YouTube- Putting Music Creators in the Dark

[Image Source: Screenshot of YouTube]

YouTube is great for all it's users with easy access to every video, song, etc that you could think of. However, artists in the music industry aren't the biggest fans of YouTube. According to Rolling Stone Magazine,

"YouTube, with more than 1 billion users, is the most popular source for music streaming on the Internet. But it's become a source of frustration for artists including Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, Beck, Kings of Leon and others, who recently signed an open letter to Congress calling for reform on the law that allows YouTube to host millions of unauthorized videos. "The artist has no choice – their music is on YouTube even if they don't want it there," says Irving Azoff, manager of acts such as the Eagles and Van Halen. Azoff has published a separate letter to YouTube, calling for action on two issues: its relatively small royalty payments to artists, and its inability to efficiently remove content from the site" (Rolling Stone Magazine).

After reading this I thought about how I would feel if I was in the artist's shoes. I personally use YouTube frequently, I think its is a great way for people to share information and multimedia. However, from the artist's POV, I would not like the YouTube tool. An artist puts in so much time and dedication to create their music and they should be rewarded by the number of album sales or single sales they get on their material. Being in the music industry and succeeding is hard to do. Only the best of the best make it. But if their music is being put out there publicly and for free access, it seems like all their hard work just went down the tubes.

Years ago, this wasn't possible because the internet and technology didn't exist. Artist's got what they deserved because the only way for people to gain access to music was if they bought a record album. It was plain and simple. But today, with all the technology, there are complications.

"The music business has less bargaining power than ever: As album sales have fallen about 60 percent in the past decade, YouTube has become increasingly important – 98 percent of American Internet users ages 18 to 24 visit the site – and the company says its ad sales have delivered $3 billion to artists and content creators. "YouTube has become radio for kids," says Ken Levitan, who manages Kings of Leon, Cheap Trick and others" (Steve Knopper, Rolling Stone).

It's a shame that the music industry took this turn. In my opinion, the quality and appreciation for music was better when technology didn't exist. YouTube is basically the media hub for leaked material and poor quality to stay online, and the pay isn't even good compared to other streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music.

"YouTube destroys my business and makes money by enabling theft worldwide." –Steve Miller

[Source: Rolling Stone Magazine]

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