Singaporean
songwriters and music publishers can now earn copyright royalties when their
musical works are used on a new local version of the global video website
YouTube launched yesterday.
The Composers & Authors Society of
Singapore (Compass) has inked a licensing agreement that allows music artists
to get a cut of the revenue generated from advertisements posted on the site.
The localised domain was set up with the aim
of making it easier for users to search for "hyper-local" content and
giving Singaporean video creators the chance to increase their online exposure,
says Mr Adam Smith, director of product management for YouTube in the
Asia-Pacific region. YouTube Singapore is the company's second localised site
in South-east Asia, following last week's launch of its Philippines local site.
The new royalties agreement applies only to
content uploaded on YouTube's new Singapore page (www.youtube.com.sg). If
people access the content through the international site (www.youtube.com),
royalties can still be paid to artists via the sister societies in that
specific country.
Dr Edmund Lam, chief executive officer and
director of the 1,500-member Compass - which includes composers such as Dick
Lee and Mandopop star J.J. Lin - says: "Most of the videos you see will
have songs, so under the YouTube .sg domain, we will credit royalties for all
the music, whether in user-generated videos or partner videos."
That means royalties will still have to be
paid out, even if it is for a song recording used in a homemade
"illegal" video. This is only if the video has generated money from
advertisers. But that said, if the copyright owners of the content feel that
their rights have been infringed, they can request the videos be taken down.
Dr Lam points out, however, that many
independent videos are uploaded without permission, but the royalties are not
chased up as the copyright owners see they are useful as a promotional tool.
He declined to say just how much music content
owners and makers can expect to get, but says the advertising revenue can be
calculated based on the number of page views or hits a video gets.
Out of this amount, a small percentage will be
paid out as royalties. Compass will also take a small cut for administrative
fees. He says: "YouTube will be able to transmit the data on songs or
music that have been utilised electronically to us, and that's what we use as
the basis to distribute the royalties to the various copyright owners."
Indeed, one can earn a decent living from
royalties of uploaded videos, notes Mr Smith. Referring to the international
market, he says: "We have hundreds of content providers who are making
more than S$100,000 (US$78,000) a year and we have thousands of partners who
are making more than a thousand dollars a month."
Composer, songwriter and playwright Dick Lee
says: "It's additional income for us, which is wonderful. For me, it's a
good thing to receive income from my body of work from years ago as I'm not
very active these days.
"Anyway, nowadays as musicians, we are
quite happy to have any kind of promotion... YouTube is like a shrine. A lot of
things are posted by fans, which is flattering."
Dr Lam hopes to discuss with music industry
players the possibility of teaming up with YouTube to promote local
songwriters. This can be done, for example, by posting information about the
artist and upcoming events on the YouTube page, he says.
"It can provide a very level playing
field. The small and independent companies will be able to more efficiently and
effectively promote the artists' songs."
Melissa Kok
The Straits Times
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