Metallica's manager says YouTube is "the devil"
Countless music fans have developed a habit of enjoying their favorite artists via YouTube streams, and that trend spells disaster for the music industry, at least according to Metallica's manager.
Peter Mensch, who manages big-league bands such as Metallica, Muse and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, warns that the YouTube business model could spell doom for artists.
"YouTube, they're the devil," Mensch said in a new BBC Radio 4 documentary on the music business. "If someone doesn't do something about YouTube, we're screwed. It's over. Someone turn off the lights."
His main bone of contention is that since users stream the content for free -- with revenue is derived through advertising income that is shared with YouTube itself -- they are less inclined to shell out cash for physical CDs or digital downloads. "It's hard to make people pay for what they've been getting for free. That's consumer behavior 101," Mensch said.
But YouTube Chief Business Officer Robert Kynci countered that artists can do quite well off YouTube views -- as long as the deals with their respective record companies don't get in the way.
"It really depends on what is the flow of the money from us to you," Kynci said. "The artists who are signed up directly with YouTube are seeing great returns. Not everybody -- but if you're generating a lot of viewership, you're making a lot of money."