Warner Music Group Pulls the Plug on YouTube
Though Warner Music Group has shut down its official YouTube channel, WMG artists that maintain their own YouTube pages, such as Disney darling Ashley Tisdale, don't seem to have gotten the memo about the content teardown
Dissatisfied with payment arrangements, music label removes its videos
By Matthew B. Zeidman
NEW YORK (Hollywood Today) 12/22/08 – Apparently, Warner Music Group (WMG) believes its videos are worth more than video-sharing giant YouTube is paying. According to The New York Times, the world’s fourth largest record label began pulling content on Saturday, citing an unfair licensing agreement.
“We simply cannot accept the terms that fail to appropriately and fairly compensate recording artists, songwriters, labels and publishers for the value they provide,” WMG said in a statement.
YouTube addressed the situation on its blog Friday, apologizing for any frustration on the part of its users, but emphasizing the need to respect the rights of musicians, songwriters and fans alike.
WMG, like many other music labels, had a contract with YouTube that specified an undisclosed rate of payment based on the number of times each video was viewed.
The dissolution of the company’s relationship with YouTube came on the heels of an announcement by the Recording Industry Association of America, an industry trade group of which WMG is a member, that it would no longer pursue costly legal action against consumers caught pirating music, but would instead work with content-providing Web sites to block scofflaws.
alot of disappointed people now that its gone.
