Legendary music manager Irving Azoff doubled down on his criticism of video monolith YouTube on Monday — calling the control the Alphabet-owned company exercises over copyrighted material “really evil.”
Azoff blasted the service for its proliferation of popular music free of charge while keeping their own content behind a pay wall — the subscriber service YouTube Red — during his keynote conversation at TheWrap’s TheGrill conference at Montage Beverly Hills.
“There’s such a lack of respect for intellectual property and they’re the worst offender,” Azoff told TheWrap CEO and Editor in Chief Sharon Waxman.
Azoff has long decried the “safe harbor” protections afforded YouTube thanks to 1998’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act, signed by President Bill Clinton.
“YouTube puts their own content behind a pay wall but will not allow artists [to do the same],” Azoff continued. “Physical sales are down, purchases on iTunes is down — no one ever thought mobile is where you’d carry your library for music. Music has never been more popular and less monetized.”
Azoff noted that companies must flag individual copyright infringements by YouTube users ripping entire songs and uploading self-made lyric videos as a game of “whack-a-mole.”
A YouTube spokesperson refuted Azoff’s claim, saying, “99.5 percent of sound recording claims are automated through Content ID — meaning only 0.5 percent are claimed manually. In other words – the system works incredibly well, with automated claiming far outnumbering what the [record] labels are doing manually.”
Azoff also touched on an RIAA study from April that shared Azoff’s views that YouTube was hiding behind the safe harbor protections while major labels continue to monetize relationships with other services like subscription streaming companies Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music.
A YouTube spokesperson defended itself: “The average YouTube user spends an average of an hour a month consuming music, far less than music-only platforms. Less than 20 percent of all music views on YouTube happen through the user searching for a specific artist or song.”
Watch Azoff’s full remarks above.
The Scene at TheGrill 2016: TheWrap's Media Leadership Conference (Photos)
TheWrap's seventh annual media, tech and entertainment conference TheGrill kicks off at the Montage Beverly Hills.
IMAX Entertainment's CEO Greg Foster speaks on the future of moviegoing in theaters, online and overseas.
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Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings, joins IMAX Entertainment CEO Greg Foster and STX Entertainment Motion Picture Group Chairman Adam Fogelson to discuss the future of moviegoing.
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Adam Fogelson, Chairman of STX Entertainment Motion Picture Group, Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings, and Greg Foster, CEO of IMAX Entertainment, speak with TheWrap's Thom Geier.
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Will Palmer, co-founder and CEO of Movio, and Luke Xiang, Vice President of Beijing Weying Technology speak to TheWrap's Matt Pressberg about online movie ticketing in China.
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Media and guests at the Montage Beverly Hills for TheGrill 2016.
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President and General Manager of BBC America, Sarah Barnett discusses the state of TV.
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David Nevins, the CEO of Showtime Networks, Sarah Barnett, the President and General Manager of BBC America, and John Landgraf, the CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions, join TheWrap's Scott Collins to discuss the state of TV.
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John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions, speaks during TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at Montage Beverly Hills.
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Guests enjoy the Virtual Reality Open Demos at TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at Montage Beverly Hills.
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Lawyer Nina Shaw, partner at Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein and Lezcano, discusses dealmaking in the digital age.
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Schuyler Moore, partner at Stroock and Stroock and Lavan LLP, joins Nina Shaw on stage to speak on deal making in the digital age.
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Bonnie Eskenazi, Entertainment Partner at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman and Machtinger LLP, and Susan Zuckerman Williams, Partner at Loeb and Loeb, also speak on dealmaking in the digital age.
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Sharon Waxman speaks with Rafi and Benny Fine during lunch TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at the Montage in Beverly Hills.
Andy Howard, partner at Shamrock Capital Advisors, Carlos Jimenez, Managing Partner at Moelis and Company, Andrew Siegel, Executive Vice President at Advance Publications, and Dan Schechter, Managing Director L.E.K Consulting, discuss "What Lies Beyond the $4 Billion Media M&A Move."
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Aric Ackerman, COO of The Cavalry Productions, and Brenda Robinson, partner at Greenburg Glusker, at lunch during TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at the Montage in Beverly Hills.
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VoteBlast's Ardy Falaki speaks during TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at the Montage in Beverly Hills.
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Van Toffler, CEO of Gunpowder & Sky, and Charlie Corwin, CEO of Endemol Shine, speak to Sharon Waxman about the magic of story development.
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Instagram star Chantel Jeffries speaks during the Innovators Panel at TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at the Montage in Beverly Hills.
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Rob Goldberg, CEO and founder of Fresno Inc, speaks at the Innovators Panel.
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Tim Staples, CEO of Shareability, Mark Popkiewicz CEO of Mirriad, internet personality Chantel Jeffries, Mike Hopkins, CEO of Hulu, Rob Goldberg, CEO and founder of Fresno Inc. all speak at the Innovators Panel.
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Entertainment, media and technology converge at TheWrap’s seventh annual Grill Conference at the Montage Beverly Hills
TheWrap's seventh annual media, tech and entertainment conference TheGrill kicks off at the Montage Beverly Hills.