Let's run with the Windows analogy for the moment. Microsoft did make an iOS-like Windows Store with a standardized cut, though they did let developers have co

Let's run with the Windows analogy for the moment. Microsoft did make an iOS-like Windows Store with a standardized cut, though they did let developers have control over pricing. And they bundled it with Windows 8, gave Windows Store apps access to new APIs and generally pushed it as hard as they could. It hasn't gone anywhere (at least not so far). So let's say YouTube has Windows-like market power. Just like Microsoft, they still don't get everything they want. The other side of the table (artists or developers) has market power too - they own the rights to their music or apps. There's nothing stopping them from putting their official presence somewhere else (Facebook, Amazon, Vimeo, ...) and issuing takedowns for everything that shows up on YouTube. That they don't do this is a pretty strong indication that the deal they're getting isn't actually that bad (especially since YouTube's competitors would happily given artists all sorts of incentives to switch to help build their user base).