YouTube bites back at claims it doesn't compensate artists fairly

YouTube has bitten back at claims that it doesn't compensate artists fairly.

Despite Radiohead's Thom Yorke once saying it 'steals art like the Nazis did', the video-sharing site insists it values musicians.

In a column for The Guardian​, YouTube's head of international music partnerships Christophe Muller wrote: "Musicians and songwriters matter. They deserve to be compensated fairly. We believe this deeply and have partnered with the music industry for years to ensure it happens on our platform.

"That's why it's surprising to see those same labels and artists suggest that YouTube has allowed a flood of 'unlicensed' music onto its platform, depriving artists of revenue."

Muller went on to claim that "no other platform gives as much money back to creators​" compared to YouTube.

"The truth is that YouTube takes copyright management extremely seriously and we work to ensure rights-holders make money no matter who uploads their music," he added.

"No other platform gives as much money back to creators - big and small - across all kinds of content."

The piece goes on to claim that fan-uploaded content accounts for 50% of the music industry's revenue from YouTube, while arguing that it isn't fair to say it underpays compared to the likes of Spotify.

"It's like comparing what a black cab driver earns from fares to what they earn showing ads in their taxi," wrote Muller.

Finally in an attempt to tackle the argument that YouTube harms emerging artists, he claimed that the service is responsible for breaking the careers of musicians like Justin Bieber.

"​YouTube is one of the only platforms that allows anyone to get their music heard by a global audience of over one billion people," Muller concluded.

"And it allows artists like Justin Bieber, Tori Kelly and Macklemore to explode from obscurity to build a massive community of fans that generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the industry.​"

Mötley Crüe co-founder Nikki Sixx​ recently took issue with YouTube, calling for the service to match the royalty payouts of its music streaming rivals.​

Source:Digital Spy