After blocking music videos to UK users following the failure to agree a royalty rates with the PRS For Music (the society that collects royalties for recording artists), it seems YouTube have gone and done it again – with the same thing happening with GEMA, the PRS equivalent in Germany.
YouTube’s agreement with GEMA apparently ran out last Thursday and the two sides have been unable to agree a new deal, with YouTube EMEA director of video partnerships Patrick Walker telling German newspaper Der Spiegel that GEMA’s rates are 50 times higher than those demanded by PRS.
GEMA disagrees, however, claiming that YouTube has not given it the transparency it wanted.
Given that YouTube has fallen out with both PRS and GEMA now, you’d be lead to believe that its them who are the problem...but who can be sure.
Source: Music Week