The Financial Times is reporting that a change is underway throughout the record industry, where major labels are considering moving their partnership with streaming video providers away from YouTube, possibly to Hulu. Although the companies make millions of dollars in advertising revenue generated by videos hosted by YouTube, there's concern that revenues aren't what they could be, and that YouTube isn't taking steps to properly protect intellectual property. Warner Music recently chose not to renew its agreement with YouTube because of just those concerns and now demands that the company police user-generated videos that invoke Warner's licenses, going so far as to remove clips in which people sing "Happy Birthday".

Hulu is being named as a new home for labels unhappy with YouTube because its polished, professionally-generated content attracts advertisers willing to pay more for the spots. That in turn could lead to increased revenue-sharing with the labels, while at the same time blocking out user-uploaded videos to compete with the real McCoy. While it's also possible the labels could generate in-house solutions, they're far more likely to go with an established streaming provider, both to save development costs and to increase the appeal to the viewer by having videos from multiple labels all in one place. Right now, nothing's set in stone, and it's entirely possible for YouTube to maintain its grasp on the market if it makes the right moves.

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