8 LYOR COHEN

GLOBAL HEAD OF MUSIC GOOGLE/YOUTUBE

The numbers show one facet of YouTube’s reach and influence: According to the streaming platform, there are over 100 million songs globally on YouTube; YouTube Music and YouTube Premium are available in over 90 countries and regions; and from July 2019 through June 2022 (the most recent financial results available), the company paid over $50 billion to artists, creators and media companies. As of September, over 2 billion logged-in YouTube users were watching Shorts videos every month, and the platform was logging 70 billion daily views and surpassed 80 million Music and Premium subscribers globally (including trial subscribers). The big news of last year, however, was the leading role YouTube took in embracing AI. In August, it unveiled the industry’s first set of AI Music Principles, three guidelines for the responsible use of the technology, and simultaneously announced that Universal Music Group artists, producers and songwriters would participate in its YouTube Music AI Incubator, a series of experiments to explore incorporating machines in music creation. The first of those experiments: Dream Track, an AI tool that mimics the voices of such artists as John Legend, Charlie Puth, Demi Lovato and Sia. YouTube’s initial collaboration with UMG instead of Warner Music Group, which is run by former YouTube chief business officer Robert Kyncl, raised eyebrows, but Cohen brushes off the conjecture. “I would not say that Universal is our initial partner,” he says. “We’re working alongside all of [the label groups] in some capacity. And we are just at the beginning of our journey.” He terms YouTube’s collaborative efforts — an about-face from its unresponsiveness when Cohen first arrived there — “our superpower,” which, he says, will eventually determine “the sweet spot where artists, creators and our users really dig a product.”