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EU: Competition concerns rise as YouTube plans to cut off indie labels

By  |  June 18, 2014

Google is raising competition concerns yet again, this time in its remarks to The Financial Times announcing plans to cut off independent record labels from posting their bands’ music videos on YouTube due to royalty disputes.

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    According to reports, Google is rumored to be launching its own music streaming service but has been accused of offering unfair contractual terms to smaller music labels compared with the three leading competitors.

    The smaller labels requested that the Commission investigate these contracts, claiming that Google offered them less favorable terms and using coercion to have them sign; the labels claim Google threatened to pull their content from YouTube unless they signed the contracts that offered lower royalty rates to the companies compared with larger labels.

    Now, reports say, YouTube executive Robert Kynci seems to be confirming rumors that YouTube will be pulling indie label videos, telling reporters that some of the content will begin disappearing “within days.”

    YouTube, which is dominant in the online video streaming industry, is running the risk of antitrust issues, some reports say, by refusing to engage with smaller companies.

    Full content: The Register

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