YouTube buys US-based music rights company

YouTube said Friday it has acquired RightsFlow, a New York-based company which manages music rights for songwriters, recording artists, record labels and online music services. "As new ways of consuming music have emerged, RightsFlow has been at the forefront of solving the complex issues of licensing and royalty payment management," YouTube product manager David King said in a blog post. "By combining RightsFlow's expertise and technology with YouTube's platform, we hope to more rapidly and efficiently license music on YouTube, meaning more music for you all to enjoy, and more money for the talented people producing the music," King said. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. King said Google-owned YouTube has invested tens of millions of dollars in content management technology and will "continue to invest in tools that make it easier for copyright owners to manage their content online." Rights Flow chief executive Patrick Sullivan said in a statement that YouTube "shares in our vision of solving the really challenging problem of copyright management." "Combined with the worldwide platform and reach of YouTube, we'll now be able to drive awareness, adoption, and licensing success to a much larger audience -- ultimately benefiting users, artists, labels, songwriters, publishers, and the entire global music ecosystem," Sullivan said.