Yesterday, YouTube's Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl took to the video streaming platform's official blog to announce that the company has paid out over $1 billion in advertising alone to the music industry in the past year. Believing that "multiple experiences and models are succeeding alongside each other," Kyncl noted that it's a great reason to "celebrate music on YouTube." The International Federation of the Phonograph Industry, however, seems to disagree with the sentiment.
In a statement released earlier today, the IFPI, which represents the global record industry, claims that "YouTube [...] is not paying artists and producers anything like a fair rate for music." The statement goes on to outline how YouTube's pay out "pales in comparison to the revenue generated by other services," using Spotify as an example. IFPI reiterates in their statement that under YouTube's current laws, this "value gap" will continue to persist.
Read IFPI's statement in its entirety below.
"Google has today issued more unexplained numbers on what it claims YouTube pays the music industry. The announcement gives little reason to celebrate, however. With 800 million music users worldwide, YouTube is generating revenues of just over US$1 per user for the entire year. This pales in comparison to the revenue generated by other services, ranging from Apple to Deezer to Spotify. For example, in 2015 Spotify alone paid record labels some US$2 billion, equivalent to an estimated US$18 per user.
"YouTube, the world's largest on-demand music service, is not paying artists and producers anything like a fair rate for music. This highlights more than ever the need for legislative action to address the "value gap" that is denying music rights holders a fair return for their work."
