Twitch has struck a deal with the National Music Publishers Association after months of animosity between the music industry and the Amazon-owned streaming giant. As reported by Variety, the arrangement is not a full-on licensing agreement, but instead looks to be the basis for a partnership between Twitch and music publishers.
The announcement states that Twitch has created “a new process that participating music rights holders can opt into to report certain uses of their music, to address when creators inadvertently or incidentally use music in their streams.”
Based on the announcement, it seems like the deal between the NMPA and Twitch will make it easier for music publishers to track down and report streamers who use their music. The deal does not appear to change the rules regarding music usage for streamers immediately, who have had to deal with an onslaught of DMCA takedowns in the past year.
The announcement also states that this deal will pave the way for some music publishers to opt in to potential collaborations with content creators. NMPA President and CEO David Israelite said that the deal will benefit both the music industry and the Twitch community while giving respect to the rights of songwriters. The majority of the announcement talks about the tools and benefits given to music publishers, but it does not specify how this deal will benefit Twitch streamers.
Twitch has had issues with the music industry in the past, even receiving formal letters from the Recording Industry of America, over copyright violations on its platform. Twitch even muted a live Metallic concert during Blizzcon to avoid a DMCA strike.