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Arthur T Knackerbracket [soylentnews.org] writes:

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story [mashable.com]:

Music lovers are having a turbulent time online right now. Not only did Spotify suffer an outage [x.com] on Sunday (though it was quickly fixed [x.com]), YouTube [mashable.com] has also suddenly stopped serving many popular tunes. Unfortunately, it seems as though this issue won't be rectified as easily.

YouTube users in the U.S. received an unwelcome surprise this weekend, with the video streaming platform suddenly blocking a significant swathe of music. Numerous videos are now unavailable, replaced by a black screen and dour notification where they had previously been readily accessible.

"This video contains content from SESAC," reads YouTube's notice. "It is not available in your country."

Unfortunately, the licensing agreement between YouTube and SESAC is nearing its end, and the two have struggled to agree on a new deal. Without an agreement in place, YouTube will no longer be able to host songs covered by SESAC. 

"Over the last few months, our teams have been working hard to renew our agreement with SESAC," wrote the official TeamYouTube account. [x.com] "Unfortunately, despite best efforts, we haven't been able to reach an agreement on terms for a new deal yet. For this reason, we need to block certain music content on YouTube in the US."

A wide variety of music has been impacted by the block, from Adele's "Rolling in the Deep," [youtube.com]  "Problem" by Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea [youtube.com], and Green Day's "American Idiot", [youtube.com] to iconic tunes such as R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion," [youtube.com] "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana [youtube.com], and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan [youtube.com]. 

Official videos aren't the only ones affected either. All videos which use SESAC-licensed audio are no longer accessible, taking out fan-edited music videos [youtube.com] alongside ones from the artists themselves. Covers are being blocked as well, so you won't even be able to enjoy KIDZ BOP's rendition [youtube.com] of "Wake Me Up When September Ends." [youtube.com] 

It isn't clear when this issue might be resolved. TeamYouTube has stated that while discussions with SESAC are ongoing, they "don't have any exact dates for future updates yet." [x.com] However, a source speaking to Variety [variety.com] has claimed that YouTube's deal with SESAC doesn't actually expire until next week, speculating that the early takedown may be a negotiating tactic. 

If so, it's one that won't earn them any goodwill. Many YouTube users have expressed anger at being suddenly cut off from their music videos, with some threatening [x.com] to [x.com] cancel [x.com] their YouTube Premium subscriptions [mashable.com].

Mashable has reached out to YouTube and SESAC for comment.

Until YouTube and SESAC can also reach an agreement, the former's musical landscape is going to sound very different.

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