As streaming becomes more mainstream, the great battle between its personalities and record labels rages on. Most streamers nowadays have to be creative in playing music during their stream sessions. This controversy is following videos getting taken down with copyright and DMCA strikes, or even get their channels banned.
Famous rapper and signed streamer Sir Robert Bryson “Logic” Hall II weighed that any violations to streamers regarding playing his music are coming from his record label. Signed under Universal Music Group or UMG, Logic would much rather let the community enjoy his music than put a price tag on them.
Too many of my gaming homies @Ninja included have wanted to play my music during stream and on YouTube but @UMG wont let me. I want 2 give to this great community and allow them 2 use my music for free! This is beyond a dollar sign. I want the community to enjoy my music #HowSway
— Rappy Gilmore (@Logic301) September 18, 2020
The rapper tweets his statement regarding the conversation about his music and streaming. “Too many of my gaming homies @Ninja included have wanted to play my music during [their stream and on YouTube but @UMG won’t let me.” The two-time Grammy-nominated artist adds that he wants to give his music to the streaming community for free and that “this is beyond a dollar sign.”
Logic was exclusively signed to the UMG as his worldwide administration back in May 2019. He announced retirement from rapping after releasing his sixth and final studio album, No Pressure, in July. He is also widely popular in the streaming community, with many content creators wanting to play his music during their gameplay. Hall decided to move on with his career as a full-time streamer and signed an exclusive deal with Twitch.
The label UMG has been notoriously known with YouTube creators to strike down videos that include any of their songs. It has been a good practice from YouTubers to avoid rubbing UMG in the slightest in their content.
YouTube has been compliant with the music industry’s rights on their properties. The video-sharing platform grants record labels to flag videos that play their music, even just a few seconds. The report can allow companies such as UMG to gather the content’s revenue or log a strike to the channel. YouTube’s terms only permit three strikes or face absolute termination.
It’s CRAZY, dude. I’ve talked about this with so many artists and they just feel trapped. They want their music played but can’t get approval.
— Jack “CouRage” Dunlop (@CouRageJD) September 18, 2020
Another streamer, Jack “CouRage” Dunlop, replied to Logic’s tweet, saying other artists want the same for their music. “It’s CRAZY, dude. I’ve talked about this with so many artists, and they just feel trapped. They want their music played but can’t get approval,” CouRage chimes in.
As another player in the streaming platform industry, Facebook has managed to strike a deal with several record labels for its content creators. This agreement lets streamers play popular music in their background, as long as the music is not the main content.