Thread by @Lowco2525

Twitch is never going to reach a deal with Music in the same way Facebook, TikTok, or other platforms have negotiated. It's really unfortunate and sad. Why do I think this?

Let's look at how they addressed this question in their blog: blog.twitch.tv/en/2020/11/11/…

"the current constructs for licenses that the record labels have with other services (which typically take a cut of revenue from creators for payment to record labels) make less sense for Twitch."

Only true for YT VODS. This is FALSE for Facebook Gaming, most similar to Twitch.

Twitch is essentially making it sound like a deal would be bad for creators, that it would hurt our revenue. That if they reached a deal, streamers would bear the brunt. So maybe we shouldn't want a deal anyways...?

But Facebook struck a deal for their Partners with *no revenue impact on creators.* They made it simple to use, easy to understand, and straightforward if you played music that wasn't protected. I'm serious, read their blog and look at the stark contrast: facebook.com/fbgaminghome/b…

Twitch also makes a fascinating claim: "The vast majority of our creators don’t have recorded music as a part of their streams". I'm curious where that came from and I would contest how much that's true. Here, Twitch minimizes the issue and therefore the need to have a deal.

Finally, "We’re open-minded to new structures that could work for Twitch’s unique service, but we must be clear that they may take some time to materialize or may never happen at all."

"Unique" suggests there's nothing like this and it'd be difficult (disagree: FB, TikTok, YT)

To cap it all off, they very bluntly state a deal may never happen at all, which is the most honest part of the whole explanation. To me, this is an excuse-filled answer that when broken down, makes little sense considering precedent DOES exist and bro, you got Amazon Music.

Why does it even matter? Because without a deal the Music Industry will only get more aggressive and vigilant with automated claims and takedowns. Think of how messy YouTube's system is and even they have checks in place to mitigate bans and deletions.