The recent row between musicians’ rights group PRS and the website Youtube has deepened with a number of industry figures accusing the site of underpaying artists.
Recently the issue of online royalties has become a critical point of debate in the music industry. Over in the States, Eminem’s former producers took his label to court over the way online royalties are distributed, in a case that threatened to rewrite every music contract on the planet.
In Britain, discussions between the Performing Rights Society and video website Youtube broke down recently. The PRS had requested that the site pay artists for using their videos, an action that infuriated the sites owners Google. Youtube began removing millions of videos from their site, enraging artists in the process.
The newly formed Featured Artists Coalition opposed the move, and in a new statement other musicians have decried the website’s actions. Signed by the likes of Gang Of Four’s Andy Gill, X-Ray Spex’s Poly Styrene and Jools Holland the musicians accuse Google of underpaying songwriter’s royalties.
The statement on a PRS operated website was written by Gang Of Four guitarist Andy Gill. “Google and YouTube pretend they are providing a public service,” he said. “They are not, they are huge money making machines who make incredible fortunes for their owners at the expense of songwriters who get paid no royalty.
“The vast majority of PRS For Music members earn less than a few thousand pounds a year. It is a totally unfair situation.”
Google has yet to respond to the statement.
