April 10, 2009

U2ube

From Businessinsider.com:

Hilary Lewis|Apr. 10, 2009, 10:59 AM


The man behind Universal Music Group's new YouTube music-video service: celebrity diplomat Bono. Evidently the U2 singer, whose band is on Universal Music Group, set up a meeting between the head of the label and Google CEO Eric Schmidt that led to the deal announced yesterday.

LA Times: Bono played the role of digital ambassador, prodding his label, Universal, and YouTube to explore a partnership.

[UMG's CEO Doug] Morris recounted how, over dinner in Paris, Bono suggested he meet with Google's chief executive. Schmidt, meanwhile, said he received an e-mail from Bono urging him to meet Morris. That spurred a trip to New York, where Schmidt said he was struck by the Universal executive's ideas for new advertising and sponsorship models.

"I came back here in California [thinking]: Why don't we think about a new approach?" Schmidt said. "That then kicked off Doug's vision."

It's kind of pathetic that Bono had to be the one to get Doug Morris and Eric Schmidt to meet to discuss their gripes about UMG's existing agreement with YouTube. You would think that the two CEOs would have pursued such a meeting themselves.

Nevertheless, the additional revenue that YouTube's new music video channel provides will probably eventually trickle down to its artists, which include U2—isn't it nice how that works out?

Meanwhile, more details have emerged about the UMG and Google's partnership, including the following:

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