It’s been one of the biggest stand-offs in digital music history – but YouTube and German collection society GEMA have finally reached a licensing agreement.
The deal means that scores of previously unlicensed – and therefore previously unavailable – music videos will now be playable in the region.
YouTube users in Germany will no longer see a blocking message on music content that contains GEMA repertoire, for the first time in seven years.
Commercial details of the new deal were not disclosed. The changes appear to be with immediate effect.
YouTube’s Head of International Music Partnerships, Christophe Muller said: “We’re committed to ensuring that writers, composers and publishers continue to be paid fairly, and that our users are able to enjoy their favourite songs and discover new music on the platform.
“We are extremely pleased to have reached an agreement with GEMA to help their members earn revenue and to enable new musical talents to emerge.
“YouTube has evolved into an important source of promotion and revenue for musicians and we are pleased that GEMA members will benefit from their creative work on YouTube.”
“YouTube has evolved into an important source of promotion and revenue for musicians and we are pleased that GEMA members will benefit from their creative work on YouTube.”
Christophe Muller, YouTube
YouTube stopped showing music videos in Germany in April 2009 after its 17-month deal with GEMA came to a close.
Under this prior deal, Google paid GEMA a set per-stream fee for its licensed videos.
Negotiations on a fresh contract reportedly collapsed after GEMA attempted to raise the fee to 1 Euro Cent per stream – kicking off seven years of hostility and litigation between the two camps.
In a blog post, YouTube wrote: “This agreement reflects a long-held commitment that composers, songwriters, and publishers should be paid fairly, while ensuring fans can enjoy their favorite songs and discover new music on YouTube.
“That commitment has helped YouTube evolve into an important source of promotion and revenue for musicians. As such, we continue to invest in our rights management system, Content ID, to protect rights owners while continuing to innovate and create new and exciting YouTube features such as VR and 360, that can heighten the music experience on YouTube even more.”
“This agreement reflects a long-held commitment that composers, songwriters, and publishers should be paid fairly, while ensuring fans can enjoy their favorite songs and discover new music on YouTube.”
YouTube blog post
READ MORE: http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/youtube-strikes-deal-gema-host-music-videos-germany/
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