This is why you can't watch Adele and Nirvana videos on YouTube

If you're wondering why millions of people couldn't watch music videos from artists like Adele and Nirvana, wonder no more.

Their current unavailability is due to them being blocked on YouTube in North America due to an ongoing copyright dispute.

The video-sharing platform, which launched in 2005, failed to reach an agreement with licensing company SESAC to extend its contract, meaning many videos were unplayable in the United States.

Currently, videos from artists like Adele and Nirvana – but also Kendrick Lamar, Green Day and Bob Dylan, among others – are blocked by warnings that say US users cannot access them.

Pop fans trying to watch videos of their favorite artists are faced with the following message: “This video contains content from SESAC.” It is not available in your country.'

Fans hoping for a quick end to the dispute were encouraged by a statement YouTube provided to Variety on Saturday.

It said: “We have been negotiating in good faith with SESAC to extend our existing contract.” Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach a fair agreement before the deadline.

The statement continued: “We take copyright law very seriously and therefore the content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the United States.”

YouTube concluded its statement by saying: “We are in active discussions with SESAC and hope to reach a new agreement as soon as possible.”

Hundreds of videos from dozens of artists are affected, and popular acts from the '80s and '90s like REM, Mariah Carey and Alice in Chains are also currently unavailable in the US.

On social media, fans expressed their displeasure and encouraged YouTube and SESAC to find a solution in their ongoing negotiations.

@Digging4Bottles said: “Hey Sesac, y'all suck balls.” YouTube, fix this ASAP. This looks bad for both companies…YouTube doesn’t need more and more negative publicity.”

Earlier this year, TikTok and Universal Music Group were embroiled in a similar dispute after the major label had all of its artists' music removed from the smartphone video platform due to concerns about AI and royalties.

Back in January, it was revealed that two companies were unable to agree on a new deal that would allow TikTok users to add music from Universal artists to their videos.

At the time, Universal accused TikTok of “bullying” its royalties, arguing that the platform was trying to pay a much lower price than its competitors for its entire back catalog.

Eventually, the two companies reached an agreement in May 2024, with TikTok promising to “provide enhanced compensation to UMG’s songwriters and artists.”

It was agreed that music would return to the app, with TikTok promising “new monetization opportunities leveraging TikTok's growing e-commerce capabilities” while promising “[support] UMG's artists of all genres and territories worldwide.

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