YouTube music head says company pays higher royalties than Spotify

Making a living from streaming royalties is tough for music artists, and YouTube has had one of the worst reputations in the music industry for a while. Even Lyor Cohen, the current head of YouTube Music, knows that many are skeptical about the servi...

YouTube hopes to patch things up with the music industry

The music industry hasn't been too enamored with YouTube, what with all the unsanctioned content on the video site. Now that Google is planning to merge Google Play and YouTube into one music service, however, it's time to start fixing that awkward r...

Spotify’s ‘Secret Genius’ may help smooth things over with songwriters

Spotify announced the launch of Secret Genius today -- a global, songwriter-focused initiative that will highlight the contributions of those working behind the scenes in the music industry. It's a move that acknowledges members of the music world th...

Paid streaming services provide a big boost to the music industry

Streaming continues to play a bigger role in music industry revenue and now it's starting to provide some real help offsetting declining album sales in the US. In its mid-year report, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reports that...

Editorial: RIAA takedown requests and ad complaints are missing an opportunity

RIAA takedown requests and ad complaints are missing an opportunity

As noted here, the RIAA has issued 10 million takedown requests to Google in an attempt to close off paths to sites that facilitate music downloading. At the same time, a related phenomenon is fueling the fire of rightsholder outrage: Brand advertising that appears on download sites and generates revenue for those businesses.

These two aspects of the internet's ecosystem -- finding free music downloads through search engines, and ad-supported sites expediting illicit music acquisition -- represent deeply rooted challenges to media owners. At the same time, as with most challenges, there is a flip side of opportunity. The difference between capitalizing on an opportunity and being defeated by its challenge is the difference between getting in front of reality and falling behind it. The RIAA is regarded by many as the poster organization for denial of reality. A reversal of strategy and tactics might get big media owners in front of 21st century realities.

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