YouTube is driving more than traffic to music labels like Universal Music Group. Rio Caraeff, EVP of UMG’s eLabs, told CNET that YouTube is adding “tens of millions of dollars” to the recording company’s bottom line: “(YouTube) is not like radio, where it’s just promotional ... It’s a revenue stream, a commercial business.”

The video site shares revenue with record companies like UMG from ads appearing with their music videos, as well as user-generated clips featuring their artists’ tracks. UMG’s eLabs division has brokered such deals with YouTube and others, including MySpace Music, over the past three years, and has made about $100 million dollars off its music videos as a result. By Caraeff’s account, YouTube has been responsible for a large chunk of that (which should make UMG doubly happy, since it, like some other labels, took a small stake in YouTube as part of the content-sharing deal). And while that’s great for the labels, what about Google?

Read more: paidcontent.org 

Labels: music, video, youtube

Leading classical musicians are to audition on YouTube to become members of the world's first online orchestra.

In collaboration with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and Berlin Philharmonic, the video-sharing website is creating a talent contest in which musicians are invited to send in clips of themselves performing.

A panel of experts will whittle the field down to a shortlist of semi-finalists who will then be voted on by YouTube viewers.

The winning musicians will form the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, working with Michael Tilson Thomas, the Grammy Award-winning conductor, and Lang Lang, the Chinese pianist, culminating in a performance at New York's Carnegie Hall in April next year.

At the same time a selection of the video entries will be combined to create an online ensemble piece.

Read More: telegraph.co.uk 

Labels: music, musicians, orchestra, youtube

Google has launched a music search engine in China that will give users access to free downloads of licensed songs.

After months of negotiations, Google announced last night the new service would be supported by advertising revenue that would be split between the music industry and Chinese music download website Top100.cn.

Google's first music search service will allow internet users in China to search for songs on Google.cn by singer, song or album title and then download and stream licensed music for free.

If successful, the venture could curb the rampant culture of illegal music downloads that has been crippling the growth of the legitimate digital music industry in China, the country with the world's largest number of internet users.

Read more: guardian.co.uk 

Labels: China, downloads, freeware, music

 

Labels: Luciano Pavarotti, music, opera

The video-sharing website YouTube has reached a deal to pay royalties to thousands of composers, songwriters and publishers if their track is used as backing music on clips.

Artists such as Lily Allen and Sir Paul McCartney could benefit from the deal after an alliance which includes the Performing Rights Society, has licensed more than 10 million pieces of music for use on YouTube.

The British deal is to avoid the possibility of performers suing Google and follows a similar agreement in America.

Read more: metro.co.uk 

Labels: music, Publishers, video, youtube

A major US music industry body has joined other businesses in seeking to sue video-sharing website YouTube.

The National Musical Publishers' Association says some songwriters are not being properly compensated when their music appears on the site.

But YouTube says it stays within the law by immediately taking down clips found to be in breach of copyright.

Full article: BBC News 

Labels: music, Publishers, video, youtube

A new report claims that a group of Japanese music, film and television representatives held a press conference in Tokyo yesterday to complain about copyright violations on YouTube. One composer, Hideki Matsutake (pictured right ), is quoted as saying, “YouTube has to stop how it runs its site and get rid of the illegal clips. We want them to reset the service… There is no middle ground. We demand that all copyrighted material be removed immediately.”

There are also comments from a member of Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers, the group Google has attempted to appease since last year regarding the YouTube copyright issue.

Full story: blog.wired.com 

Labels: Copyright, Japan, music, TV, video, youtube

LONDON EMI Music, Google and YouTube have established what the parties jointly described as a "milestone partnership" giving YouTube users access to audio and video content from the music giant.

Under terms of the new agreement, the U.K.-based EMI agreed to give YouTube users "unprecedented" access to authorized sound and video recordings from its roster, which includes David Bowie, Coldplay, The Decemberists, Fat Boy Slim, Gorillaz and Lily Allen, to name but a few.

Full article: adweek.com 

Labels: EMI, music, UK, video, youtube