Merlin Strikes Licensing Deal With YouTube
Independents global rights agency Merlin has agreed a global licensing deal with YouTube. The agreement unlocks revenues to Merlin’s member labels whenever their official releases, or user-generated videos featuring their repertoire, are played via the YouTube service.
The deal, which commences immediately, gives music fans the green light to use repertoire spanning the best and brightest labels of the independent electronic sector including Earache, Secretly Canadian, Ninja Tune, Cooking Vinyl, Warp, Phonofile, Pschent, Morr Music, !K7 and Inertia. Amongst the thousands of artists covered under the deal, Antony and the Johnsons, Aphex Twin, The Prodigy, Roots Manuva, Jamie Lidell, Grizzly Bear, Yeasayer, Suuns and Boards of Canada are some of the more prominent acts whose videos can now be accessed on the YouTube service.
Coming after a long negotiation, the agreement underscores YouTube’s commitment to the independent music sector as well as Merlin’s determination to secure competitive terms on behalf of its members. It enables the virtual fifth major’s many member labels that have not yet licensed YouTube to harness revenues on what has become an important music destination.
The deal comes at a time when independent music is enjoying unprecedented success on digital services – illustrating that in a market with limitless choice and free of tightly controlled shop windows, fans are increasingly consuming independent music.
