YouTube is putting in place some new rules for multi-channel networks (MCNs) which could have implications for the music industry. Google’s video service wants MCNs to take more responsibility for their YouTubers’ use of music and other media, including stepping up to sort out any copyright disputes (for example: unlicensed cover versions, which has been a sore point with music publishers this year.) “MCNs will face a series of scaling penalties if their partners wrack up lots of violations—and individual channels or companies could face getting kicked off the platform,” reports AdWeek. MCNs can designate stars as “affiliate” partners to avoid being responsible for them, but the flipside to this is that these affiliate stars will be a.) given access to stats showing how much money they could be making from ads without an MCN and b.) get a link to click to start breaking up with their MCN. It’s a fascinating power-play by YouTube, with predictions that it could see YouTubers jumping ship between MCNs in a poaching frenzy. Will the changes mean more money for music rightsholders from use of their work? That remains to be seen.
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Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…