Industry Noize: Azoff Threatens YouTube

YouTube is offering an ad-free subscription service and a new format to make it easier to find millions of songs that can still be played for free. The overhaul includes “Music Key,” a subscription service that has been speculated about for months while Google worked out the licencsing terms with record labels.

Music Key will initially be offered on an invitiation-only basis in the U.S., U.K., and other European countries. After a six-month trial, Music Key will temporarily charge $8 per month before escalating to $10 a month.

However, Azoff told the Hollywood Reporter he believes YouTube hasn’t made all the necessary daels for its service and is ready to take artists’ music off the site, including his most visible client, Eagles. But Azoff also represents acts and/or represents the music of Pharrell Williams, Boston, Chris Cornell, Foreigner, Smokey Robinson, John Lennon and George and Ira Gershwin through his new venture, Global Music Rights.

GMR is an alternative to ASCAP and BMI, which is dealing with consent decrees and the Justice Department.

“The way fans listen to music is evolving daily,” Azoff told THR. “GMR is going to give songwriters and publishers an opportunity to engage in meaningful licensing for their intellectual property. The trampling of writer’s rights in the digital marketplace without any regard to their contribution to the creative process will no longer be tolerated.”