What’s the newest boogeyman for the music industry? Well, according to Peter Mensch, manager of rock bands like Metallica, it’s YouTube.
Mensch claims that “YouTube is the devil” because artists aren’t getting paid from its business model. That model revolves around putting ads on content, which Mensch says is “unsustainable.” I’m assuming he’s never checked into how Google made its fortune, but hey, to each his own.
His arguments honestly do have some merit, though. There’s a widening gap between the amount of music uploaded to user sites like YouTube and SoundCloud versus the amount of revenue that music actually brings in. 900 million consumers on sites like that generated $634 million in revenue last year, while paid music subscribers (only 68 million of those) generated about $2 billion. That’s a huge gap, and it’s definitely something to keep an eye on and address, especially since it’s tough to convince people to begin paying for something that they’re used to getting for free.
With that being said, the music industry is still, well, and industry. The amount of money it makes and how it makes money changes over time, just like literally every other business in history. The internet has changed how people listen to music and interact with artists, some of which is good and some of which is bad. Google cites artist Lindsey Stirling, who has made a huge career out of being independent and leaning on YouTube. She made $6 million from YouTube last year, although she doesn’t have a record label or publisher demanding portions of her income, which is the exception, not the rule.
Things are different now, and the old ways of making money aren’t as effective anymore. Using Lindsey Stirling as an example again, she puts out individual songs and things like melodies from video games on violin instead of pumping out album after album and hoping for direct sales like the music industry used to enjoy doing. Doing all of this without a publisher also means that she’s free to make her own creative choices and doesn’t owe a bigger company money or a contract at the end of the day.
Naturally, people like Mensch will probably push for some legislative reform that will make it harder for YouTube to exist in the music scene. It’ll hurt SoundCloud, too, and other apps and services that people enjoy using. And, like always, the internet will come up with some other way to get music out to the masses in a way that record labels can’t control, and they’ll complain about that and try to change some laws instead of adapting to the new market, again.
source: BBC
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