a separate update, I will share more details on our long term plans for asset privacy.

If there is anything specific to audio having to be made private (e.g. lawsuit), we need absolute certainty and clarity on backwards compatibility for other asset types. It would be outright unacceptable to completely rid millions of places of their assets because they rely on the current permission system, and I deeply fear that the decision with audio is going to set a bad precedent which will irretrievably damage Roblox development.

Once more, I must repeat my call for greater transparency on decision-making from Roblox, and I do find this deeply disappointing.

[LoveingLiamGuy]

Thank you for responding to the criticism of this update.
However, I feel as if 6 seconds is a bit too short. I use multiple sound effects that are over 6 seconds but under 10-15 seconds. It would be nice if the limit was increased to 10-15 seconds for longer SFX or SFX that are a bit over 6 seconds.

[xRainbowFusionx (FusionX)]

Well I guess this all does make since now. I seriously hope that a lot of sound fx are reuploaded.

[XenoSynthesis]

Despite all of the controversy, I truly believe Roblox will be stronger for it after every phase has been rolled out. In the short term there will be disruptions and frustrations, but in the long run this will be a debilitating blow to thieves and exploiters. Just have to see these changes for what they are: incremental. Can’t overhaul every asset type at once without catastrophic malfunctions! Audio first was a wise decision.

[epix38746]

This doesn’t really change anything that much, sure, group games are slightly better off now, but still, every other non-group game will suffer the changes.

[BuildIntoTrains (BIT)]

I know this could be challenging, but maybe there could be a way to scan all audio for chords and beats to try to differentiate songs from SFX over 6 seconds.

[tnavarts]

@Dat1nubIy

Will we be able to unprivate audios once its privated though?

The plan is to eventually allow this, but as mentioned in the FAQ on the original post this won’t be possible yet immediately after the 22nd. The most you’ll be able to do for now (once the Configure Item page is updated) is grant permission to specific universes but not a blanket public permission.

[SillyMeTimbers (Silly)]

I am quite curious about this myself as I have the 2000 upload limit.

Things I have on my account

• ID Verification
• $5 Premium
• Opt-In Beta Program

[CatzRule_81 (TheFelineOverlord)]

Thank you for the update, though I still believe this’ll break a TON of stuff on the platform. So, uh, yeah, might still leave the platform altogether despite this.

I understand what you’re trying to change, but seriously, don’t kill the audio library over a suit you should absolutely be able to pay. (Yes, I’m bringing that into this.)

Also the survey isn’t working:

[Reid_Gibbs (Rei_d)]

@BitFist

Later this week, we will be introducing asset permissions for audio. Creators who have edit access to an experience will be able to grant permissions for that experience to use audio assets from their account. These permissions will be managed from the Configure Item page of audio assets and will help those who have uploaded audio using personal accounts avoid re-uploading to a Group in order to keep the experience’s audio functional.

@uglyburger0 Now you won’t have to switch SCP 3008 to your personal profile.