Bieber blackout on Foxtel’s music channels amid stoush with record labels over royalties
Foxtel’s music channels have been unable to play any music videos for artists including Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and 5 Seconds of Summer for the last two weeks amid a stoush with their label Universal Music over commercial programming terms and artist royalties.
Justin Bieber’s music videos have been pulled from Foxtel’s music channels.
The Music Network reports that for past two weeks no music videos from Universal Music and EMI talent have been played on Channel V, V Hits, CMC, Max and Smooth, while the two sides try to hammer out an arrangement
A spokesman for Foxtel confirmed that talks were ongoing: “Foxtel has been in negotiations with Universal Music for some weeks to resolve a commercially viable agreement to continue to showcase Universal Music artists and music on our five music channels.
“Regrettably we have not resolved our commercial issues, which has forced us to pull all Universal acts from our contemporary music channels. Foxtel Arts and Foxtel’s audio streaming service Foxtel Tunes are unaffected. The Foxtel music channels can continue without Universal artists however, it is not our desired outcome.”
Universal and EMI artists currently make up more than half of the top 40.
The move comes at a time when the pay-TV operator’s music channels are under increasing pressure from competitors like Vevo, and Youtube.
Comment has been sought from Universal Music.
Nic Christensen
Thanks for reporting that Bieber’s music will not be heard on the Foxtel music channels. I will definitely be tuning in to Channel V tonight. Great marketing move by Foxtel.
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Great! No more Bieber!
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This story isn’t true – Where Are Ü Now by Diplo, Skrillex and Justin Bieber was played on Wednesday night at 9:15pm. Love this song!
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I’m sure the 13 people who still watch music videos on tv and are big nirvana fans will be traumatised by this news
Oh wait, what channel is MTV on? Do they still show beavis and butthead ?
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Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and 5 Seconds of Summer should never be played again. Fast food music.
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On the on plus side, he is an airhead whose music is braindead candyfloss so less of that is good..
On the bad side, this smells very much like Foxtel trying to weasel out of paying performance fees which ALL music artists rely on to survive, not just the ones at the top.
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