With the launch of YouTube's new streaming music service around the corner, independent artists and labels are stepping up their fight against what they call unfair royalties for indie artists.
According to Google (parent company to YouTube), 95% of the music industry has made a deal to be a part of the new streaming service. The other 5% are independent artists and labels who have claimed that YouTube refused to negotiate after offering them a lower royalty rate than artists belonging to big label. It’s estimated that independent music accounts for nearly a third of all music sales and streams, including Adele, Jack White and The Arctic Monkeys.
Artists who do not agree with Google’s terms may face a ban from YouTube--a potentially crushing blow for many artists who use the video sharing site as a key platform for reaching fans.
Now, the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), an organization representing the global independent music industry, is planning to bring its case against YouTube's unfair contracts to the European Commission.
A spokesperson from WIN said that YouTube has “suffered a simple but catastrophic error of judgement in misreading the market,” and that it was “setting itself up for failure” with only a handful of indie artists signing up to the deal.
On Tuesday, June 17 YouTube confirmed the rumors that it was looking to launch a streaming music service. While no date has been given for the service’s launch, it is expected to come soon, especially on the heels of Amazon’s new streaming service and Apple’s recent acquisition of Beats Music.
According to WIN, the contracts that YouTube is offering indie artists is well below the industry standard of other streaming services.
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There are 8 unique value-points inside the Sage Audio membership, so let’s go over each one so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.
1. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
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- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
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2. 1-on-1 Mentorship
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4. Sage Audio University™ (SAU) — (Mixing and Mastering Education Platform)
- SAU is a modern audio engineering education platform that includes in-depth mixing and mastering course curriculums that match the new music industry.
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6. Community
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7. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content, Including:
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
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