le for 154 million view

http://digg.com/d1oPTI

Pete Waterman: 'I was exploited by Google'

Quote :

"Pete Waterman, the force behind dozens of multi-million selling chart hits, claims he is being "exploited" by internet giant Google. The 62-year-old said the Rick Astley classic Never Gonna Give You Up, which he co-wrote and which was the subject of a YouTube craze last year, had earned him just £11 from Google, despite being viewed 154 million times. Waterman, whose fortune was estimated at £47 million by The Times in 2004, compared this treatment to the "exploitation" of migrant workers in the Middle East. At a press conference to mark the launch of a website campaigning for a fairer deal for songwriters whose work is featured on YouTube - which is owned by Google - Waterman said local radio was more profitable for him than the internet. "There was I sitting at Christmas thinking, 'I must have made a few bob this year with the old Rickrolling'," he said. "I rang my publisher and they said 'You'll be all right', until I saw the royalty statement. £11. "If 154 million plays means £11, I get more from Radio Stoke playing Never Gonna Give You Up than I do from YouTube." The Rickrolling phenomenon involved internet users sending each other web links that appeared to be relevant to something they were discussing, but were in fact disguised links to the Astley song on YouTube. "Panorama did a documentary on the exploitation of foreign workers in Dubai," he said. "I feel like one of those workers, because I earned less for a year's work off Google or YouTube than they did off the Bahrain government." The PRS For Music organisation wants Google and YouTube to pay higher royalties to songwriters for use of their work online. A YouTube spokesman said: "We absolutely believe that artists and songwriters should make money from the use of their material. "We previously had a licence with the PRS to enable this to happen and we are very committed to reaching terms so that we can renew our licence. "The more music videos YouTube streams, and the more popular those music videos are, the more money YouTube will generate to share with the PRS and its songwriters.""

[Edited on April 15, 2009 at 8:36 PM. Reason : ]

4/15/2009 8:35:16 PM

4/15/2009 8:35:49 PM

To compare, how much is Astley getting?

4/15/2009 8:39:28 PM

Note to self: kick Pete Waterman in the nuts.

4/15/2009 8:40:46 PM

i'd be willing to bet at least half of those views see it for a few seconds before they are like "god dammit i've been rick rolled" and close it

4/15/2009 8:41:37 PM

^^^ I dont think he owns the rights...

that sucks but I dont feel sorry for a multimultimillionaire

[Edited on April 15, 2009 at 8:42 PM. Reason : carrot]

4/15/2009 8:41:49 PM

He's lucky he got that much for that shitty song.

4/15/2009 8:42:38 PM

Quote :

"i'd be willing to bet at least half of those views see it for a few seconds before they are like "god dammit i've been rick rolled" and close it"

This.

Also, it's not like the guy just wrote the song recently, or that he's been working hard at the grindstone all year to get it more views (unless he's personally been trolling forums).

4/15/2009 8:45:46 PM

I got rickrolled at Sonic the other day


they played it on Sonic radio when I was eating in my car.

4/15/2009 8:54:30 PM

Rickrolling is kind of like "wassup dog"

Once it became mainstream, it became wack as fuck...the cool shit is still cutting edge

THIS is the new shit

http://www.collegehumor.com/videos/293857.html

4/15/2009 8:56:39 PM

^Well played. I was half-expecting it, but still...

4/15/2009 8:57:28 PM

lol

4/15/2009 8:58:05 PM

gg twista, gg.

4/15/2009 9:05:07 PM