Video sharing site YouTube will no longer allow users in the UK to view music videos after owners Google failed to reach an agreement on license costs. The search engine’s existing agreement with PRS for Music, the organisation responsible for issuing licences and collecting royalties for copyright holders has expired with the two parties still disputing new terms. YouTube have cited the increased cost of a new license as reason for the blackout, claiming the higher cost offered by PRS would result in it making a loss each time a video was played. PRS hit back saying that they wanted any new deal to reflect increasing popularity of its music videos online. Read More About Google YouTube License Dispute

The dispute means visitors to the popular site will no longer be able to view the thousands of music videos in the YouTube library. Videos have already started to disappear as YouTube’s Patrick Walker, Director of Video Partnerships, Europe, Middle East and Africa, took to his blog to say, “We have invested a lot of time and effort trying to ensure that our community can find and enjoy the music they love, and we have strong partnerships with three of the four largest record labels in the world, as well as many independent labels. But copyrights in music can get pretty complicated. Our previous licence from PRS for Music has expired, and we've been unable so far to come to an agreement to renew it on terms that are economically sustainable for us.

“PRS is now asking us to pay many, many times more for our licence than before. The costs are simply prohibitive for us - under PRS's proposed terms we would lose significant amounts of money with every playback. In addition, PRS is unwilling to tell us what songs are included in the license they can provide so that we can identify those works on YouTube -- that's like asking a consumer to buy an unmarked CD without knowing what musicians are on it.”

For their part, PRS issued a statement saying, “PRS for Music is outraged on behalf of consumers and songwriters that Google has chosen to close down access to music videos on YouTube in the UK. Google has told us they are taking this step because they wish to pay significantly less than at present to the writers of the music on which their service relies, despite the massive increase in YouTube viewing.

Steve Porter CEO PRS for Music said "We were shocked and disappointed to receive a call late this afternoon informing us of Google's drastic action which we believe only punishes British consumers and the songwriters whose interests we protect and represent."

YouTube has said that it will continue to work with PRS to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement.

More on search engine optimisation
and social media marketing