YouTube cancels billions of video views after finding they had been ‘faked by the music industry’
(DAILY MAIL) Major recording companies have lost more than two billion video views on YouTube after the video sharing website cracked down on alleged fake views.
The biggest hit was taken by Universal, home of Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber, which lost more than one billion views from its total of seven billion.
Sony was second hardest hit, with the label behind such stars as Alicia Keys, Rita Ora and Labrinth – and with which Simon Cowell has a close relationship – losing more than 850million views in a single day.
The viewcount culls will be damaging to the labels affected since YouTube is now the web’s premier outlet for music videos. Over four billion hours of video are watched by over 800million unique visitors to the site each month.
The number of views attracted on YouTube are these days regarded as an unofficial worldwide popular music chart, and any suggestion that major labels are engaging in underhand tactics to increase their numbers could threaten the credibility of their artists.
YouTube viewer figures are doubly valuable to channel owners since it is also the primary way in which the site works out how to share its advertising revenue with partners.
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