YouTube to block indie labels who don't sign up to new music service
Source: Guardian
Independent artists could disappear from YouTube "in a matter of days" after the Google video service confirmed it was dropping content from independent labels that have not signed up for its upcoming subscription music service.
YouTube is about to begin testing the new service which will charge people to watch and listen to music without ads, and download songs to their mobile devices within the next few days, initially within Google.
The company's head of content and business operations, Robert Kyncl, told the Financial Times that the service previously rumoured to be called YouTube Music Pass will launch more widely later in the year.
His confirmation that YouTube will block videos from labels that do not sign licensing deals for the new premium tier will be hugely controversial among indie labels, with trade body WIN already filing a complaint to the European Commission about its negotiating strategy.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/17/youtube-indie-labels-music-subscription
onehandle
(51,122 posts)Trajan
(19,089 posts)The less Trajan will be visiting ... simple as that ...
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)They're kind of messing up a good thing.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Golden egg laying goose, meet the knife.
They do not get it that sometimes less is more.
bananas
(27,509 posts)YouTube Is Threatening A Mass Cull Of Videos From Indie Labels
Written by Nastassia Baroni on 18th June, 2014
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They have suffered a simple but catastrophic error of judgement in misreading the market, Alison Wenham, chief executive of the Worldwide Independent Network told The Guardian.
We have been hearing from many companies across the world who are expressing fear, displeasure, outrage and confusion at the phone calls, letters and bullying they seem to be receiving from YouTube employees, she added.
According to the Financial Times, artists like Adele, Arctic Monkeys and Jack White could see their videos removed from YouTube if the service carries out their threat, but some reports suggest this claim has been overstated. Digital Trends points out, since Vevo has separate deals with YouTube and several indie labels, its videos on YouTube wont be blocked, meaning very few artists would be affected.
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DesertDiamond
(1,616 posts)GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)there will be an immediate demand for a video website for indie music.
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,961 posts)GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)them. Assholes.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)When they were all independent, they were innovative, competitive, and made the internet a joy to explore.
Now it seems that most of the major hubs of content are owned by 4-5 companies that crush innovation and alienate their customer base.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)They are bound and determined to ruin this thing we call the internet.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Rochester
(838 posts)on Youtube or anywhere else.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)I installed adblock on my browser while on DU2 because of a long running display of an animal rights campaign with bloody carcasses on every page before I got a star membership on DU3. It was free and suggested to me by another DUer, one of the Warrens, I forget which one it was.
Even if I am not signed in I don't see the ads here or anywhere and only allow content case by case. If adblocker plus requires a subscription or purchase, I won't do it because I am paying way too much to be online and my bill is going up despite my alleged 'good for a year' contract with Comcast.
Between commercially driven and deliberately skewed search results by Libertarians, who click repeatedly on anything with their view in order to make only their views show up in search results, and censor fact based and less than far right views, the paywalls and the rest, being online is not as informative as it once was to discuss issues or even have fun.
The content is now rank consumerism. They're building the Idiocracy, with a direct connection from the eye to the gut or gonads, bypassing the thinking brain altogether.
Thanks for your helpful suggestion, though.
YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)ejpoeta
(8,933 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)InfoWingerWatch
(78 posts)*plonk* *flush* Goodbye!
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)Try Vimeo, much better resolution!
nxylas
(6,440 posts)As a social networking site it's dead in the water, but lots of bands still put content up on there. If they're smart, they'll capitalise on this in order to stage a comeback, perhaps under a different name (since the Myspace brand is now usually the punchline to a joke).
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Refers to music produced for commercial purposes.
johnlucas
(1,250 posts)Don't be evil?
HA!
Google sought out to be the King of the World Wide Web.
They sought to control all information within that World Wide Web.
They sought to be the spider who captures all the prey in that World Wide Web.
We let them control the web & this is the result.
Google is Skynet.
It's already self-aware.
You just better hope that they don't have Terminators laying around somewhere.
Well, hell they already got potential volunteer cyborgs with the Google Glass travesty.
John Lucas
IDemo
(16,926 posts)No more IDemo.
Nitram
(22,768 posts)And they are trying so hard to get my cell phone number.
dkhbrit
(110 posts)People have gotten far too used to being able to watch what they want, when they want, absolutely free of charge. So when there's suddenly the threat of having to pay for stuff it's google who are evil and mean. I'm not sure I get it. If you don't want to watch it, don't pay. The sense of entitlement people have these days is amazing.
alp227
(32,006 posts)"YouTube isn't going to take ANY videos down, as the article implies. Why would they do that? It makes no sense. YouTube just won't include those artists in whatever new music service they're building," claimed the top-rated comment.
"Why wouldn't they block you from the service, if you didn't want to be in it?" asked another. "Basically YouTube is saying 'If you don't agree to be on our music service, you won't be on our music service'," explained another. And: "If this is true, then this is incredibly poor journalism from the Guardian. So poor it's magical."
And YouTube makes it possible to stream lots of music and TV shows for free (albeit with ads at times). The payment is for downloads and ad-free streaming.
alp227
(32,006 posts)In particular, there's a very cross discussion on Reddit over whether the situation has been accurately reported by The Guardian and other media.
"YouTube isn't going to take ANY videos down, as the article implies. Why would they do that? It makes no sense. YouTube just won't include those artists in whatever new music service they're building," claimed the top-rated comment.
"Why wouldn't they block you from the service, if you didn't want to be in it?" asked another. "Basically YouTube is saying 'If you don't agree to be on our music service, you won't be on our music service'," explained another. And: "If this is true, then this is incredibly poor journalism from the Guardian. So poor it's magical."
bananas
(27,509 posts)The part you quoted is mindless speculation by anonymous persons on reddit.
The article you linked to also quotes more informed sources:
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But it's the Financial Times interview that gives the clearest indication of what YouTube is actually planning to do, through a mixture of direct quotes and paraphrased information.
The piece begins "YouTube is about to begin a mass cull of music videos by artists including Adele and the Arctic Monkeys" before the key paragraph:
"The Google-owned company will start blocking videos in a matter of days to ensure that all content on the new platform is governed by its new contractual terms, said Robert Kyncl, YouTubes head of content and business operations."
It's this wording that has provoked some of the arguments over the last 24 hours: you could certainly read that paragraph as saying videos will only be blocked from "the new platform", but indie labels are claiming the threat is to block them from YouTube as a whole both the new and old (or paid and free) parts of it.
What are those anonymous sources and industry experts saying, then? Billboard is a good place to start: it's well-connected with US music labels and YouTube alike.
"Acts like Adele, Arctic Monkeys and Vampire Weekend, who account for up to 10% of all the music for which YouTube typically has rights to feature, are likely to be pulled down as the worlds largest video service has been unable to reach an agreement with the some of the leading independent labels, including the Beggars Group.
The crux of the dispute is that YouTube and the labels are unable to agree on royalty terms the subscription service in addition to existing terms with its free service.
YouTube executives argue that they cannot offer music on the free service without it also being available on the paid service as this would disappoint its subscribers. The solution? To take down songs that cant be available on both services."
That last paragraph is an important one: it's an answer to the sensible question being asked by several commenters on the Reddit thread about this story: why would YouTube pull free videos just because their labels weren't signed up to its premium service?
The Verge has also followed up, claiming that YouTube is "explicitly threatening to block artists from using the entire YouTube platform free or paid if they do not agree to the terms of the new streaming service" before quoting its own source:
"A source familiar with the situation has confirmed to The Verge that most of the details in the FT story were accurate. YouTube does not want to launch a paid service and then be forced to show some videos in ad-supported mode, or offer users the ability to take videos offline, but not be able to offer that for big names like Adele or Jack White.
It is going to begin blocking artists whose labels have not signed on to its new licensing terms in the countries where those deals apply starting within just a few days, although the paid service is not expected to roll out that soon."
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