Exploration Weekly - YouTube Contributed $20.5 Billion to US GDP in 2020 / The MLC Presents “Junior Music Rights Week” / TikTok 2020 Revenues in Europe Up 545%

Aaron Davis -


In a YouTube-commissioned study from Oxford Economics, titled The State Of the Creator Economy, YouTube contributed $20.5 billion to the US gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, as well as the equivalent of 394,000 full-time jobs. These numbers are up 23% and 14%, respectively, from the previous year in 2019.

The MLC is collaborating with the Save The Music Foundation on “Junior Music Rights Week” (October 11-15), an initiative aimed at helping young music creators between 13 and 18 years old learn more about the business side of the music industry and specifically, the mechanical licensing process. There will be two webinars and a virtual pop-quiz for participants to kick off the week.

The latest financial results filed by TikTok Information Technologies UK state that in 2020, TikTok’s revenues in Europe grew by 545% to $170.8 million. The company attributed the sharp increase in revenues to “a substantial increase in our user base which attracted more online advertisers and paying users”.

YouTube Music is set to roll out a background-listening option for ad-supported accounts in Canada “free of charge” on Wednesday, November 3rd, according to a company blog post. The music streaming service expects to launch the feature globally sometime down the line, albeit without disclosing an exact release date.

Chris Brown and Drake have been sued for copyright infringement by singer Brandon Cooper and producer Timothy Valentine for the 2019 song “No Guidance”. According to the lawsuit, it forged elements of their 2016 track “I Love Your Dress” by using similar beat patterns in the melody and lyrics used in the chorus/hook of “No Guidance”.

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Exploration Weekly - October 8, 2021

Chris Brown and Drake Accused of Song-Theft on “No Guidance”

Singer Brandon Cooper and producer Timothy Valentine have sued Drake and Chris Brown for infringing copyright on their 2019 collaborative song “No Guidance”. The two allege that it lifts from their 2016 track “I Love Your Dress”. According to their new lawsuit, “by every method of analysis, ‘No Guidance’ is a forgery – copied from plaintiffs, who wrote, recorded, and published their original song ‘I Love Your Dress’ approximately three years earlier”. What has been “forged” specifically? Well, says Cooper and Valentine’s lawsuit, “in addition to containing similar beat patterns, the melody and lyrics used in the chorus/hook of ‘No Guidance’ – “you got it, girl; you got it” – are so strikingly similar to those used in the chorus of ‘I Love Your Dress’ that they cannot be purely coincidental”. It remains to be seen how Brown and Drake respond to the song-theft claims, though Cooper and Valentine say they want 50% of the rights and royalties in the duo’s 2019 hit.

The Mechanical Licensing Collective and Save The Music Foundation to Present “Junior Music Rights Week” October 11-15

The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) is collaborating with the Save The Music Foundation on “Junior Music Rights Week” October 11-15, an initiative aimed at helping young music creators between 13 and 18 years old – and their parents or guardians – learn more about the business side of the music industry and specifically, the mechanical licensing process. Developed by Dae Bogan, The MLC’s Head of Third-Party Partnerships, in collaboration with the Save The Music Foundation, “Junior Music Rights Week” is designed to address a surge in recent years of young aspiring artists taking advantage of economical tools to produce new music on their own and utilizing user-generated content (UGC) platforms to release that music out into the world. The initiative is centered around two webinars hosted by The MLC and a fun, virtual pop-quiz for participants with questions covering the music business and mechanical licensing, as well as the release of both a series of FAQs for teens and their parents or guardians and an animated explainer video on The MLC.

YouTube-Commissioned Study Finds It Contributed $20.5 Billion to US GDP in 2020

For the second year, YouTube has commissioned a study from research firm Oxford Economics, diving into the overarching economic implications of the company in the US. This year’s study, titled The State Of the Creator Economy, found that YouTube contributed $20.5 billion to the US gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, as well as the equivalent of 394,000 full-time jobs. Last year’s report, looking at 2019, concluded that YouTube contributed approximately $16.7 billion to the US GDP and the equivalent of 345,000 full-time jobs. That means that this year’s contributions increased 23% and 14%, respectively. In calculating YouTube’s economic impacts, Oxford Economics chief economist Andrew Goodwin said it examined myriad revenue streams, including: ads; creator purchases of equipment, freelancers, and other production-related expenses; and off-platform business earnings, such as brand deals or creator-founded companies.

TikTok Revenues in Europe Grew by 545% to $170.8 Million in 2020

According to financial results filed by TikTok Information Technologies UK, in 2020, TikTok’s revenues in Europe grew by 545% to $170.8 million. The company said that the sharp increase in revenues was the result of “a substantial increase in our user base which attracted more online advertisers and paying users” – those being people who buy virtual coins in TikTok’s app to send virtual gifts to their favorite livestreamers. $151.7 million of the revenues (around 89%) came from advertising while $16.6 million came from the livestreaming side, with a further $2.5 million generated by services provided to the wider TikTok business.

YouTube Music is Releasing Background Listening for Free Users - Starting in Canada

YouTube Music is officially preparing to roll out a background-listening option for ad-supported accounts, and users in Canada are set to gain access to the feature “free of charge” on Wednesday, November 3rd, according to an announcement made in a YouTube blog post. The Google-owned music-streaming service also made clear that it intends to launch the feature globally sometime down the line – albeit without disclosing a precise release date (or window). Background listening, as its name suggests, will enable ad-supported YouTube Music users to “keep your music playing after minimizing the app or turning off your screen,” says the company’s blog post. Additionally, background listening – which is already available to most other streaming services’ free users – will support “continuous radio stations” and “personalized playlists on shuffle.”

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