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YouTube joins hands with Warner Music Group

User generated content sites are the fastest growing field on the Internet. YouTube, of the innovators and leaders of video sites, has been criticized repeatedly for airing copyrighted material on its site. Monday`s announcement was thus a significant move for the San Mateo, California company in defeating the criticism. YouTube and the Warner Music Group have agreed, the announcement says, to air clips by the record label`s artists such as Madonna, Alanis Morissette and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and let users incorporate the music into homemade clips.

The deal between YouTube and Warner, whose labels include Atlantic Records and Warner Brothers Records, allows its artists to be compensated for their music, said Alex Zubillaga, Warner`s executive vice president of digital strategy and business development. The two companies will share the revenues from advertisements that appear alongside the videos. The agreement further allows YouTube to post thousands of Warner`s music videos, behind-the-scenes footage and artist interviews on the site.

The relationship between the record companies and the online sites has been tense for long over the issue of copyrights. Warner might be a first, but other record labels are expected to join with similar deals, sharing and selling music on-line, analysts say. "It`s further evidence that the labels are finally realizing that distributing music over the Internet is not a bad thing," said Phil Leigh, analyst for Inside Digital Media Inc. "It stimulates demand for legitimate sales."