Music videos from Green Day, Adele, Kendrick Lamar and other top artists blocked on YouTube because…

YouTube has blocked access to music videos from several prominent artists, including Adele, Bob Dylan and Green Day. Users attempting to play these videos have encountered the message “This video contains content from SESAC.” It is not available in your country.” This situation arises from a legal dispute between YouTube and SESAC, a performance rights organization responsible for licensing music performance rights.

Ongoing license negotiations

The problem escalated over the weekend when YouTube removed videos from various artists due to ongoing licensing negotiations. This deactivation affects both the main YouTube platform and the YouTube Music service, resulting in many hits no longer being accessible to users in the US. The removal of these videos has sparked debate among fans and industry representatives.

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Role and impact of SESAC

SESAC represents an extensive list of music professionals, including over 15,000 songwriters, composers and publishers. It owns the public performance rights to more than 1.5 million songs. YouTube's inability to reach an agreement with SESAC has frustrated fans as they do not have access to music from popular artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Burna Boy and others.

As The Verge reported, Mariana de Felice, a spokesperson for YouTube, said the platform had entered into good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew its licensing agreement. Unfortunately, the discussions could not be successfully concluded before the existing contract expired. Some sources suggest that YouTube's decision to block these videos could be used as a negotiating tactic, as the current agreement is set to remain in effect for another week.

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The scope of video removals is somewhat inconsistent, as not all songs represented by SESAC are blocked equally. For example, different versions of Kanye West's song “Power” have different availability, with one version being blocked while another remains accessible.

YouTube remains optimistic about resolving the issue, with de Felice indicating that discussions with SESAC are ongoing. The platform hopes to be able to conclude a new deal soon.

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Artist responses and alternative platforms

So far there have been no public comments from the artists affected by the video removals. Generally, artists leave such disputes to their representatives or performing rights organizations. While the absence of their music on YouTube can impact their exposure and streaming revenue, artists typically let their teams handle the negotiations. Meanwhile, fans can still listen to the banned music on other platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, indicating a noticeable gap in availability on YouTube.