London - Online videos made by fans singing along to songs by their favorite artists appear to be paying off for those artists, boosting their payments from the MCPS-PRS Alliance, the U.K. collecting society reports. The number of homespun online performances of tracks such as Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" -- which represented 6% of all analyzed performances -- as well as group dance video postings contributed to royalties paid to artists.

The Alliance analyzed 60 million downloads and streams of music on licensed sites like YouTube, iTunes and Bebo.

"The trend for posting self-made videos is driving the number of performances on the websites we license," said Andrew Shaw, managing director of broadcast and online at the Alliance.

"Hairbrush divas are not only helping to generate royalties for the writers of their favourite music but could also prove to have the X Factor themselves and be our stars of tomorrow."

Other popular songs that the Alliance found had generated income from amateur videos included Soulja Boy's "Crank Dat Soulja," Rihanna's "Umbrella" and "Gimme More" by Britney Spears.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/3ft1v (MCPS-PRS)

http://snipurl.com/3ft14 (PaidContent)

http://snipurl.com/3ft0w (Billboard)