In the latter category, amateur, user-generated content (UGC) - think cat videos soundtracked by Lady Gaga tunes or influencer cooking vlogs using Diplo in the background, rather than official artist music videos - was directly responsible for 30 percent of the $4 billion total, said Cohen.

the cut of advertising on music videos that YouTube pays out to record companies and music publishers.

This money was generated cumulatively by YouTube’s “twin engines” of 1. YouTube’s global head of music Lyor Cohen revealed last week that YouTube has paid out over $4 billion to music rights-holders in the prior 12 months. YouTube launched a subscription music-streaming service in June 2018 to quench record labels’ criticisms of low payouts from its free offerings - and it’s also now stuffing a huge amount of advertising cash down the chute to music rights-holders. Why the stark difference in Mills’ attitude, then? It comes down to the strides YouTube has made to directly appease the record industry. The European Parliament has since updated those laws to make YouTube theoretically liable for such activity - but, thanks to Brexit and wishy-washy “non-binding” implementation, they remain toothless in key markets such as the U.K. “YouTube’s growth for business over the past couple of years has outpaced everyone as well as the market itself, and is now well on its way to deliver the potential of its huge audience to the music industry, as these revenue figures now show.” Those are the words of Mills in June 2021.įor context, in 2017, Mills was taking a shot at YouTube’s “safe harbor” protections in Europe, which insulated the Alphabet-owned platform from legal endangerment at the time, even if open piracy was taking place on it. “ YouTube our music, whether we choose to license them or not… They say they bring users into the licensed ecosystem, but at such a paltry return that they might as well be in the pirate world.” So spoke Martin Mills, co-founder and Chairman of Beggars Group - home to labels including XL Records, 4AD and Matador - in June 2017.

Spotify founder net worth