YouTube’s Biggest Threat To The Music Industry May Not Be What You Think

While YouTube has undeniably had an extensive impact on the music industry, it could be bringing about an even greater cultural shift than previously guessed. As teens and pre-teens increasingly gravitate towards YouTube stars for their entertainment, they are also moving away from music.

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Guest Post by Mark Mulligan on his Music Industry Blog

YouTube’s disruptive commercial impact on the music industry is well documented but the real threat to music is far more fundamental and can’t be ‘fixed,’ not even by the world’s best lawyers. This is because the most important impact YouTube is having on music is not commercial, it is cultural.  While the music industry is grappling with how to deal with the premium revenue that YouTube appears to be sucking away, a whole generation of (largely non-music) creators native to YouTube have quickly learned how to build highly profitable careers and businesses solely on YouTube.  And in doing so they have created an entirely new youth culture.  A culture for the sub-millennials, the early teens and pre-teens that are still lazily referred to broadly as Millennials or Digital Natives, but are in fact an entirely new and distinct from those consumers.  It is a generation that creative types such as Frukt and