YouTube blocks Adele and Dylan

  • Context: News 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Vanadium 50
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Youtube
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

YouTube has rendered several music videos, including those of Adele and Bob Dylan, unplayable in the US due to an expired licensing agreement with SESAC. SESAC, a corporation responsible for collecting royalties for songwriters, is in a dispute with Google over royalty payments, with reports indicating that Google is significantly behind on payments. The disagreement centers around the extent of discounts Google seeks compared to what SESAC is willing to accept. As the license expired this week, YouTube's decision to block content is a strategic move in the ongoing negotiations.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of music licensing agreements
  • Familiarity with SESAC and its role in royalty collection
  • Knowledge of the music industry’s revenue streams
  • Awareness of digital content distribution platforms
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the impact of SESAC on music royalties
  • Explore the differences between SESAC, ASCAP, and BMI
  • Investigate the implications of royalty payment delays in the music industry
  • Learn about digital rights management in content distribution
USEFUL FOR

Musicians, songwriters, music industry professionals, and anyone interested in the complexities of digital content licensing and royalty collection.

Vanadium 50
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Education Advisor
Gold Member
Dearly Missed
Messages
35,004
Reaction score
21,705
Yesterday, a number of music videos were rendered unplayable in the US by YouTube. Why? The arrangement with SESAC has expired and both sides say they cannot reach an agreement. (One side says "equitable agreement".

What is SESAC? It is a corporation that collects royalties for songs. If you write a song, and someone records it, and then the record is played on a radio station in Grand Forks, North Dakota, that station owes you a royalty - maybe a dime. It costs far more than a dime for you to bill them, and far more than a dime for them to pay you, and that's where ASCAP, BMI and SESAC come in.

These companies collect all the royalties for all their artists, so our radio station only needs to write 3 checks. They divvy up the royalties and mail the checks to the artists and songwriters.

Google is bigger than our Grand Forks station, so they feel they can leverage that to get a big discount. SESAC, in this case, would like to see a smaller discount. And that's where the dispute comes in.

In the process of looking things up, I found out that Google is in some cases twelve years behind in royalty payments. I am sure this has some impact on the negotiations.
 
Last edited:
Reply
  • Wow
  • Informative
Likes   Reactions: Astronuc, jedishrfu, scottdave and 2 others
Physics news on Phys.org
A simple twist of fate :smile:
 
I don't understand.
 
Reply
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: mcastillo356
Bob Dylan song, tried to compare Google break in the USA with unexpected but rapidly vanishing experience. My hope, tried to express my wish.
 
Reply
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: BillTre
Minor update: the license apparently expires this week, so Google jumped the gun a bit. Nothing wrong or illegal about that - they get to decide on their own content, after all.
 
Reply
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: mcastillo356