YouTube does deal with UK musicians

30-08-2007

by Charlie Taylor

Over 50,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in the UK will be better off financially after YouTube agreed to a royalty deal for songs used in videos.

The MCPS-PRS Alliance, which represents the music artists, announced the ground-breaking deal on Thursday. Under the agreement, more than 10 million pieces of music will be licensed for use on YouTube for a flat fee.

"We're pleased to be working in co-operation with the MCPS-PRS Alliance to provide the YouTube community in the UK with the best possible user experience. This agreement is another great example of how we are working with the music industry to explore new and creative ways to compensate music creators," said Chad Hurley, CEO and co-founder of YouTube.

The deal follows on the heels of a similar agreement between the online video-sharing website and similar organisations in the US and means that artists will receive royalties each time a YouTube user uploads videos which include their music in it.

The MCPS-PRS Alliance was more than happy with the agreement. "We are delighted to have concluded this deal with YouTube and to be the first collecting society outside the US to do so," said Steve Porter, chief executive of the Alliance.

"Whether it is music videos, user uploads or other audio visual content, our agreement will allow our 50,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members to be paid when their creative talents are being enjoyed on YouTube's service across the UK," he added.

Although the deal will go some way to resolving the friction between the Google-owned website and the entertainment industry, it's unlikely to placate those who claim that the website encourages the improper use of copyrighted material.

And that's not the only opposition the website faces. On Wednesday, News Corporation and NBC Universal announced further details of their new video-sharing site, expected to go head-to-head with YouTube.

The two media giants said that their new website, which is to be named 'Hulu', will be available in beta form for testing by internet users in October. The companies also said they will be offering content from a number of distribution partner sites, including AOL, Comcast, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo.