YouTube is disabling music for which it needs a license from a group called the PRS.
What this has in common with Fresh Hot Radio is being selective about catalog. Music products like the Spotify subscription service need all the music in the world, bar nothing, and when there is a gap in their catalog it’s a serious problem.
Whenever one provider feels obligated to encompass the entire world, it’s a step against an internet solution, and vice versa. Spotify is like Compuserve or pre-web AOL.
You hit it on the nail with this post Lucas. Focusing on curating a specific niche’s content allow us to remain a true source for our audience and are a step towards a more organized internet where one is able to find what were looking or listening for.
Great post!
I miss the old Compuserve. I’ll bet a similar forum engine could be built without the single-track exclusiveness.
I sympathize with both sides of the PRS/youtube negotiation, because each is charged with getting the best deal for its side in a time of uncertain market values.
Single-minded focus on more open licensing music is a lot more fun, and also small-business-doable. A major label could come up with a small-site-friendly license and mass license. Barring that kind of vision, though, more open source music is the way to take the big box stores out of the equation and to put mom and pop net sites in operation.