YouTube paid $1 billion to the music industry in 2016, apparently

On Tuesday, YouTube made an announcement detailing the positive impact that it has had on the music industry.

In a short post on YouTube’s official blog, the platform’s Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl stated that “in the last 12 months, YouTube has paid out over $1 billion to the music industry from advertising alone, demonstrating that multiple experiences and models are succeeding alongside each other.” Sounds pretty impressive, right?

On the other hand, Billboard noted that Spotify paid out $1.74 billion to the industry last year, and with more and more people using the streaming service, that figure is only set to rise. The site also gained a statement from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, who said that with “800 million music users worldwide, YouTube is generating revenues of just over US $1 per user for the entire year. This pales in comparison to the revenue generated by other services.” Ouch.

It got a bit worse for YouTube as well, with one industry executive telling Billboard they were “struggling to understand” how they “came up with” the $1 billion, referencing a “value gap” between consumption of music on the platform and “how poorly” they monetise that consumption.

YouTube are staying positive though, saying “at a time when there’s never been more competition for attention, fans can’t get enough good music. It is clear that this creative industry has two strong engines of growth — subscriptions and advertising — and we are honored to be a part of it.” YouTube: always looking on the bright side.