GridStream Productions

Youtube has blocked access to music video streaming that was previously available in the UK. This includes several independant labels and main stream recording companies. Youtube is presently in negotiations with the PRS which collects royalties on music in the UK and has come to an impass.

Youtube claims that the rates that the PRS is demanding are so high they would lose money on every stream. The PRS's only reply is that YOUTUBE is harming British music lovers by using this tactic during negotiations.

This leaves me with a few questions.

Is the PRS another one of these organizations that collects royalties but has no responcability to see that they get to the artist like was instituted (or attempted to be instituted), in the USA? Leaving the artist having to beg for his royalties and pay a fee to access them?

Should Youtube be streaming music videos like a television station in the first place?

This said I'm not sure of the details since the news was a short blurb and there seems to be a lack of other info so far. Perhaps someone in Great Britain can comment.

more info in this story

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7935833.stm

although it's bbc (can be slightly biased sometimes) the bulk of the content still applies.

basically they're saying " Terrestrial Station pay a flat fee + a percentage of their profits" yet digital mediums (youtube, last.fm, commercial internet stations) pay a fee for "per track listened, per user" so if 100 people view/tune in, that service provider has to pay 100x cost per song listened to.

in essence, internet media is being screwed bigtime as the PRS (or rather their executives and managers) are getting greedy.

in essence, it sucks

Fishi3 wrote:

Should Youtube be streaming music videos like a television station in the first place?

TV stations still play music videos

Thanks Screaminglord for that. It does have a bit more info than I had to date and is less biased than other reporting I've seen. Which is why I didn't quote a source because I felt that such heavily biased reporting shouldn't be perpetuated.

Negs wrote:

Fishi3 wrote:

Should Youtube be streaming music videos like a television station in the first place?

TV stations still play music videos

Terrestrial. As sl pointed out, the royalty demands on the Internet are literally hundreds of times more costly than on broadcast & cable. Its the RIAA & DMCA all over again, and it will be that way as long as extremely old and ignorant men run the industry.

Youtube claims that the rates that the PRS is demanding are so high they would lose money on every stream. The PRS's only reply is that YOUTUBE is harming British music lovers by using this tactic during negotiations.

To which my natural response is "Yeah okay um... how?"

Got to love them screwing the internet everywhere they go...