In the news today was a report about YouTube pulling the plug on Music videos watchable through their service. This will ony apparently effect those accessing youtube from the UK!
The reason? Google (owners of Youtube) charge the record companies a fee to allow them to post their music videos on Youtube. After all, the record companies are getting promotional space on youtube by uploading the music videos for anyone to watch.
However Google and the record companies can't agree on what the fee should be, so Google have just pulled the videos until they do as a kind of scare tactic and sticking two fingers up at the record companies involved.
This however is going to effect smaller groups a lot compared to the large corporate record label promoted singers and groups. The small independant groups rely on free promotional avenues such as Youtube and Myspace to get their work out there and listened to, to sell MP3s and CDs to their fanbase. If they have to start paying for the services to host their videos they are going to suffer badly as they won't have the budget to do it and they will go unheard and unknown. Not good at all!
As usual it is the greed of the large corporations now monopolising the internet, and the large record companies monopolising the record industry. Neither of which are really a good thing.