Does the fact that it's not their core contradict what I'm saying? I'd say "yes." The PROs don't have as much leverage over YouTube as they do over music sites

Does the fact that it's not their core contradict what I'm saying? I'd say "yes." The PROs don't have as much leverage over YouTube as they do over music sites. YT can tell the industry, "fine, we'll just continue the way we've been going and you'll get nothing." Google has scads more money and lawyers than the record industry; Google makes the entire record industry's annual revenue every two months. UMG ain't shutting them down. You'll notice that Google Play Music is not the same situation as YT, and is more like Spotify et al. The issue with pure audio streaming is that the music is a primary use of the service, so it's easier for the PROs to beat them down, legally. GPM could be prevented from operating just as other subscription streamers have been (threatened). Put another way, YT still has a bazillion unlicensed items and the licensed streaming services have none. UGC audio sites are somewhere in the middle, but my contention is that they would have to let the PROs crawl up their buttholes just to unlock the doors every morning in order to settle the business model.