New research suggests that YouTube may play a role in hurting album sales, according to a study from University of Colorado and Fairfield University.
Based on Warner Music’s YouTube blackout, researchers conclude that the video streaming portal cost the label up to $40 million in lost album sales per year. In the study the researchers examine the effect of Warner Music’s 2009 YouTube blackout on the record label’s album sales.
At the time, Warner pulled all their music from the video hosting service due to a licensing dispute. The researchers use this event to compare the sales of Warner’s artists listed in the Billboard Album 200, to those from labels that still had their videos on YouTube.
“We showed that the removal of content from YouTube had a casual impact on album sales by upwards of on average 10,000 units per week for top albums,” according to the research.
“While a great deal has been said about the potential role of these services in promoting and discovering new artists and music, our results cast some double on this widely believed notion, at least with regards to top-selling albums.”
The report, Online Music, Sales Displacement, and Internet Search: Evidence from YouTube, has been published by the Center for the Analysis of Property Rights and Innovation and can be downloaded here.
