Music videos from artists on some of the biggest independent record labels are set to disappear from YouTube after the companies failed to agree terms ahead of the launch of a new subscription service.
Not making a lot of friends!
The Financial Times reports a “mass cull’ of videos from artists like Adele, Arctic Monkeys and Jack White will happen “in a matter of days,” according to YouTube’s head of content Robert Kyncl.
As rumoured last month, YouTube will begin blocking the videos from labels – believed to be representing 10 per cent of artists – refusing to play ball, amid allegations Google is lowballing and abusing its dominant position in the market.
Kyncl confirmed the cull to the Financial Times: “While we wish that we had 100 per cent success rate, we understand that is not likely an achievable goal and therefore it is our responsibility to our users and the industry to launch the enhanced music experience.”
According to the FT, the as-yet-unannounced ‘Music Pass’ subscription service will charge members a monthly fee in order to receive ad-free music on any of their devices, with offline music also available.
Google confirmed to Mashable that the new subscription tier is indeed on the way. A spokesperson said: “We’re adding subscription-based features for music on YouTube with this in mind – to bring our music partners new revenue streams in addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars YouTube already generates for them each year. We are excited that hundreds of major and independent labels are already partnering with us.”
While the remaining labels, including XL Recordings and Domino, are holding out for a better deal, YouTube’s Kyncl said YouTube is “paying them fairly and consistently with the industry.”
However, the beef of some labels isn’t what they will be getting paid for, but what they wont. One executive claimed the terms Google offered “allowed YouTube to make substantial enhancements to its free tier.”
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