YouTube to block indie music labels that refuse new terms

YouTube will soon begin a scourge of videos from artists such as Adele, Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead – represented by indie labels – who refuse the licensing terms for its new subscription service, according to a report published by the Financial Times on Tuesday.

The video site, which is owned by Google, is preparing to launch a new ad-free subscription service and whilst the three main record labels – Sony, Universal and Warner – have all signed the agreement, some of the smaller labels are holding out.      

Trade groups representing independent record labels and artists have appealed the European Commission to stop YouTube from making this decision.

They have accused YouTube of offering better contracts to the larger labels and trying to strong-arm small independents into accepting low fees and signing “highly unfavourable terms”.

However, YouTube has not been deterred. Company’s head of content and business operations Robert Kyncl told the Financial Times: “Artist’s material could begin to disappear from the site within days if the labels continue to hold out. Vevo and other channels will still host some of the artist’s music videos, but content such as interviews and live performances will be taken down.”  

Since last year, the video site has been developing a music streaming service to rival sites such as Rhapsody, Pandora and Spotify. The paid service will be totally ad free and available to users even from offline devices.

Joanna Byrne