Tech Stream

Google and the battle over music rights

13 March 2009

Listen and download: MP3

Its been an interesting week for Google-watchers and anyone interested in music or video content online.  We heard about a new service called Muziic, which uses an iTunes-like interface to tap into content on YouTube.  It was started by a David Nelson, a 15 year old teenager, and enables users to stream YouTube’s music to their PCs without the videos.  The site has yet to receive the blessing of Google, who own Youtube, but the company has raised concerns that it violates the video site’s API.

But Google have a lot more on their plate this week.  They’re launching a new VOIP-like service to rival Skype.  Google Voice will offer a single number for home, work and mobile phones and also turn your voicemail into an email. The service is built on top of Grand Central, a company they acquired in 2007.  So far Google Voice is only available to current Grand Central users, and it isn’t clear if it will work for people outside the United States.

Also in the news this week is that Youtube is blocking certain copyrighted music videos in Britain, in a dispute with the UK’s Performing Rights Society for Music, the PRS.  The block affects only premium music videos – those supplied by the record companies – but it raises some interesting questions about how content is licensed and funded in the digital world.

Elliott Bledsoe is a researcher at the Centre for Creative Industries and Innovation at the Queensland University of Technology.  I asked him what he thought google were hoping to achieve by blocking this content. You can listen to our chat via the MP3 link at the top of this story.