Several musicians have objected to YouTube’s decision to block “premium” music content – ie that which is uploaded by a major label – for UK users this week. Music videos are no longer accessible on YouTube in the UK, though they can still be viewed in Ireland.
During a meeting of the Featured Artists Coalition – a UK musicians’ rights group – Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien said it was essential to create “fair partnerships” between music industry bodies.
“No musician – or very few – will tell you they got into this business to make money,” he said. “Artists and young bands are the lifeblood of sites such as YouTube and MySpace.”
Singer Kate Nash also said that music fans were suffering as large corporations do not fully understand the digital age, but agreed that “if organ- isations such as Google and MySpace are making profits, then they can pay for it.”
The dispute between The British Performing Rights Society (PRS), which collects royalties for the artists who have their music videos played on the site, and Google (which owns YouTube) was mainly finance-related as they renegotiated the terms of their licence.
Dublin-based music video site Muzu.tv also criticised Google. Managing director Mark French said the PRS should not be blamed for Google’s failure to generate sufficient financial revenue. Talks between Google and the IPS are ongoing.
