Twitch’s new music deal might be the end of DMCA strikes for streamers

According to a report by Billboard, Twitch and the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) are close to signing a music licensing agreement that would put an end to the ongoing DMCA saga on the platform. 

In 2020 just about everyone sought entertainment online, in which we saw the immense growth of Twitch. With a lot more eyes on the platform, record labels began to catch up with online entertainment, with some beginning to realize that streamers were broadcasting licensed music in the background of their content.

Twitch began to take some shots amid its boom in popularity. Record labels could pursue legal action be taken against the platform, as its streamers weren’t following the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.

This meant that streamers were open to DMCA takedowns on content that featured licensed music, leading to many deleting classic VODs and wiping their channels clean of any potential mishaps. Though, going forward, things could set to change.

As revealed by Billboard, Twitch and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) are close to putting pen to paper on an already agreed upon licensing agreement.

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The report reveals that the deal between Twitch and the NMPA could be announced as soon as the end of September according to a source in the publishing industry, but regurgitates that the deal is still to be signed, so nothing is binding just yet.

A licensing agreement between Twitch and music labels has been in the works for years according to Billboard’s report, with Twitch frequently promising that a deal is coming soon “for almost years now.”

If the licensing agreement is to go ahead, it could be a huge turning point for the platform, as streamers would no longer be constantly paranoid about strict DMCA guidelines.

We could soon see the return of streamers listening to a variety of music, rather than hear the same non-copyright beats that we’ve heard echo across the platform in recent times.