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Failed Negotiations: YouTube Will Block Music Videos in the UK

Written by Frederic Lardinois / March 9, 2009 12:29 PM / 8 Comments

youtube_logo_nov08.pngYouTube just announced that it wasn't able to reach a new deal with the UK's Performing Rights Society (PRS for Music), which collects licensing fees for musicians and labels in the UK. Because of this, YouTube will now block access to all premium music videos for users in the UK. According to YouTube, the licensing fees that PRS was looking for were "simply prohibitive" and Google would lose a "significant amount of money with every playback." YouTube also bemoans that PRS was unwilling to provide it with a comprehensive list of songs that were actually included in the license.

PRS for Music, on the other hand, also just released a statement that accuses YouTube of simply breaking off the negotiations without any consultation with PRS. According to PRS, Google "has told us they are taking this step because they wish to pay significantly less than at present to the writers of the music on which their service relies, despite the massive increase in YouTube viewing."

YouTube goes out of its way to state that this move has nothing to do with the record labels. Patrick Walker, YouTube's Director of Video Partnerships, Europe, Middle East and Africa, lays the full blame on PRS for Music - and PRS, of course, blames Google for being too greedy. Walker, however, also says that the negotiations continue, so we might just see a solution in the near future. For now, however, users will have to resort to illegally uploaded videos if they want to watch music videos on YouTube in the UK.


Comments

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  1. I hope this will help Brussels wake up, and strive for one fee collector for the EU. First of all, the EU collector would have a better negotiating position. Second, services like YouTube and Pandora would find it easier to enter the European markets.

    Posted by: eelco | March 9, 2009 2:05 PM



  2. This is turning into a trend.

    Pretty sad to see that they're so protective of their rights. I wish some of the more famous UK artist would protest and leave their record companies!

    I wonder what this will do to the YouTube traffic in UK

    Posted by: Johan Ronnestam | March 9, 2009 2:06 PM



  3. This just in, music sales fall sharply in the UK. Livid music industry blames piracy.

    Posted by: Ivan | March 10, 2009 2:32 PM



  4. i don't see the whole point of this because it
    still don't stop youtube users finding the music
    videos on other variant video sites like veoh google
    and dailymotion to get them off the mentioned sites
    and uploading them on youtube only way forward for
    this is for the artists to put they're latest material
    on the site and dissable the urls so other users cant download the material they can try it that way
    but it will not work because there is a special
    video player where you can grab music videos from youtube
    and uploading it back on the users youtube accounts with
    an differant title for the music videos and it does state on the site
    before uploading material stating no music videos or live
    concert or tv broadcasting but users do not abide these
    rules and still upload the illegal material on the youtube site and youtube should started policing it better.


    frankie smales

    (frankie smales movie and tv review uk)

    Posted by: frankie smales | March 10, 2009 8:49 PM



  5. I think the PRS should be paying youtube... music videos are called "promos" due to the fact that they sell records.

    However, we cannot view youtube in Britain had already become a fact. If I located in the U.K,and I'm a Youtube fun.How should I do?

    I found a good method to view Youtube video,no matter what you located in Britain.

    http://recordstreamingvideo.blogspot.com/2009/03/youtube-blocks-music-videos-for-britain.html

    Posted by: blueangle | March 12, 2009 4:05 AM



  6. This is totally ridiculous. I don't want to do all kind of actions to only see one video...If I don't get my video there, I'll find another place. Simple as that !!

    Posted by: Music Shop | March 18, 2009 6:58 AM



  7. When music videos first came out, they were for promotional purposes. Record companies would have loved the extra airtime in the past. But now they are so overprotective as to damage the industry even more.

    They need to loosen up and start making use of the internet as a media to promote their artists. In the past artists would have loved all the free promotion.

    Posted by: Adrian | April 1, 2009 3:06 PM



  8. Music Tv
    MUSIC

    Posted by: chat Author Profile Page | July 2, 2009 12:41 PM



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