YouTube pulls songs from Adele, Nirvana, and others over SESAC controversy

One of the most viewed and listened to songs on YouTube and YouTube Music disappeared on Saturday, replaced by a short message:

Video not available

This video contains material from SESAC. Not available in your country.

That’s probably not what people expected when they tried to stream Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep“ or other songs by various artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Britney Spears, Green Day, Kanye West, and Burna Boy.

This leaves two questions: what is SESAC, and when is the music coming back?

SESAC stands for the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, which has been around since 1930 and, according to its website, “…currently licenses public performances of over 1.5 million songs on behalf of its 15,000+ member songwriters, the composers. , and music publishers.”

It’s smaller than similar organizations like BMI and ASCAP, but SESAC lists many big-name artists in its portfolio. In 2017, it was acquired by private equity firm Blackstone.

Answering the question of when SESAC’s ban on YouTube and YouTube Music, or even any music that has been removed, will end is a bit difficult.

SESAC has a searchable database of its repertoire, although not all songs listed there appear to have been deleted. There’s even a 44,267-page PDF available on the site if you’d like to read the complete list. But not all songs were affected in the same way. While Kanye West’s “Power” single has been blocked from charting, as of this writing the music video version continues to stream well.

The licensing body has not commented publicly, but YouTube has responded to a query from it The Vergeas spokesperson Mariana de Felice writes:

We are holding good faith talks with SESAC to renew our existing agreement. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach an equitable agreement before time expired. We take copyright seriously and as a result, 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.

According to an independent source quoted by Varietythis could be YouTube’s negotiating ploy because, they say, “the previous deal actually doesn’t expire until next week.”