YouTube's Unlikely Peacemaker Plans to Make Musicians Rich
- One-time label chieftain Lyor Cohen pitches paid service
- ‘I’m claiming next year being the year of music,’ he says
Lyor Cohen
Photographer: Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
The music executives hobnobbing with Ed Sheeran and Selena Gomez at an industry party one recent November night knew the enemy was in their midst. Susan Wojcicki runs YouTube, the site that’s let millions of fans listen to their favorite songs without paying a dime.
But Wojcicki, a 49-year-old Silicon Valley insider, was at the soiree to extend an olive branch. Escorting her around the room and introducing her to Mary J. Blige and Camila Cabello was her guide, the man YouTube has entrusted with mending its ties to record labels and artists: veteran label executive and manager Lyor Cohen.