Indie artists as big as Adele and the Arctic Monkeys could be yanked from YouTube within a matter of days as the streaming video service demands they sign up with a new subscription music platform or find somewhere else to host their content. YouTube plans to begin limited testing of the streaming service, which is expected to support offline and ad-free playback, shortly, ahead of a broader roll-out later in 2014, but independent artists could disappear “in a matter of days.” According to head of content and business operations Robert Kyncl, speaking to the FT, YouTube has inked deals with 90-percent of the music industry. That remaining 10-percent may prove to be a headache, though. Artists like Jack White are yet to sign up, with complaints that independent musicians and labels aren’t seeing enough of the revenue pie from digital services like YouTube, Spotify, and Beats Music. Some are working with trade body WIN to push for better royalty deals. YouTube’s response appears to be a draconian one, however. Rather than allowing certain tracks to be ad-supported, it will simply remove the artists altogether. WIN argues that the deals YouTube has offered the smaller players are far less competitive than those Sony, Warner, and Universal agreed to. That’s something Kyncl disagrees with, however, countering that YouTube is “paying them fairly and consistently with the industry.” YouTube’s new streaming service – once known as YouTube Music Pass – will open to the public later in the year, it’s suggested, after internal testing takes place within Google. VIA The Guardian SOURCE FT
