It’s no secret that YouTube has become a mecca for advertising and music discovery alike. People might be unaware of just how big a player YouTube is in music discovery. Huge. Like, the top method of discovery next to traditional and internet radio.

Audiam is a company that is looking to get artists the most financial reward from their online presence. It’s a bit more complicated than what I’m about to say, but essentially there are two ways of artists getting revenue – both involve ad revenue. If an artist posts a video that is completely original, they should be able to collect all ad revenue from that piece. If a third party uses their music, they should get a portion of that revenue. All Audiam charges is a 25% commission on revenue generated by third party videos.

The FAQ on Audiam’s website raises an interesting point – artists can utilize this scheme like a Kickstarter! That is, petition their fans to make videos featuring the artist’s music and then reap the benefits of a sudden onslaught of “third parties” using their music. Are you a mid-level artist in need of cash? Have a video contest and have the fans allow advertising. Boom.

Audiam is claiming a fresh approach to a concept that already exists, in my opinion. It appears the main claim to fame involves a more thorough scouring of YouTube for third party videos using content.

If Audiam is as thorough as it claims to be, independent artists and record labels ought to use this to their advantage, rather than file “copyright claims” to get certain videos taken down. Of course, this isn’t to say that artists aren’t allowed to have opinions on what kind of content is using their stuff. I could see where having a law degree would help navigating the grey area that would be enforcing these preferences.

IATU will definitely be watching to see if they company catches on. Would you use it?