Warner Music Takes Down All Videos from YouTube

Early this morning Warner Music Group announced that they will be taking down all their videos from Youtube. Which means no more watching my favorite Rob Thomas music video!! Argh!! The two companies have reached an impasse in the licensing negotiations. They worked late into Friday night and just were not able to come to an agreement that would make either side happy.

Warner released a statement this morning, "We are working actively to find a resolution with YouTube that would enable the return of our artists' content to the site. Until then, we simply cannot accept terms that fail to appropriately and fairly compensate recording artists, songwriters, labels and publishers for the value they provide."

Sources close to the deal say that Warner ruined the deal with a last minute change in the terms that Google apparently couldn't live with. Warner currently has the 11th largest Music Channel on Youtube, making this a significant loss to both sides.

Currently the way the deals are structured, the record companies like Warner are paid every time a video is played even if Youtube isn't able to monetize the viewing. Youtube, of course is famous for not being able to monetize their content, so this is already a loss leader for them.

The fact that Warner is trying to get even more money out of Youtube is unfortunate. Warner and other record companies trying to reclaim the golden age of the record industry with their meteoric margins of the past will ultimately fail. They need to realize that they are in fact living in a changing digital world and the necessity to adapt is crucial to their survival. They need to stop trying to squeeze out profits for their precious artists from companies that are trying to do them a favor.

It is going to take them forever to pull down all these titles. At least I can still enjoy horrendous Warner artists for a few more days until the pull down is complete. What will I do without my precious Rob Thomas videos?