YouTube removes songs by Adele, Nirvana, and others over SESAC dispute.

 

Numerous hit songs have vanished from YouTube and YouTube Music while the platform negotiates a new agreement with the performing rights organization SESAC

Some of the most popular songs on YouTube and YouTube Music vanished on Saturday, leaving viewers with a brief message:

**Video unavailable**

This video contains content from SESAC and is not available in your country.

This was likely not the experience users anticipated when trying to stream Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” or tracks from artists like Kendrick Lamar, Britney Spears, Green Day, Kanye West, and Burna Boy.

Now, two questions remain: What is SESAC, and when will the music return?

SESAC, or the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, has been operating since 1930. According to its website, it “licenses the public performance of over 1.5 million songs on behalf of more than 15,000 affiliated songwriters, composers, and music publishers.”

While smaller than organizations like BMI and ASCAP, SESAC represents a number of prominent artists and was acquired by the private equity firm Blackstone in 2017.

Determining when the SESAC music ban on YouTube and YouTube Music will be lifted, or which specific songs have been removed, is more complex. SESAC provides a searchable database of its repertoire, but not all songs listed seem to have been affected. A comprehensive 44,267-page PDF of its catalog is also available, although the impact varies by song; for instance, while Kanye West’s “Power” is blocked, the music video version remains accessible.

SESAC hasn’t publicly commented on the situation, but YouTube responded to an inquiry from The Verge. Spokesperson Mariana de Felice stated:

“We have engaged in good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our existing deal. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach a fair agreement before its expiration. We take copyright very seriously, which is why content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the US. We are actively discussing a new deal with SESAC and hope to resolve this soon.”

An unnamed source cited by Variety suggests this might be a negotiating tactic from YouTube, claiming that the previous agreement doesn’t actually expire until next week.