YouTube blocks videos of Adele, Green Day, Bob Dylan and others in dispute with SESAC

As of Saturday, many YouTube videos containing music by artists similar to Adele, Green Day, Bob Dylan, Nirvana and REM have been banned from streaming in the United States.

For example, when you attempt to play Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” (whether or not classic album recording Or live performance), you’ll as an alternative see the message: “This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.” Sometimes you may even watch a pre-roll ad before receiving the message.

However, not all videos featuring these artists are blocked; it’s unclear whether playable videos are excluded from the present dispute or have simply been missed.

In statements to press AND on social mediaYouTube blames the situation on failed negotiations with SESAC, a performing rights group that claims to represent greater than 35,000 artists and music publishers.

“Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach a fair settlement before it expired,” YouTube said. “We take copyright very seriously and 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.”

The situation is reminiscent of the dispute between Universal Music Group and TikTok earlier this yr, which resulted in UMG pulling songs from artists including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande from the short-video platform while negotiating royalties.

Unlike UMG, SESAC is just not a record label, but relatively a corporation that collects royalties for songwriters and publishers, much like ASCAP and BMI. In addition to the above-mentioned artists, he also represents Burna Boy, George Clinton, Kenny Rogers, Kings of Leon and many others.