It's a google world out there...

The possibility of ending musical piracy? Am I reading this correctly?

For context, Michael Jackson spent a reported $47 million to purchase the rights to 200 Beatles tunes...and 40,000 other copyrights.

Unnecessary.

Google obviously has too much money on their hands.

Originally Posted by Meeze

For context, Michael Jackson spent a reported $47 million to purchase the rights to 200 Beatles tunes...and 40,000 other copyrights.

For context, like the article says, Google could pay upwards of $5 billion to own an industry that only grossed $16 billion WORLDWIDE all last year.

Can't see this ending well. Anyone who thinks Google is going to treat artists better than the labels do is pretty naive.

Google Music is the tits...I fully support Google owning everything, if I could sell myself to Google I probably would.

Originally Posted by CluckyB

Can't see this ending well. Anyone who thinks Google is going to treat artists better than the labels do is pretty naive.

This.

Musicians need to start finding DIY ways to self-finance and democratize the distribution of their music. Major labels can be atrocious, but the idea of having "a consortium" of mega corporations in charge of all of the music ever feels like the first step into a dystopian sci-fi world.

Originally Posted by Thomas Nassiff

For context, like the article says, Google could pay upwards of $5 billion to own an industry that only grossed $16 billion WORLDWIDE all last year.

That sounds like a pretty smart investment actually considering you would make a substantial return on your initial investment after one year, no?

...so Google would own the rights to every song and decide where it can and can't go to? What would the labels even do at that point?

Plus, if Google owns it all and is selling it themselves, would they even allow it on iTunes, Amazon, and the like. That's just scary to think about.

Also, that would mean that all of the rights for all of the music at a label costs the same as Instagram. That's pretty fucked.

Originally Posted by SmallFrailBoy

That sounds like a pretty smart investment actually considering you would make a substantial return on your initial investment after one year, no?

Music sales aren't exactly increasing. Let me put it this way - if you were a billionaire, would you buy a record label?

Originally Posted by UnderMyDreams

...so Google would own the rights to every song and decide where it can and can't go to? What would the labels even do at that point?

Plus, if Google owns it all and is selling it themselves, would they even allow it on iTunes, Amazon, and the like. That's just scary to think about.

Also, that would mean that all of the rights for all of the music at a label costs the same as Instagram. That's pretty fucked.

I'd assume the label would still operate the same way and handle the day-to-day operations of actually being a record label, essentially feeding new "artists" and music into the Google machine, as everything created would then be owned by Google.