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It wasn’t too long ago that YouTube content creators would feel a tinge of fear whenever they use songs or scores that were produced by the music industry for fear of penalties. However, things have changed over the years, which culminated in the recent deal that YouTube signed with industry bigwigs. The internet streaming giant has finalized an agreement with Universal Music Group (UGM) and Sony Music Entertainment for some sort of subscription service.
As of writing, only the UGM/YouTube deal has been officially announced, Variety reports. The bit with Sony has not been confirmed and the company is refusing to say anything for the moment. However, both YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and UGM chairman Lucian Grainge have released statements celebrating the deal.
“We’re thrilled to strengthen our partnership with Universal Music Group. This agreement means we can drive more value to the industry, break and support more artists and deliver an incredible music experience to fans around the world,” Wojcicki’s statement reads.
“This important step forward provides our recording artists and songwriters improved content flexibility and growing compensation from YouTube’s ad-supported and paid-subscription tiers, while also furthering YouTube’s commitment to manage music rights on its platform. I look forward to collaborating with Susan and her team at YouTube on the important work ahead to advance artists’ interests and sustain the music industry’s recent growth,” Grainge wrote.
The deal basically revolves around the paid subscription service that YouTube will reportedly launch in 2018, Bloomberg reports. Royalties will be awarded accordingly with rates that were officially established.
Millions of people are on YouTube every single day listening to music for free from a variety of sources with wildly differing qualities. There are the official music accounts of artists on the platform but with this new deal, there could be a separate service that YouTube hopes to convert into paying subscribers.
