YouTube has named music industry titan Lyor Cohen as its new Global Head of Music. The appointment comes as the video streaming company, which is owned by Google, faces some tough challenges in its relationship with the music industry, specifically its low payment rates to content providers relative to other streamers such as Spotify and Apple Music, and the increasing concern over the growth of stream ripping.
Cohen has had a long and illustrious career in the music industry. He began in the 1980's, managing artists such as Run DMC and The Beastie Boys for Russell Simmons' Rush Artist management, became president of hip hop label Def Jam and then CEO of Island Def Jam Music Group. He then headed up one of the big three music labels, Warner Music Group (WMG), until 2012. When he left WMG, he founded 300 — the record label which he currently heads, and which is home to several top hip hop artists such as Young Thug and Fetty Wap. Cohen will continue his role at 300 until Dec. 5, and will remain an investor in the company.
"Lyor is a lion of the music industry," said YouTube's Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl. "From Rush to Def Jam to Island Def Jam to WMG then 300, he has consistently been a pioneer, charting the course for where music is heading. As we enter the growth era of the music industry, Lyor is in a position to make tremendous difference in accelerating that growth in a fair way for everyone. We are thrilled to welcome him to YouTube."
Cohen has some tough issues to address at YouTube, whose relationship with the music industry has been contentious lately. The industry is up in arms over the low royalty rates paid by YouTube for musical content, far below the amounts being paid by streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. After the company introduced its paid subscription YouTube Red tier along with a dedicated music app, frustration turned to outright dissension, and one of Cohen's roles is to help find a solution to the issue. Despite the growth of streamers such as Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music, YouTube is the number one most used source for streaming music content worldwide.
YouTube is also the main source for musical content access by stream ripping, which has become another big problem for the music industry. Websites such as YouTube mp3 make it easy for users to download permanent music files created from YouTube streamed content. A recent study found that 30 percent of all web users and a full half of all young web users aged 16-24 have engaged in the practice, and the music industry has accused YouTube and its parent company Google of not doing enough to prevent its proliferation.
In a nod to these issues, Cohen penned a letter to the YouTube music team, promising to collaborate more closely with the music industry and to "bridge the worlds of technology and music in ways that benefit everyone, instead of the zero-sum mentality that exists today."
