NEWS: YouTube blocks all music videos in Britain?

Just saw this on an Australian news site, but no doubt it’s already big news out there.

The story reads, in part:

YOUTUBE will block all music videos from being viewed by users in Britain after it was unable to reach a deal with a royalty collection group.

The world's largest video sharing website said PRS for Music, a British collection society that collects royalties on behalf of nearly 50,000 composers, was asking it to pay "many, many times" more than the previous licensing agreement that expired.

"The costs are simply prohibitive for us – under PRS's proposed terms, we would lose significant amounts of money with every playback," the company said.

The move is the latest sign of the tension between YouTube and the music industry.
It also indicates that YouTube is resolving to keep operating costs under control as it strives to generate profits for owner Google.

YouTube said PRS was unclear about which songs would be included in the renewed license.

"We've been talking to them for a long time and we're still talking to them," said Patrick Walker, YouTube director of video partnerships for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

CLICK HERE for the rest of the story.

So what does it all mean? Is it a contract negotiation ploy? Will this be applied across the entire music category? Will it affect unsigned bands? Both parties, YouTube and PRS for Music, stand to lose a lot if they can’t reach an agreement. What are your thoughts on this one?

Personally I’m kinda amazed that YouTube hasn’t officially aligned with a retailer, or even set up their own, to link to high-quality paid downloads of an artist’s discography and videos. Kinda seems like a logical step, no?