Recently on Twitch, users received a massive wave of DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) strikes on their accounts. This occurred after a crackdown by music labels on users with copyrighted music in their streams and their past clips. This has caused a huge issue for streamers with a long history of clips and for streamers playing music going forward. Some streamers reached out to music artists to ask for their permission to use their music on stream.
The first artist who agreed to this was the Atlanta based rapper, 21 Savage. After being tweeted at by the streamer Trainwrecks, 21 responded with “Fasho Champ”.
Fasho champ https://t.co/A9Gl32qhPv
— Saint Laurent Don (@21savage) June 10, 2020
21 has full ownership of his masters, which is unique in the music industry. This lets him actually give permission to streamers rather than deal with a record label as a go-between. But The Saint Laurent Don isn’t the only rapper giving the okay to streamers. YouTuber, Streamer and now recently Rapper, KSI gave the okay for streamers to play his music while live as well.
https://twitter.com/KSI/status/1271046138611851264
This is a small step in the right direction for streamers having more security in the status of their accounts. If a user nets enough DMCA strikes, they can lose their Twitch account. Along with helping streamers, it also puts the artists in a great position for more exposure. If only a select few artists are giving out permission to play music while streaming, it will have their tracks in circulation at a much higher rate. Not only is this a good move for them PR-wise, it’s also a great business decision.
What Will Streamers Play While Playing?
In the coming weeks, there may be more artists who open the gates to their tracks. Maybe even some record labels (though it is HIGHLY unlikely) will ease up on streamers as well. If not, it opens up competition for smaller artists to break into popularity with copyright free music. The most popular out there now are the “Lofi Beats to Relax to” playlists and live streams. This is only the beginning, so there may be a music floodgate about to burst. But for now, streamers have 21, KSI and a wealth of Lofi Beats to go live with.
