Musi has confronted objections to its enterprise practices earlier than. In October 2019, the corporate filed go well with towards a web based advert community, alleging that it had withheld funds owed for adverts that ran inside the Musi app. In November that 12 months, the advert community filed a counter-complaint alleging that it stopped funds after discovering Musi’s enterprise was fraudulent. “Musi was knowingly and illegally ripping music off from YouTube,” the counter-complaint mentioned, alleging that when advertisers discovered, it misplaced over $7 million. A decide granted a request from Musi to dismiss the case with out prejudice in 2020.
Cherie Hu, the founding father of the music-business analysis community Water & Music, described Musi’s interface as utilitarian. It’s a spot to hearken to music and make playlists, and that’s it. Customers don’t see track lyrics, details about upcoming live shows, or any options hinting at collaborations or partnerships with artists. “It’s a really generic means of curating and presenting music,” she says. Even after greater than a decade in operation, it nonetheless feels extra like a vibrant CS pupil’s senior mission quite than knowledgeable product.
Musi claims to not host the music movies its customers stream, as a substitute emphasizing that these movies come from YouTube. These movies seem inside Musi’s personal barebones interface, however some flaunt their origins with watermarks from YouTube or Vevo. Customers have to sit down by means of video adverts proper once they open Musi and might then stream uninterrupted audio, however video adverts play silently each few songs whereas the music continues. The app additionally shows banner adverts, however customers can take away all adverts from the app for a one-time charge of $5.99.
In contrast to its main rivals, Musi doesn’t provide a obtain operate, so the music stops with out entry to the web. “Candidly, this gained’t be a function ever, as a result of restrictions set in place by YouTube,” a Musi help account instructed a fan final 12 months who requested on Reddit if an offline mode was coming.
James Grimmelmann, a professor of digital and web regulation at Cornell College, says the best way Musi operates raises quite a few questions. “Is that this copyright infringement? A license for YouTube may not be a license to Musi,” he says. “Does this violate YouTube’s phrases of service in a means that YouTube may reduce it off?” As of now, the solutions are unclear.
One unknown is whether or not taking part in a track on Musi will lead to the identical quantity of revenue for an artist as it will if performed straight on YouTube, particularly as streaming payouts calculations depend on a wide range of elements. The Musi help account on Reddit has instructed listeners that it does, with out offering any additional particulars or proof. It is usually unclear whether or not a rights holder who needs to take away their music from Musi would have a transparent mechanism to take action with out additionally pulling it from YouTube.
By tapping into YouTube on this means, Musi seems to have pulled off one thing outstanding: Constructing a booming enterprise in streaming music with out taking over any of the legwork of putting offers with labels and distributors. That causes David Herlihy, a copyright lawyer and music business professor at Northeastern College, to explain Musi as a “backside feeder.” He believes the app has skated by to this point as a result of it’s not technically breaking any legal guidelines. “It’s authorized,” he says. “They’re linking to YouTube, and YouTube has licenses.”