Youtube still unplugged in the UK
The Google owned video sharing site YouTube is blocking the UK from accessing music videos on their site after negotiations with the country’s Performing Right Society (PRS) for Music failed. A statement from the owners of YouTube reads:
“Our previous license from PRS for Music has expired, and we’ve been unable so far to come to an agreement to renew it on terms that are economically sustainable for us. There are two obstacles in these negotiations: prohibitive licensing fees and lack of transparency. We value the creativity of musicians and songwriters and have worked hard with rights-holders to generate significant online revenue for them and to respect copyright. But PRS is now asking us to pay many, many times more for our license than before.”
The YouTube statement continued: “The costs are simply prohibitive for us–under PRS’ proposed terms we would lose significant amounts of money with every playback. In addition, PRS is unwilling to tell us what songs are included in the license they can provide so that we can identify those works on YouTube–that’s like asking a consumer to buy a blank CD without knowing what musicians are on it.”
PRS is claiming that the owners of Google are not willing to pay enough for licensing fees. In fact, PRS is outraged that the owners of Google would “neglect” artists and songwriters in this way. A report from the BBC states the changes were to take effect March 9, 2009.
YouTube pays a licence to the PRS which covers the streaming of music videos from three of the four major music labels and many independent labels.
Last week, PRS music, likely realising how many millions of dollars they are losing due to their stubborness, agreed to half their royalty rates from youtube. Smart move considering the site contributed 40 percent of PRS members’ plays!
I wonder if anyone will ever come up with an accurate analysis of just how much money artists with major representation are losing due to the lack of foresight the big music corporations have regarding the internet? It’s no wonder major artists managers are telling artists to go out on their own.
Tags: agreement, artist, Artists, bbc, Google, money, music, musician, musicians, prs, royalty, terms, time, uk, video, YouTube