Mark Mulligan, co-founder of Midia Research, said he believed the internet goliath was keen to come across as a ‘good partner’ and show it was committed to pursuing premium revenues from music.
Speaking on a panel at Westminster Media Forum’s Next Steps for the Music Industry, he added: ‘Google has a fantastic track record for killing things off that don’t work very quickly and I do genuinely believe that two years from now, YouTube’s new subscription service for music won’t exist.
‘I don’t think they care much about monetising music. They’ve got everything they need from music. They’ve got more people listening to music than anyone else and they generate loads of data and loads of advertising. Putting that behind a paywall actually hurts the core business.’
The comments came in response to a question from Beggars Music chairman Andy Heath, who asked: ‘Does anyone on the [Digital Music Market] panel think YouTube is serious about launching a subscription service?’
Panel member Charles Caldas, Merlin chief executive, responded: ‘Looking at Google and its broader mission, I don’t think that being a music retailer sits very high up on the spectrum.
Lance Phillips, partner, digital media and music, Sheridans, added: ‘Having looked at Google contracts recently, I don’t know. They seem to take a very wide view in terms of future-proofing.
‘They’re asking for pretty long-term deals for “Google services”, which are any services Google choose to launch, so I suspect they’re taking a pretty pragmatic view and will probably have a few other projects up their sleeve. Whatever content has been licensed to them under one deal will be morphed across to them – and that’s problematic for a lot of my clients.’
The comments come a week after YouTube revealed it was lining up an ad-free subscription-based service.
The plan, which was communicated in an email sent out to YouTube Partners, is set to offer consumers the choice to pay for an ‘ads-free’ version of YouTube for a monthly fee.
Partners must agree to updated terms on YouTube’s Creator Studio Dashboard, which notes that the changes will go into effect on 15 June, 2015.
Speaking on a panel at Westminster Media Forum’s Next Steps for the Music Industry, he added: ‘Google has a fantastic track record for killing things off that don’t work very quickly and I do genuinely believe that two years from now, YouTube’s new subscription service for music won’t exist.
‘I don’t think they care much about monetising music. They’ve got everything they need from music. They’ve got more people listening to music than anyone else and they generate loads of data and loads of advertising. Putting that behind a paywall actually hurts the core business.’
The comments came in response to a question from Beggars Music chairman Andy Heath, who asked: ‘Does anyone on the [Digital Music Market] panel think YouTube is serious about launching a subscription service?’
Panel member Charles Caldas, Merlin chief executive, responded: ‘Looking at Google and its broader mission, I don’t think that being a music retailer sits very high up on the spectrum.
Lance Phillips, partner, digital media and music, Sheridans, added: ‘Having looked at Google contracts recently, I don’t know. They seem to take a very wide view in terms of future-proofing.
‘They’re asking for pretty long-term deals for “Google services”, which are any services Google choose to launch, so I suspect they’re taking a pretty pragmatic view and will probably have a few other projects up their sleeve. Whatever content has been licensed to them under one deal will be morphed across to them – and that’s problematic for a lot of my clients.’
The comments come a week after YouTube revealed it was lining up an ad-free subscription-based service.
The plan, which was communicated in an email sent out to YouTube Partners, is set to offer consumers the choice to pay for an ‘ads-free’ version of YouTube for a monthly fee.
Partners must agree to updated terms on YouTube’s Creator Studio Dashboard, which notes that the changes will go into effect on 15 June, 2015.
