Selected songs associated with Adele, Nirvana, Bob Dylan and other artists were temporarily blocked in the United States on September 28, 2024, after YouTube and SESAC failed to renew a licensing agreement. The dispute affected YouTube and YouTube Music, but it was not a permanent deletion or an artist-wide takedown. A new agreement was announced on September 30, with restoration expected within the next day or two.
Selected songs by Adele, Nirvana, Bob Dylan, Green Day, R.E.M., Kendrick Lamar, Mariah Carey and other artists became unavailable to viewers in the United States on September 28, 2024, after YouTube and music-rights organization SESAC failed to reach a licensing agreement. The videos and tracks were blocked—not permanently deleted—and the restriction affected both YouTube and YouTube Music.
YouTube announced a new agreement with SESAC on September 30, 2024. The company said the affected material would be restored over the following day or two. The agreement’s financial terms and duration were not disclosed.
What viewers saw
Users in the U.S. reported that previously playable music videos and YouTube Music tracks displayed a notice saying the video contained SESAC content and was unavailable in their country. Reports of the problem began on Saturday, September 28.
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This was a regional rights restriction, not an ordinary YouTube playback problem. It also was not a YouTube Premium limitation that a subscription could bypass. The block concerned whether YouTube had the necessary rights to make particular works available in the United States.
Which artists and songs were affected?
Contemporaneous reports identified songs associated with a wide range of artists, including:
- Adele
- Nirvana
- Bob Dylan
- Green Day
- R.E.M.
- Kendrick Lamar
- Mariah Carey
- Burna Boy
- Jack Harlow
- Neil Diamond
- Ariana Grande
Examples cited in coverage included Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain,” “Hello” and “Someone Like You”; Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”; and R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion.” Nirvana was also among the artists named in reports.
However, the dispute did not remove every song by every named artist. Some songs, official videos and user uploads remained available while others were blocked. The selective pattern indicates that the restriction depended on the rights attached to a particular composition, recording or upload—not simply on the artist’s name.
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Why SESAC was involved
SESAC is a U.S. performing-rights organization that represents songwriters, composers and music publishers. Its repertory includes approximately 1.5 million songs, according to the organization’s own description.
A performing-rights organization licenses the public performance of musical compositions. In practical terms, that generally concerns the underlying song—the melody, lyrics and composition—and the interests of the songwriters or publishers who control it.
That is different from ownership of a particular sound recording. A recording may involve separate rights held by a record label, artist, publisher or other rights owner. SESAC was therefore not necessarily the owner of the recordings that disappeared from YouTube, and the labels did not necessarily remove them.
Composition rights and recording rights are not the same
| Right or interest | What it generally covers | Why it mattered here |
|---|---|---|
| Musical composition | The underlying lyrics and music created by songwriters and composers | SESAC represents certain songwriters and publishers and licenses public performances of works in its repertory. |
| Sound recording | A particular recorded performance released by an artist or label | The recording’s rights can be separate from the composition rights. |
| Platform availability | Whether YouTube may make a video or track available in a specific territory | YouTube can block, mute or monetize content according to the rights and policies attached to a particular upload or region. |
This distinction explains why headlines describing “songs being pulled” can be misleading if they imply that SESAC owned the artists’ entire catalogs. The more precise description is that YouTube restricted selected works connected to SESAC’s represented repertoire while the licensing dispute was unresolved.
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YouTube and SESAC gave different accounts of the timing
YouTube characterized the situation as an unsuccessful renewal negotiation before its existing agreement expired. SESAC, by contrast, said YouTube removed affiliated works unilaterally ahead of the old contract’s October 1, 2024 end date and said the new agreement would provide equitable compensation for its songwriters and publishers.
The parties reached a new deal on September 30. YouTube said restoration would begin shortly and that the blocked material should return within roughly one or two days. Neither side publicly disclosed the agreement’s royalty rates, financial terms or length in the reporting reviewed for this article.
Was Nirvana’s catalog permanently removed?
No. The evidence supports a temporary 2024 restriction, not a permanent disappearance of Nirvana’s music from YouTube. Later YouTube catalog pages showed official Nirvana videos and music listings, including “Come As You Are,” “Lithium” and Nirvana albums.
The same caution applies to Adele, Bob Dylan and the other artists named in reports: the 2024 incident affected selected works and uploads during a short-lived licensing breakdown. It should not be described as a permanent artist-wide takedown.
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What the dispute means for YouTube creators
A track being playable on YouTube does not automatically mean that a creator has permission to reuse it. Copyright systems can apply different consequences depending on the work, territory and rights holder. YouTube says copyrighted music may result in:
- Content ID claims or monetization by the rights holder;
- muted audio;
- blocking in some countries or regions;
- worldwide blocking; or
- removal of the video.
For longer videos, YouTube recommends using the Audio Library or Creator Music and checking the license terms that apply to each track. Creator Music is available to creators in the U.S. YouTube Partner Program, according to YouTube’s current help documentation. Depending on the song, a creator may be able to buy a license, use a free license, share revenue with rights holders or find that the track cannot be licensed for the intended use.
A safer music-use checklist
- Check the source and license. Do not assume that a song is cleared because another video uses it.
- Read territorial limits. A license may cover one country or platform but not another.
- Check monetization conditions. Some licenses require revenue sharing or prohibit monetization.
- Keep proof of permission. Save the license, receipt or terms in effect when you obtained the rights.
- Prepare a replacement. A rights-holder policy or licensing change can mute or block a track after publication.
What happened after the deal?
The verified incident took place in September 2024: reports of U.S. restrictions began on September 28, and YouTube and SESAC announced their agreement on September 30. YouTube expected the affected material to return over the next day or two.
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Some low-authority pages have since alleged a renewed SESAC dispute in 2026, but those claims were not corroborated by an official YouTube announcement, an official SESAC announcement or a comparably authoritative contemporary report in the research reviewed for this article. They should not be presented as confirmed news without new primary-source evidence.
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For now, the well-supported conclusion is narrower: a temporary U.S. licensing dispute made selected SESAC-connected works unavailable on YouTube and YouTube Music, and a new agreement was reached shortly afterward. It was a rights and licensing interruption—not a permanent deletion of Adele’s, Nirvana’s, Bob Dylan’s or the other artists’ catalogs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did YouTube remove every song by Adele, Nirvana and the other artists?
No. Selected songs and uploads were blocked in the United States, but other works by the same artists remained available. The restriction depended on the rights attached to particular compositions, recordings or uploads.
Did SESAC own the recordings that disappeared from YouTube?
No. SESAC represents songwriters, composers and music publishers and licenses public performances of compositions. It is not necessarily the owner of the sound recordings released by artists and labels.
When did the YouTube SESAC dispute end?
YouTube and SESAC announced a new agreement on September 30, 2024. YouTube said restoration would take about one or two days, although the agreement’s financial terms and duration were not disclosed.
Can creators safely use a song just because it is available on YouTube?
No. A song being available on YouTube does not automatically give a creator permission to reuse it. Copyright claims can still lead to monetization, muting, regional blocking or removal.
The Bottom Line
The September 2024 SESAC dispute temporarily blocked selected songs and videos in the United States, including works associated with Adele, Nirvana and Bob Dylan. YouTube and SESAC reached a new agreement on September 30, and the material was expected to be restored. The incident affected particular rights and uploads—not every song by the named artists—and did not mean their catalogs had been permanently deleted.
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