Bloggers and promo fanboys have already lauded YouTube for breathing life into the flagging genre, but if the website has its way, there's lots more where that came from. In an August interview with Reuters, co-founder Steve Chen revealed that YouTube is currently in talks with record labels for the right to post thousands more videos online. "What we really want to do is in six to 12 months, maybe 18 months, have every music video ever created up on YouTube," he said. "We're trying to bring in as much of this content as we can on to the site." If it came to fruition, the move would help position YouTube against rivals like iTunes and Yahoo Music as the Internet's primary music video hub. As for its effect on the industry? Directors Bureau music video rep and erstwhile director Lana Kim says while the subject hasn't come up in any of her dealings with labels, she wouldn't be surprised if that's where things were heading. Of course, the idea appeals to her inner video nerd, as well. "Personally, the thought of being able to pull up any music video at any time on YouTube is really exciting," she says. But, like everyone else in the industry, she's reserving judgement until more news is in. "If somehow labels were profiting... I don't know how I would feel if it became another iTunes thing where labels recouped some costs but directors weren't being credited or seeing royalties."

YouTube> http://www.youtube.com
The Directors Bureau> http://www.directorsbureau.com