How to Protect Your Music with YouTube’s Content ID

YouTube, a platform popularized on the back of the music industry, has tried to provide an answer to the piracy problem. But is it working for artists?

YouTube is the world’s biggest music streaming platform. With an estimated user base of 1 billion, that means about one of every eight people in the world visits the site every month.

(See an update on this story below.)

Music piracy is the industry’s #1 enemy-of-the-state. Since its inception in the days of Napster and file-sharing, music piracy is the can of worms the industry hasn’t yet been able to re-cap. Paid streaming services have provided a slightly comforting salve to the wound left by “free” music. YouTube, a platform essentially made popular on the back of the music industry, has tried (in its own way) to provide an answer to the problem. But is it working for artists?

YouTube is the world’s biggest music streaming platform. With an estimated user base of 1 billion, that means about one of every eight people in the world visits the site every month. The site’s own statistics say one-third of all people on the internet watch their videos. Those are serious numbers for artists and record labels who fear the platform isn’t…