Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
- A licensing dispute between YouTube and SESAC has led to the removal of many popular songs from YouTube and YouTube Music in the US.
- Users attempting to play affected songs encounter an error message, and some songs no longer appear in search results.
- YouTube says it is working to reach a new agreement with SESAC, but it’s unclear when or if the missing music will be restored.
Update: September 30, 2024 (05:02 PM ET): YouTube announces that it has secured a new deal with SESAC that will bring back all the missing songs. It may take a couple days before YouTube and YouTube Music start showing everything again, though.
Original article: September 29, 2024 (6:21 PM ET): Over the past few days, I encountered a frustrating problem on YouTube: many of the songs and nonstop mixes I used to enjoy were suddenly unavailable. When I tried to play them on either YouTube or YouTube Music, an error message appeared stating, “This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.”