MUSIC FOR YOUR TUBE

YouTube and Universal Music Group (UMG) announced an agreement offering YouTube and its users access to thousands of videos on YouTube from UMG’s extensive roster of artists. Under this agreement, UMG also embraces the power and creativity of user-generated content, allowing users to incorporate music from UMG’s music catalog into the videos they create and upload onto YouTube. UMG and its artists will be compensated for UMG produced videos as well as user created content that incorporates UMG music.

YouTube and UMG have also agreed to a process to protect UMG copyrights using technology to filter out UMG content that is not authorized to appear on the YouTube service. "With this strategic alliance, UMG brings an incredible array of entertaining video content to the YouTube community to help its artists communicate directly with fans. By allowing the use of their content in user-generated videos, UMG is embracing the creative spirit of our users and music lovers around the world while protecting the rights of their artists," said Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTube. "As a new distribution channel for media companies, YouTube is committed to balancing the needs of the fan community with those of copyright holders to continue to provide the best video entertainment service on the Internet – one that promotes individuality, respect and originality."

"Universal is committed to finding innovative ways to distribute our artists' works and today’s agreement with YouTube furthers that strategy by helping transform this new user-generated content culture into a mutually beneficial business opportunity," said Doug Morris, Chairman and CEO, Universal Music Group, "We pride ourselves in empowering new business models that create new revenue streams for content creators. You Tube is providing a new and exciting opportunity for music lovers around the world to interact with our content, while at the same time recognizing the intrinsic value of the content that is so important to the user experience."