Music Labels Slam You Tube, Ad-Supported Streaming Services

YouTube and other free, ad-supported music streamers are ripping off recording artists by failing to pay them their fair share of royalties, a music industry group claimed in a scathing report out Tuesday.

Revenue from streaming services — both subscription and free — are the fastest-growing slice of the music industry, spiking 31 percent last year, the report revealed.

But, according to The NY Post, most of those gains came from subscription services like Tidal and Apple Music, the report, from the Recording Industry Association of America, said.

“We feel that some technology giants have been enriching themselves at the expense of people who actually create the music,” the trade group’s report said.

The music industry generated $7.02 billion in 2015, up 0.9 percent from the year before, according to the latest figures from the RIAA.

Streaming’s growth — revenue has grown 21, 27, and 34 percent in the last three years, respectively — resulted in the category becoming the No. 1 provider of revenue in 2015, the RIAA report said.

Despite the slightly better year for music, RIAA Chief Executive Cary Sherman castigated ad-supported streaming services for making a concerted “value-grab” at the expense of artists.

In 2014, ad-supported, on-demand streaming grew 63 percent year on year, while revenue rose just 34 percent, he said.

The gap widened last year, with revenue from the free streaming services rising 31 percent while streams surged 101 percent, the report said.

For a deeper dive into @RIAA year-end numbers & what they mean, read NEW @Medium blog from CEO Cary Sherman: https://t.co/ZSajFnhpE8

— RIAA (@RIAA) March 22, 2016

“The consumption of music is sky rocketing but revenues for creators have not kept pace. In 2015, fans listened to hundreds of billions of audio and video music streams through on-demand ad-supported digital services like YouTube,” Sherman wrote.

Ad-supported, on-demand streaming services from Google’s YouTube and Spotify contributed just $385.1 million for the year even though they account for billions of streams.

Paid subscription streaming services like Apple Music and Tidal contributed $1.22 billion last year, a 52.3 percent year-on-year gain.

Meanwhile, digital singles and album downloads fell 12.8 percent last year, leading to a 5.2 percent drop in revenue.