Service – Skin Back Alley

YouTube unveils Music Key subscription service

13/11/2014 by skinbackalley, posted in News

After much rumour, speculation and tussling with independent record labels, YouTube has now unveiled it’s Music Key subscription service.

A £9.99 monthly subscription will allow users to watch ad-free music videos, as well as download them for use offline. A membership will also give access to the existing Google Play All Access service, an “all you can eat” music streaming and download facility.

The launch of Music Key had been delayed by disputes with independent record labels, but Google says that it has now signed agreements with hundreds of indies worldwide.

Whilst the finer detail of those agreements is not yet available, Brad Nevin, Chief Executive of the Orchard group of independent record labels has said that the deal is both fair and “a phenomenal opportunity.”

Music Key is intended to become a rival to other music streaming services such as Spotify, Rdio and Beats Music.

The launch comes in the wake of a fierce row between pop superstar Taylor Swift and the Spotify music streaming service. Swift recently removed her entire back catalogue from Spotify, disgruntled by the level of payments made to artists and publishers by the business.

“I’m not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music,” Swift recently told Yahoo Music.

Sub Pop launches Drip.fm subscription service

18/06/2014 by skinbackalley, posted in News

Sub Pop is the latest independent record label to join the ranks of those offering subscription services via the Drip.fm platform. The Sub Pop service launched worldwide today.

Subscribers will pay a monthly fee to receive digital copies of each new Sub Pop release via e-mail on the day it comes out. Users will also be able to chose from a selection of the Sub Pop back catalogue, with files available in either 320kbps compressed or WAV formats. All files will be free from DRM restrictions.

The first 100 subscribers will be entered to win a prize pack containing, Beach House’s Bloom LP (Loser Edition), a signed copy of the Deluxe edition of the Postal Service’s Give Up LP, the Record Store Day exclusive pressing of Mudhoney On Top, and more.

Artists from Sub Pop’s back catalogue that feature on the service include Nirvana, Fleet Foxes and Earth to name just three.

Find out more about how to subscribe and the prize pack promotion via Sub Pop’s website.

YouTube will remove indie label music videos “within days”

18/06/2014 by skinbackalley, posted in News

YouTube is expected to start removing music videos by independent artists within days.

The move comes following a dispute over proposed royalty payments to independent record labels and their artists.

YouTube – owned by Google – has finally revealed, after months of speculation, that it will be launching a subscription based music streaming service in the coming months. Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s head of content and business operations, claims that “90% of the music industry” has signed up to the new service, but that a group of influential independent labels are contesting what they have branded an “idefensible” deal.

As a result, Kyncl has estimated that videos by artists signed to labels including XL Recordings (Adele, Jack White) and Domino (Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand) could disappear from YouTube “within a matter of days.”

Helen Smith, executive chair of IMPALA, a trade body representing some of the independent labels in question, has accused YouTube of “acting like a dinosaur.” She says the move has been seen as a threat to try and coerce the labels into agreeing to the deal.

However, Kyncl said YouTube’s deal is fair to all involved. “We’re paying them fairly and consistently with the industry,” he claimed. It is reported that the major labels have signed a three-year global licensing deal with YouTube, sharing an advance of around $1 billion (£588m).

YouTube’s subscription service is expected to launch in late 2014.

What do you make of the news and the stance that independent record labels are taking? Do you think that YouTube’s actions are a threat to force a deal? Do you think that music streaming services are a help or hindrance for independent labels and artists? Get in touch and let us know what you think.