Independent artists could disappear from YouTube "in a matter of days" after the Google video service confirmed it was dropping content from independent labels that have not signed up for its upcoming subscription music service.

    YouTube is about to begin testing the new service – which will charge people to watch and listen to music without ads, and download songs to their mobile devices – within the next few days, initially within Google.



JamesTiberiusKirk:

Doesn't this go against the initial purpose of YouTube: to easily post and share video content? If I'm a band with an independent label and I want to post a music video, I no longer will be allowed to?

Seems like a bad move. I also don't know why anyone would pay to subscribe to a music service centered on YouTube when there are 3-4 other options already entrenched in the market. That just doesn't make sense to me. If you're the kind of person willing to pay for a music subscription service, you have likely already subscribed to one. Why on earth would I switch to YouTube to listen to music - and pay a premium to do so?

I'm sure someone smarter than me thought this up, but on its face it doesn't seem like a wise move.


posted 3598 days ago