Report: YouTube paid the music industry $1.8 billion in ad revenue in the past year

YouTube paid more than $1.8 billion in ad revenue to rightsholders in the music industry from October 2017 to September 2018. According to the How Google Fights Piracy report, that figure brings YouTube’s total music industry payments to more than $6 billion in ad revenues. Continue Reading

SoundCloud teams up with the company behind YouTube’s Content ID

SoundCloud has entered into a partnership with content identification service Zefr. The deal appears focused on monitoring what tracks get played and when. Although neither SoundCloud nor Zefr have disclosed much detail about the nature of their new partnership, it’s likely a step in SoundCloud’s push into monetizing its platform. Continue Reading

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Expanded YouTube Audio Library offers copyright insight for videos

In the latest move to bring order to the legal wild west of its video landscape, YouTube has added extra information to the YouTube Audio Library. This database now gives information about what happens when you upload a particular song to accompany your video. This means you can check whether the song might be deleted by the rights holder or if restrictions apply before uploading the audio clip. Continue Reading

YouTube hits $1 billion milestone for ContentID payments

YouTube has made $1 billion in payouts from its ContentID system since it was implemented in 2007. This technology helps many of the video network’s content creators to control how their material is made available. The program has been especially helpful for musicians and music labels, since many YouTube users upload video with copyrighted audio material. The rights holders can either have infringing videos taken down or have ads placed in them to generate revenue. Continue Reading