Google and YouTube get nasty looks from music industry at Midem

The uncomfortable relationship between Google and the music industry was full on display at the annual Midem industry trade show in Cannes, France. Representatives for Google, specifically its video-sharing holding YouTube, defended its role, but the overall attitude toward the company was negative.

Numerous music executives lashed out against Google and YouTube during their own speeches, often comparing it to Spotify and Deezer, trio streaming services that YouTube has long aimed to separate itself from in terms of services offered. The music industry is certainly wary of streaming services, and those services were eager to prove themselves more trustworthy/profitable than YouTube. Deezer chief executive Axel Dauchez referred to the video site as "the most important legal pirate" during his talk, and Spotify pointed out that performers made $6,000 to $8,400 per million streams from its service, versus $3,000 from YouTube.

Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the British Phonograph Industry, even called out YouTube's vice president of content, Tom Pickett, while both were onstage together at the conference.

"I think YouTube has lacked [proper recompensation strategy] , and that has been a problem for the industry," said Taylor. "When I looked at the billions of streams there were in music videos, and the pounds and pence coming in to the industry from that, it was a very small number."

Pickett stood his ground, claiming that YouTube had paid more than a billion dollars to the music industry over the "last several years."

YouTube has certainly been one of the best methods for small acts to spread their music in recent years, but the company can't afford for copyright laws to tighten: A study by VideoInk and Tubular Labs shows that music videos account for 38.4 percent of all activity on the site.