YouTube removes music from major artists amid SESAC dispute
Some of the most popular songs on YouTube and YouTube Music have suddenly disappeared due to a licensing dispute with SESAC, the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers.
As of last weekend, tracks from artists like Adele, Nirvana, Kendrick Lamar, and Green Day are no longer available to stream, with users seeing a message:
“Video unavailable. This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.”
What is SESAC on YouTube?SESAC is a performing rights organization responsible for licensing and managing the public performance rights of over 1.5 million songs. Though smaller than its competitors BMI and ASCAP, SESAC has a significant portfolio of high-profile songwriters and composers. Established in 1930, SESAC was acquired by private equity firm Blackstone in 2017.
It’s tasked with ensuring that its members get paid for the public performance of their works, including on platforms like YouTube and YouTube Music.
And the community’s reaction to the changes? Well, we will just let ChocoMingo‘s sarcastic comment speak for itself:
Man, I really love SESAC. Gotta be one of my favorite artists