YouTube pays $3bn to music industry

The news, which coincided with the 15-year birth of the company, marks a jump from $1.8bn reported for the 2018 period.

Wojcicki also stated that in 2020 the company aims to tighten partnerships with: the music industry to "grow revenue, break new artists and promote music’, media companies, content creators and advertisers

“YouTube offers twin engines for revenue with advertising and subscribers, paying out more than $3 billion to the music industry last year from ads and subscriptions.

“We’re also partnering with artists to support and amplify their work through every phase of their career,” she wrote.

The news indicates how much of the company's revenue goes back to creators. YouTube parent company Alphabet's CFO Ruth Porat claims the majority of YouTube’s ad revenue goes back to the creators, but the "more than $3bn" figure paid to artists only accounts for 20% of total revenue. A breakdown of the full financial figures was not provided.

Earlier this month YouTube announced that their ad revenues were $15.15bn in 2019, of which $4.72bn was made in the fourth quarter alone. It was also the first time the company revealed its revenues. The decision could be seen as an effort to increase the level of transparency by the platform.

YouTube has for some time been criticised for not paying artists fairly, among other issues. In 2017, other music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music paid $7 in royalties to creators, in comparison to only $1 paid by YouTube for the same service.