Attention, executives of Sony, EMI, Universal, and Warner: please get a clue. When a fan incorporates music that you own into an online video, it means that they like it enough to add their own creative flair to it and spread it among their social networks.

Why do you discourage that? Because you don’t get a penny for everytime someone buys the song? And YouTube, for goodness sakes, could you guys not have seen this one coming?

I read this article just now about how the big four are now re-negotiating their contracts with YouTube and as a result, videos are being pulled from the site. While I can put on my “old-timey” glasses and see why they would have such a knee jerk reaction (lawyers gotta eat too, by the way), the common sense part of me is screaming WTF?!?!?!

You WANT fans. You NEED fans. Instead of discouraging the creative engagement with your product, you should embrace it and use it. Consider the case of Guitar Hero. When the original concept for Guitar Hero was being developed, the game developer struggled to get the labels to come onboard. This is what the music labels do: reject new things. Napster, anyone? But when GH 3 was released in 2007, most of the tracks saw a dramatic increase in digital sales almost immediately. I have all of the Guitar Hero games, and I own almost all of the tracks as well. Now, the labels are pining to be in on future releases. Why did sales take off? Because while gamers were rocking out in front of their TVs trying to get five stars on Reptilia, they were actually hearing the song enough to love it. Most of them had never heard it before the game was released. Takeaway: when new people hear your music, it is a good thing. These people can easily become fans and will want to buy music.

So here is my plea to the music labels: give us change. Give us leaders that are unafraid to share content and encourage fans to experiment with it. Make your artists tracks available for download on Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Quit trying to get paid every time a song is played, and instead invest in artists and technology that can connect with fans and connect fans. As for YouTube, my answer is simple. Require that fans cite the source for music that is used, but do not prevent the usage of your music. You can even work with YouTube to add links to buy the tracks on iTunes. After that, have contests, promotions, giveaways – invite fans to make their own music video for some of your new acts. Create a YouTube channel and pump it through your website. Feed it to your Facebook Group. Tweet if you dare. Just get involved and get present, and listen to your fans.

In the future of the music biz, labels will find and refine talent, promoters will bring the talent to the stage, and software developers (Activision, Red Octane) and online distribution channels (iTunes, Pandora)will bridge the final interface gap with the mass public. CDs will go away. Radio will be marginalized. Fans will find and interact with music on their turf and on their terms, empowered by broadband and inspired by their social circles. This is the future, like it or not.

So quit fighting the inevitable, or else your labels and the arcane business practices you so vehemently protect will go the way of the Big 3 automakers.

But the public won’t bail you out.