YouTube has paid out a total of $6 billion (£4.56bn) in advertising revenues to the music industry, according to new figures from parent Google.
The How Google Fights Piracy report reveals the total payout in ad revenue to the music business. A huge chunk of that total came from the last 12 months - $1.8bn (£1.37bn ) up to September 2018.
The figures were issued as YouTube attempts to address negativity surrounding the remuneration going to artists and labels from user-generated content. Article 13 in the European Copyright Directive contains measures to tackle the licensing loophole, though YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and Lyor Cohen, global head of music, have warned about unintended consequences for artists.
In the report, Google also highlighted the $3bn (£2.29bn) it has paid rightsholders who have monetised use of their content in other videos, such as UGC, through Content ID.
Around 9,000 partners use Content ID, including broadcasters, music publishers and labels. Google has invested more than $100m (£76.3m) in the system, including staffing and computing resources.
Google claimed its efforts on copyright infringement were helping to reduce piracy and increase take-up of legitimate services.
“We invest significantly in the technology, tools and resources that prevent copyright infringement on our platforms,” stated the report. “We also work with others across the industry on efforts to combat piracy.”
More than 3bn URLs have been removed from its Search tool for infringing copyright since Google launched a submission tool for copyright owners.
FOLLOW 
