Agreement Reached for Music Videos to Be Shown Online Again
YouTube has ended a block on online music videos after agreeing a royalties deal with songwriters’ association PRS for Music to end a six-month dispute.
The video-sharing website made thousands of official music videos unavailable to UK users in March after its parent Google failed to reach an agreement over fees.
But YouTube announced it has agreed to pay an undisclosed lump sum to PRS, in a deal which will last until 2012.
The deal is understood to be worth millions of pounds and is backdated to January 2009 when YouTube’s previous licence expired.
YouTube is expected to take around a week to reinstate the thousands of deleted music videos back on the site.
Andrew Shaw, PRS’ managing director of broadcast and online, said: “It is important that those who are creating music – the writers and composers we represent – be rewarded when their works are used.
“YouTube is a popular online video destination, and this new licence continues to support musical talent.
“This is an achievement for songwriters, composers and the YouTube community alike and it reinforces the value of our members’ work.”
Earlier he told BBC Breakfast 90% of the members earned less than £5,000 a year, adding: “For them all the money they receive from us is really their living.
