Much like BMI and ASCAP here in the States, the MCPS-PRS Alliance in the UK publishes music, and works with companies to license music made by all but the most independent of artists. One of the biggest alliances in recent memory came Wednesday in the form of YouTube. As part of a flat fee paid to the Alliance, YouTubers are now licensed to use the music under this umbrella as background in their videos. The Alliance itself with determine how much/if the music was used, and distribute royalties accordingly. As a punching bag for music companies worldwide, who point the finger every time something copyrighted shows up without permission on YouTube, this seems like a victory for the folks at Google.
