Things are happening in the world of music streaming. You should be very excited if you’re a multi-millionaire who already makes lots of money out of streaming – but if you’re an artist and any record label outside the majors, you’d be within your rights to despair.
Lyor Cohen is not a name you might be overly familiar with. I wasn’t until I encountered this. He’s the Head of Global Music at YouTube and is talking about taking Spotify’s crown. Cohen wants YouTube to become the biggest streaming platform in the world.
His full remarks to a recent conference on the subject are available courtesy of Music Business Worldwide, but one vital detail is left out. YouTube actually pay out even worse royalty rates than Spotify – and given how woeful Spotify is in this area, that’s really saying something.
Why is it that in this brave new era of streaming, what benefits the creators is always the last thing to be considered? It’s a good question and I can state with absolute confidence that Lyor Cohen and Daniel Ek cannot answer it.
