Pete Waterman Screwed by Google...

[TedShatner10]

Orange

Waterman complains of web 'exploitation'

]Legendary record producer Pete Waterman has accused internet giant Google of 'exploiting' him.

Waterman, 62, said the Rick Astley classic Never Gonna Give You Up, which he co-wrote and which was the subject of a YouTube craze last year, had earned him just £11 from Google, despite being viewed 154 million times.

At a press conference to mark the launch of the fairplayforcreators.com website campaigning for a fairer deal for songwriters whose work is featured on YouTube - which is owned by Google - Waterman said local radio was more profitable for him than the internet.

The boot appears to be on the other foot and all that jazz, the old music industry was not going to be sustainable in the post-digital age to begin with, but I worry for the profit motivations in the entertainment industry if it is just going to be sucked up into the great big digital singularity.

 

[Australis]

Pete Waterman imposed a lot of drivel on us in the past. I blame him for the likes of Idol today. He can suck it, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Oh, bloody hell. That generic bland manufactured synth-pop Stock/Aitken/Waterman crap polluted music for decades, and now one of them is bitching about it? Gimme a fuckin' break.

 

[An Officer]

As though the man isn't already a multi-millionaire.

He's screwed so many artists in the same fashion himself. What goes around comes around.

 

[Gertch]

Apparently Google has sent him a link to their apology.

 

[FlyingLemons]

I think you'll actually find the apology's here.

Waterman just wrote garbage for so many years, torturing us with crap, mediocre acts like Astley and Steps. I like him much better since he's gone into trains.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

If it wasn't for "Rick Rolling" nobody under thirty would know that song existed. Rick Astley is cool with it. If this guy was smart he'd have found a way to capitalize on the song's newfound popularity, like selling ringtones or musical greeting cards or some other kind of random garbage merchandise you'd find at Spencer Gifts. Too late now, the public's over it.