Published: October 1, 2024
Photo from Adele’s Instagram
YouTube Removes Music from Popular Artists in New Dispute
Movieguide® Contributor
If you tried to play Adele’s “Rolling in The Deep” on YouTube on Saturday, you would have received a “Video not available” message. Here is the reason.
The music removed from the platform includes songs by Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Green Day, Burna Boy, Kanye West, Britney Spears, Nirvana, Bob Dylan and others. The music is represented by SESAC, and YouTube’s deal with the organization is about to expire.
“SESAC stands for Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, which has been around since 1930 and, according to its website, ‘…currently licenses the public performance of more than 1.5 million songs on behalf of its more than 15,000 composers, authors and music publishers affiliates’”, reported The Verge.
The Verge says SESAC’s musical repertoire spans 44,267 PDF pages. Not all music is blocked. For example, the music video for Kanye West’s “Power” is available, while another video intended only for listening to the song has been removed.
YouTube said: “We have held good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our existing agreement. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach an equitable agreement before its expiration. “We take copyright very seriously and, as a result, content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the US. We are in active discussions with SESAC and hope to reach a new agreement as soon as possible.”
Variety pointed out that YouTube’s deal with SESAC doesn’t actually expire until this week. Therefore, YouTube could have removed the music represented by SESAC as part of its tactical negotiations.
Tech Crunch said: “The situation is reminiscent of a dispute between Universal Music Group and TikTok earlier this year, which saw UMG remove songs by artists such as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande from the short video platform while negotiating over royalties.”
Movieguide® reported in February:
“The bitter battle over royalties between Universal Music Group and TikTok entered a new, more severe stage in the early hours of Tuesday when songs published by UMG began to be removed from the platform.”
