YouTube has reached a new agreement with the music licensing organisation Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC), ending a brief disruption that saw popular songs from artists like Adele and Nirvana disappear from the platform.
The removal, which occurred over the weekend, was caused by an expired licensing agreement between YouTube and SESAC.
SESAC represents more than 15,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers. According to the organisation, it licenses the public performance of over 1.5 million songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Rush, Adele, Jack Harlow, Arianna Grande, Disclosure, Zac Brown, and Rosanne Cash.
“We have reached an agreement with YouTube to equitably compensate SESAC’s songwriters and publishers for the use of their music. We appreciate the support and patience of our affiliates, as well as the artists who perform these songs,” said Scott Jungmichel, president and COO of SESAC. “During our negotiations with YouTube, our affiliates’ works were unilaterally removed by YouTube ahead of the contract end date of October 1, 2024. YouTube has begun the process of reinstating videos featuring these songs.”
In an email to The Verge, SESAC confirmed that a deal had been reached to compensate its affiliated songwriters and publishers.
On Monday afternoon, hit tracks such as Adele’s Hello and Kanye West’s Power remained unavailable on YouTube. However, Mariana De Felice, YouTube’s global communications and public affairs representative, stated that the platform was pleased SESAC reconsidered the offer and that content would be restored soon.
“We’ve reached a deal, and content will come back up shortly,” De Felice said.
While the agreement terms were not disclosed, a post from @TeamYouTube on X confirmed that the affected songs would be restored in a couple of days.
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