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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesSome YouTube music videos became unavailable to viewers in the United States in late September 2024 because YouTube and performing-rights organization SESAC had not renewed their licensing agreement. The block affected some SESAC-associated videos, not every song by every artist named in coverage. YouTube announced a deal on September 30 and said the content would return shortly; that announcement does not verify the present-day availability of every recording.
What happened in September 2024
Beginning September 28, U.S. viewers encountered notices on some music videos saying they contained SESAC content and were unavailable in their country. Contemporary reporting named artists including Adele, Green Day, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, R.E.M. and Kendrick Lamar. Not every video featuring those artists was blocked, according to TechCrunch’s report.
YouTube attributed the interruption to unsuccessful negotiations to renew its agreement with SESAC. It said content represented by SESAC was no longer available on YouTube in the U.S. while discussions continued. YouTube’s music rights guidance explains that agreements with copyright owners can require YouTube to remove particular content or restrict it by territory.
The announced resolution
On September 30, YouTube said it had reached a deal with SESAC and that affected content would return shortly. YouTube’s support account told U.S. users to expect restoration over the next day or two. TheWrap reported that the deal’s terms were not disclosed. This establishes an announced resolution and an expectation of restoration in 2024, not a current audit of every video in YouTube’s catalog.
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Why a licensing dispute can affect one video but not another
A song’s composition and its sound recording are separate works with distinct rights. YouTube explains that record labels usually own or manage rights in the master recording, while performing-rights organizations often control public-performance rights in compositions. A performing-rights license is therefore not the same as a record-label agreement, and a single YouTube use can involve multiple rights holders.
That distinction, along with geography and the specific recording or video version, helps explain why availability could vary. The September 2024 reports described U.S.-specific unavailability and noted that some videos by artists mentioned in coverage remained playable. The restriction was not evidence that an artist’s entire catalog had been removed everywhere.
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What SESAC is—and what the reported catalog figures mean
SESAC is a performing-rights organization that represents songwriters and publishers and licenses public-performance rights in musical compositions. It is not simply a label controlling the sound recordings in its repertory.
- TechCrunch reported that SESAC represents more than 35,000 songwriters and publishers. That is a representation count, not a count of songs.
- 9to5Google reported that SESAC’s repertory includes more than 1.5 million songs. That is a catalog figure, not the number of artists or videos blocked.
The figures come from different reports and describe different things; neither should be treated as a current audited tally.
What the notices do—and do not—tell viewers
A notice that a video contains SESAC content and is unavailable in a viewer’s country points to a territorial rights restriction, not necessarily a broken app, account problem or general YouTube outage. A user-post title captured the practical question as “Why cant I listen to this? What is sesac?”; it illustrates the confusion a notice can cause, but does not establish how common that question was.
The evidence cited for the incident does not establish whether each affected recording is available to U.S. viewers now, or whether the 2024 agreement remains in force in 2026. Availability can depend on the particular video and territory, so a past notice or an artist’s name in news coverage is not a reliable present-day catalog check.
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