The fiscal stupidity of this move was apparent when a bunch of the kids I'm working with in Germany - all claiming to be hip hop fans - didn't know who Jay Z is. They knew Tupac, an older and dead rapper whose work would have been circulating during the pre 2009 contract problem but not the more contemporary Jay-Z.
GEMA needs to make a deal with the artists who will benefit from the distribution of free music on Youtube, which will act as a loss leader for their product, raising awareness and, in turn, sales. Keeping German people ignorant of a lot of popular music is not a good business move. Make a deal with the artists and let the kids rock, already.
On the other hand. Who cares. Pop music will probably go down in history as a regressive mistake that obsessed too many people for all the wrong reasons. I'm with Adorno and Attali on this one.
But, still, as a business move, GEMA's ban is stupid.