Yesterday the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), which acts as a representative for indie musicians, released a new statement regarding YouTube’s poor faith bargaining and threats to pull indie videos from artists who haven’t agreed to the no-discussion licensing terms of YouTube’s upcoming subscription streaming service. But despite strong words from WIN as well as others in the industry, YouTube and Google have a lot of power and it’s going to take some serious involvement from artists across the board to fight for what’s fair.
YouTube/Google and Amazon Are Using Their Power Against Creatives
If you’ve been watching the last 15 years or so of web development, you’ve seen a relatively wide open field of entrepreneurial potential gradually get taken over by major corporations in a manner similar to what occurred in industrial societies beginning in the late 1800s. They may be dropping fewer bodies than did the industrial giants but close-to-monopoly digital land grabs by companies like Google and Amazon have put them in a situation where they seem to feel that any terms they name are acceptable if they have the power to force compliance.
Amazon’s current battle with Hachette is but one example of how they’ve used their dominating position in book and ebook retail on the web to have their way with companies that are often struggling to survive.
YouTube’s dominance of the web video space sets up a similar near-monopoly situation in which they’re willing to use their position to behave in monopolistic fashion and force non-compliant entities into line.
Groups Like WIN Are Responding
The statement from the Worldwide Independent Network features the words of WIN CEO Alison Wenham in response to YouTube’s plans to take down videos from non-compliant indies:
“Put simply, by refusing to engage with and listen to the concerns of the independent music sector YouTube is making a …read more
Source: Hypebot.com