Bolt and Grouper Sued by Universal Music Group: Is YouTube Next? - Page 2

However, in a shrinking music market (album sales are down about 6% from last year), the major music players see music videos as a source of revenue rather than a source of promotion. Universal and Warner Music started selling music videos on iTunes for $1.99 and Sony Music has developed their own fledgling video sharing service. Music corporations are also opening up new revenue streams by streaming music videos to cell phones and PDA's.

So far, YouTube has escaped any major copyright lawsuits. The company had battled in the past with content providers such as NBC over copyrighted video, but the site has been more proactive than others by removing video that it deems to be in copyright violation and securing content deals with major media partners. However, Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons told UK newspaper The Guardian this week that his company is looking at filing copyright complaints against the site.

So where does this leave the average consumer? With more and more companies striking deals with YouTube and MySpace, consumers will expect to see these sites take on a greater corporate influence. MySpace has already run promotions with Burger King and parent company 20th Century Fox, and YouTube has declared that it will increase its partnership deals with content providers. However, the newest task for these sites is figuring out how to please the corporate world while not scaring off their user base, which will prove to be the greatest indicator of their longevity.

Article Author: Stone

Stone is the head writer The Couch Sessions, the place for underground and alternative urban music. In addition to his writing duties, he also hosts The Couch Sessions Podcast and spends his days as a computer programmer and freelance web designer.

Visit Stone's author page — Stone's Blog