YouTube UK reaches licensing deal with PRS for Music
TweetPremium music videos are coming back to YouTube’s UK website, after a licensing deal was finally struck between Google and PRS for Music. The two fell out earlier this year when Google pulled music videos from the site in protest at PRS’ licensing demands.
Google has confirmed to Music Ally that the new deal is a lump sum just like the last one – Google is paying an up-front payment but NOT a per-stream minima. This is good news, as it shows PRS and the publishers it represents are being flexible in their approach to licensing. Songwriters and composers will be keen to hear the finer details of the deal though, in terms of what tracking will be used to equitably share out the cash.
The deal is backdated to 9th January when the previous deal expired, and runs until June 2012. Neither Google nor PRS for Music is saying how much the upfront payment is, naturally.
“YouTube is a popular online video destination, and this new licence continues to support musical talent,” says Andrew Shaw, managing director of broadcast and online at PRS for Music. “This is an achievement for songwriters, composers and the YouTube community alike and it reinforces the value of our members’ work.”
Meanwhile, YouTube’s director of video partnerships Patrick Walker says that “We are dedicated to establishing and fostering relationships that make YouTube a place where existing fans and new audiences can discover their favourite content – whatever it might be. We are extremely pleased to have reached an agreement with PRS for Music and look forward to the return of premium music videos to YouTube in the UK where they will join a variety of other content to be enjoyed by our British users.”
Pressure to strike a deal is likely to have come from various directions. Artists and labels were frustrated about not being able to take advantage of YouTube as a promotional medium, while the UK government is keen for legal music access services to be pushed in order to fight piracy.
Tags: prs for music, youtube
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:39 am
In Belgium there is a similar battle between Sabam and YouTube. Videos were taken offline (although with little effect – I can find any video I want) and artists were not too happy.
Peace… love it.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
[...] información en inglés en este artículo en el blog de Music Ally. 3 / 9 / [...]
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Hopefully this time round the payments from PRS will be more transparent, accurate and actually represent Youtube usage.
September 4th, 2009 at 8:39 am
[...] this page was mentioned by Tom Stabb (@tomstabb), Gavin Bayliss (@gbayliss), Leo Tong (@leotong), allen louison (@allenlouison), Adam Sangster (@adamsangster) and others. [...]
September 5th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
So, bullying works. It will be interesting to see what the details are. I hope the PRS scraped a good deal, and roll on 2012. Will there even be a YouTube then? Seriously, if people were looking for videos, how about supporting the suckers that pay for them by actually visiting the artist websites? You’ll find them on Yahoo.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Love this post. Waiting for more.
April 20th, 2010 at 3:41 am
Was sind die Beauty-Trends für diesen Winter?