Paul McCartney And Lady Gaga Find an Ally Against YouTube
The EU’s changes to copyright law should in theory help artists squeeze more money from the tech giants. But the fight is far from over.
Lady Gaga: First stop the Oscars, next stop the European Parliament, final stop endless legal wrangling.
Photographer: Larry Busacca/Getty Images North AmericaA law designed to protect recording artists and penalize the tech giants may end up doing neither.
The music industry narrowly avoided an extinction event around the turn of the millennium, when online file-sharing and high-speed streaming made everything from The Beatles to black metal free of charge (albeit illegally). The fightback through licensing agreements with the likes of Spotify Technology SA and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube has put a spring in the step of record company execs, and industry revenues are growing again.