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Ok Go on Why Labels Won't Let You Embed YouTube Videos

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Re: Ok Go on Why Labels Won't Let You Embed YouTube Videos

#11

Post by physcab »

Yeah, the music industry is experiencing some brain trauma right now. It'll happen to the film and TV industries too in a few more years once bandwidth and memory prices decrease.

Because music is so readily available, almost no one expects to pay for it. Itunes is cleaning house right now, but that's because people still want ultimate control over their libraries. I'll bet once people can be guaranteed the same level of access that they enjoy on their Ipods as they do on their phones, then Itunes will meet the same fate. Apple probably knows this which is why they are making plays in the streaming business.

What the content providers need to do is accept this fate and start building a new model around distribution and the incredible amount of information (data!) they have available to them. Package the product up in something consumers will always pay for--new devices or other peoples products (advertising).

The beauty about this business is that it hits a chord in consumer's lives. They will always want it because this content defines them in some abstract way. If content companies can learn more about their consumer's identities, they can sell that information to product makers. If you doubt all you have to do is look at the new artist product lines-- Sean Jean and Dr. Dre Beats to name two.

Re: Ok Go on Why Labels Won't Let You Embed YouTube Videos

#12

Post by alex_c »

Locke1689 wrote: post #3
alex_c wrote: post #2

Summary: because YouTube pays the labels part of the ad revenue for videos played on youtube.com, but not for embedded videos.

That is a summary of why you can't embed the video but I'd still encourage people to read the full post if they want a more thorough analysis of the state of the music industry today.

Absolutely - it's a great post overall.

Re: Ok Go on Why Labels Won't Let You Embed YouTube Videos

#13

Post by lzell »

alex_c wrote: post #2

Summary: because YouTube pays the labels part of the ad revenue for videos played on youtube.com, but not for embedded videos.

Whenever I see a summary in HN comments it is usually because the post itself is long and rambling. I'm glad I was not deterred from clicking through, it's a great read.

Re: Ok Go on Why Labels Won't Let You Embed YouTube Videos

#14

Post by marilyn »

josefresco wrote: post #9

Question: Does MTV pay the record labels for showing their videos? I'm not being a smart-ass, I'm really asking and didn't want to rip into this without having some background.\ The article says that they used to consider MTV a promotional partner, do they still?

MTV has changed dramatically from 10-20 years ago. They have moved away from playing music videos around the clock. Now the majority of their content is teen reality shows and the like. Televised music videos is limited to very few, already very popular artists.

Re: Ok Go on Why Labels Won't Let You Embed YouTube Videos

#15

Post by viraptor »

josefresco wrote: post #10
wendroid wrote: post #5

FTFA "So the money that used to flow through the music business has slowed to a trickle" I'd like to call that a "mis-speak" "The digital music business internationally saw a sixth year of expansion in 2008, growing by an estimated 25 per cent to US$3.7 billion in trade value. Digital platforms now account for around 20 per cent of recorded music sales." [1] Which makes music sales of US$18 billion for 2008 by contra…

Not saying this is authoritative but your numbers don't jive too well with this Wikipedia quote: "In the 21st century, consumers spent far less money on recorded music than they had in 1990s, in all formats. Total revenues for CDs, vinyl, cassettes and digital downloads in the U.S. dropped from a high of $14.6 billion in 1999 to $10.4 billion in 2008. The downward trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable fut…

Both posts can be true. "music business" is not only about record sales. It's also about ads, gigs, licensing, etc. Even if direct sales are lower, the business itself can be alive and well. It's only the amount of money spent by customers that went down.

Re: Ok Go on Why Labels Won't Let You Embed YouTube Videos

#16

Post by nerme »

Here's the very best point that is brought up: "And musicians need them to survive so we can use them as banks. Even bands like us who do most of our own promotion still need them to write checks every once in a while."

While the major labels had their faults, the DID act as investors for musicians.

This was probably their most important function, and it seems as if though the majority of Music 2.0 proponents do not know this.

This isn't the only thing they don't know about a functioning music industry.

The next time you're listening to a Music 2.0 presentation, stand up and ask the dude if he knows where the closest band rehearsal spaces are, where the closest guitar repair services are, who manages local acts, who does booking, who is currently promoting what genres and at what venues... really, I could go on and on about a lot of details that some messiah of the digital arts is most definitely unaware of.

Re: Ok Go on Why Labels Won't Let You Embed YouTube Videos

#18

Post by ique »

I've always been deeply interested in the inner workings of record labels.

As I understand it, it seems that a label is somewhat like a VC for artists. But no VC takes 80-90% of the company they invested in. Why do they need to take such a big part? Is pressing CDs such a huge risk and expense? If such; why continue doing it? Barely anyone buys CDs for obvious reasons, shouldn't there at least be an option for artists that don't want to press CDs? Maybe there is but artists just want CDs for some reason?

Why can't artists get regular bank-loans to fund their business? Is it just too high risk? It seems that someone as famous as Ok Go should be able to take a bank-loan to fund some studio time, but I suppose they're already under contract.

Anyway, if anyone has answers to these questions or links to where I can read more about stuff like this, please do share.

Re: Ok Go on Why Labels Won't Let You Embed YouTube Videos

#19

Post by nerme »

ique wrote: post #18

I've always been deeply interested in the inner workings of record labels. As I understand it, it seems that a label is somewhat like a VC for artists. But no VC takes 80-90% of the company they invested in. Why do they need to take such a big part? Is pressing CDs such a huge risk and expense? If such; why continue doing it? Barely anyone buys CDs for obvious reasons, shouldn't there at least be an option for artist…

"Why can't artists get regular bank-loans to fund their business?"

This is one of the fundamental questions that is most often overlooked!

Ok, so three long haired dudes working part-time jobs at coffee shops wander in to a bank and strike up a conversation with a loan manager...

...I think we can all fill in the blanks here. :)

The indicators that banks look to for giving out loans are quite different than the indicators an A&R man is looking at.

Would a bank care about how many people you typically draw to a concert? Would they care about a good review on Brooklyn Vegan? Or how many shows you've played outside of your home town?

Music is a specialized industry requiring specialized methods of investment, much like Internet or biotechnology companies.

Re: Ok Go on Why Labels Won't Let You Embed YouTube Videos

#20

Post by danhak »

marilyn wrote: post #14
josefresco wrote: post #9

Question: Does MTV pay the record labels for showing their videos? I'm not being a smart-ass, I'm really asking and didn't want to rip into this without having some background.\ The article says that they used to consider MTV a promotional partner, do they still?

MTV has changed dramatically from 10-20 years ago. They have moved away from playing music videos around the clock. Now the majority of their content is teen reality shows and the like. Televised music videos is limited to very few, already very popular artists.

This doesn't really answer the original question, in which I am also interested. What about MTV2, Fuse, BET, VH1, etc? Do TV networks have to pay royalties on music videos?
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