Following implications last week from Universal Music chief Doug Morris that he was considering legal action against YouTube in relation to the large amounts of the major label's music currently available via the site without their permission, rival record company Warner Music yesterday confirmed it had entered into a deal with the video streaming website allowing its music to be hosted there.
The deal between Warner and YouTube means that the video site will be able to legitimately host pop promos and interviews with its artists, many uploaded by fans, in return for a slice of advertising revenues. The deal will also allow YouTube to host those user-made videos that feature music from Warner signed artists (normally punters miming to pop songs in a comedy stylee, with hilarious consequences, obviously) - albeit with the major reserving the right to veto some of that content.
YouTube will track the music based content being streamed via its servers, paying Warner a cut of ad revenues based on the quantity of its content viewed. The system will also identify user-made content using Warner owned music, and will provide a copy of the home made video to the major for approval (quite how that will work in terms of timescales isn't clear - nor what criteria Warner will use in approving or rejecting content).
Confirming the deal, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley told reporters yesterday: "We are very excited. This is a real landmark for our company".
Warner chief Edgar Bronfman Jnr added: "Consumer-empowering destinations like YouTube have created a two-way dialogue that will transform entertainment and media forever."
Other news from our 'digital music deals involving Warner Music' reporting team - and Warner have announced they have entered into a deal with Qtrax, the company behind one of those ad-supported P2P networks. Qtrax already have EMI, The Orchard and TVT Records on board - and are no doubt now looking to get SonyBMG and Universal signed up before launching their service. Despite no one really knowing how these legit P2Ps will work or, more importantly, whether there's any demand for them, Warner Senior VP Of Strategy & Product Development told reporters: "The Qtrax service represents an innovative business model, one that offers our artists another way to reach fans using the potential of peer-to-peer technology while ensuring they are fairly compensated for the use of their work".