So I’ve currently been obsessed with Yazoo’s (aka, Yaz for “you Americans, too old to have Wikipedia at your disposal” –editor, who is one such American) 1982 hit “Only You.” Not only have I been playing it on repeat, but I wanted to share it with the world (i.e., my gChat – Google Talk? – buddy list).

Two days ago, we learned that videos are now embedded directly into your chat window. Today, my editor clicked on the YouTube link in my status to the video for “Only You” and realized there was no sound. After checking all his sound controls, we finally uncovered the mystery. Can you find the culprit?

Hint: it’s right here ^.

Apparently, after disputes with Warner Music Group, YouTube has had to enforce this policy for over a week, but I was just listening to this song yesterday!

The site is imposing its law-abiding, fun-ruining shadow…slowly but steadily. As YouTube explains,  “music licensing is very complicated.”

In other related news, the on-going debate between rising royalty prices for Internet radio continues to exacerbate the concerns around our ability to listen to music for free. I got a cursory explanation of the situation from a Pandora executive, but I will be following up with the company’s CEO Joe Kennedy sometime soon. In any case, the executive I spoke to assured me that Pandora was not going out of business (phewf) due to reports of its inability to afford the royalty fees; in fact, the company had increased 50 percent in revenue last year.

I’m not sure what the right solution is, but for now, watch and listen while you can!

Update: Surprise, Surprise.

I’m not the only one that feels this way. YouTube Users Lash Out At Warner Music (And Google) With Protest Videos http://twurl.nl/cdxha6