YouTube Adds Songwriter, Label, Publisher Credits to Millions of Songs

YouTube today made a positive move with the creator community by dramatically expanding music credits on the platform. According to an announcement, “Music in this video” credits the artist, songwriter, label and publishers behind than half a billion music videos. The feature will provide credits and music discovery information on both music videos as well as user-generated content that features recorded music. The move follows a similar recent one by Spotify, although theirs does not include publisher information.


More information and visuals can be found in this blog post.


The move has received several high-profile cosigns. Elton John said, “Songwriters are the heart and the soul of songs, so it’s wonderful seeing them get the credit they deserve. There is so much more we can do to establish a better situation for music creators and this is great step forward.”


Björn Ulvaeus of Abba noted, “The songwriter is every bit as important as the artist and deserves recognition. This is a great initiative.”


Martin Bandier, Chairman and CEO of Sony/ATV, the world’s largest music-publishing company, said, “Songwriters are essential to the success of the music industry, but too often their critical role gets overlooked. It is why I have long called for all online music services to properly acknowledge their contribution by displaying writer credits. This move by YouTube is an important step forward to deliver that goal and one which Sony/ATV welcomes.


Robert Ashcroft, CEO of the performing rights society PRS, said, “Unlike with CDs, and LPs before that, songwriters are not generally credited for their work on digital services and platforms; I welcome the steps that YouTube is taking to right this wrong and look forward to supporting their efforts on behalf of all our members.”


Veteran hitmaker Rodney Jerkins said, “I’m known to the public as a music creator, but I consume music just as much as I create it.


“As a consumer, I remember as far back as when I was a young boy and I would read the credits inside the CD jackets. When I read, “produced by,” I wanted to know the significance of these credits and know more about who was being credited. These credit inserts inside the CDs encouraged me to learn more about the creative process of song writing and production and lead me to be a successful music producer. As a curious consumer, my appetite for this song information is still as strong as it was when I was a kid.


“As a long-time music creator, my experience has revealed to me how extremely critical it is for all music creators to have access to accurate song credits. The ability to identify a contributor to a song production–and how they contributed–makes future collaborations much more efficient and productive, which leads to less frustration for the creator, and better quality music for the consumer.


In today’s digital world, achieving accurate and comprehensive song credits is more attainable than ever. What YouTube has done by making credits a priority to its platform, will allow a better music experience for all.”