You might have noticed that some audio tracks have been absent from YouTube videos in recent days, including songs by Adele, Green Day, and R.E.M., among others.

This issue arises from a licensing conflict with the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC), which has not renewed its agreement with YouTube, and the current partnership is nearing its expiration.

However, the agreement hasn’t officially ended yet. Despite this, YouTube has begun removing music by SESAC artists and is showing error messages to users.

So why is YouTube preemptively removing music by SESAC artists?

According to Variety, this action may be a strategic maneuver by YouTube to bolster its negotiating position. 

Variety notes that "SESAC is considerably smaller than other performing rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI, with around 30,000 members and 1.5 million compositions, whereas ASCAP boasts nearly 800,000 members." However, the impact of the artists affected by the removal indicates that SESAC represents a significant portion of the market.

It appears YouTube might be trying to gain leverage in negotiations by removing this music, hoping to prompt SESAC artists to pressure the organization to finalize a deal.

YouTube remains optimistic, stating, “We have engaged in good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our existing agreement. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we could not reach a fair agreement before its expiration. We are actively talking with SESAC and hope to finalize a new deal soon.”

It’s important to note that publishers wield considerable influence in the music industry, and it is these publishing groups that are likely to exert pressure on SESAC due to these removals. This could be a clever tactic by YouTube to secure the deal it wants, with the expectation that the issue will be resolved quickly and the affected artists will be reinstated on the platform in a short time.

However, there is also the possibility that negotiations could be prolonged, similar to the situation where Universal's music removal from TikTok extended for several months amid strained talks.

While SESAC may not have the same level of influence in this scenario, for now, the music of several prominent artists is unavailable on the app in the U.S.