Singaporean songwriters to benefit financially from having their videos on YouTube.
Composers & Authors Society of Singapore Ltd (COMPASS) and YouTube today announced a licensing agreement that will allow songwriters to earn revenue on YouTube.
Both companies have enjoyed a flying-start to their working relationship. The companies saw amicable negotiations and quickly resolved the necessary music licence issues for YouTube.
The presence of YouTube in Singapore will make it easier for users to discover more locally-oriented music content and also for Singaporean advertisers to reach their local audiences. Music labels and publishers, especially the small and independent ones, will be able to ride on YouTube to market their songs and artistes.
This is the video platform’s first collection society deal in Singapore. Revenue is generated when advertisements are displayed against YouTube partner’s videos. For the first time, under this agreement, Singaporean composers, authors, and publishers will receive payments via COMPASS when their music is accessed on YouTube.
“The decision by YouTube to establish their presence and strategically position itself in Singapore, I believe, is informed by the need to be closer to its numerous potential clients in Singapore and the region and ultimately bring its services to the doorsteps of its esteemed customers,” says Dr Edmund Lam, CEO & Director of COMPASS. “Reaching an agreement with YouTube is a step forward that creates major new opportunities for our members and affiliates. From now on, they will receive fair payment for the use of their works on YouTube which is a very positive step for our songwriters and publishers, and, more broadly, the Internet.”
“This is yet another step in YouTube’s ongoing effort to help foster the creation of Singaporean content and reward local artists for original works available online. We are extremely pleased to have reached an agreement with COMPASS that both fosters musical talent and enables this talent to receive payment for videos on YouTube,” says Adam Smith, Director of Product Management for YouTube in the Asia-Pacific region.
About COMPASS
The Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS) is an organisation created to protect and promote the copyright interests of composers, authors (and their heir) and publishers of musical works and their related lyrics. COMPASS is a non-profit public company which administers the public performance, communications, and reproduction rights in music and musical associated literary works on behalf of its members. COMPASS deals specifically with music copyright and the usage of musical works.
For more information, please visit www.compass.org.sg.
About YouTube
YouTube is the world’s most popular online video community allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share original videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube, LLC is based in San Bruno, Calif., and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.