YouTube to Block Artists Who Don’t Pay

The next time you want to blast the “Set Fire to the Rain” music video, don’t go to YouTube. The company is threatening to blacklist artists who don’t pay for their new streaming services. The policy announcement comes as YouTube plans to launch a new, ad-free music-streaming service. YouTube has already secured deals from some major labels, but many independent labels haven’t succumbed. This means Adele, Jack White, the Arctic Monkeys, and many less-famous artists could land on YouTube’s blacklist. Alison Wenham, chief executive of the Worldwide Independent Music Network (WIN), said YouTube has “suffered a simple but catastrophic error of judgment in misreading the market.”