YouTube said it paid more than $6 billion to the music industry between July 2021 and June 2022, up $2 billion from the $4 billion in payments the company announced last year. .
User-generated content accounted for 30 percent of payments to artists, songwriters and rights holders, the company said.
“I couldn’t be more proud of YouTube’s progress in returning revenue to the music industry,” Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s global head of music, said in a statement. “We remain focused on becoming the industry’s leading revenue contributor, while creating connected music experiences across all music formats for fans and artists that enable discovery, consumption and engagement.”
In a separate blog post shared on Tuesday, Cohen said he wants the ad and subscription mix to be “the biggest revenue contributor in the industry by 2025”, pointing to YouTube’s efforts to monetize in all formats, including streaming, short format and live. videos
YouTube’s advertising business, which saw record growth in the years leading up to the pandemic, generated $7.3 billion in revenue in the second quarter. Last year, YouTube said it surpassed 50 million YouTube Music subscribers, including both free and paid users.
As the company grows its music business, YouTube is also trying to change its relationship with artists and rights holders. In August, YouTube along with Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora and Spotify reached an agreement with major music publishers to gradually increase royalties to 15.35% over the next five years. The settlement helped reignite a protracted legal battle between Spotify and YouTube and music rights holders who fought over royalty fees between 2018 and 2022.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
