British music industry criticizes lagging YouTube revenue

Looking back at 2015, the British industry association for the recording industry denounces that revenues from services such as YouTube are lagging far behind that from other sources. For example, the income from the sale of LPs brought in more than that from streaming services.

For example, the revenue from streaming platforms represented only four percent of the total annual revenue of the British music industry, which amounts to 688 million pounds or approximately 890 million euros. This while streaming services are responsible for nearly 20 percent of total UK music consumption, a number that increased by 88 percent in 2015.

The £24.4 million raised by the streaming services is lower than the revenue from the sale of LPs, which is £25.1 million, the BPI writes. CEO Geoff Taylor believes this shows that the system is ‘fundamentally broken’, as growing demand no longer translates into higher revenues. He argues that platforms such as YouTube view their liability limitation as a source of royalties and that this could mean that fewer artists can make money from music.

He adds that it is time for the European Union and the British government to find a solution. In April, a number of US artists also filed a petition with the Copyright Office, alleging they disagree with YouTube’s immunity from copyright claims. The company then pointed to its notice and takedown procedures and the Content ID system to remove infringing content.