Twitch CEO says DJs must share their revenue from the site with music labels

In an interview with the channel Adjust music cuesTwitch CEO Dan Clancy said DJ streamers on the platform will have to share revenue with music labels.as posted by “X” by Zach Bussey (formerly Twitter), Clancy said Twitch is working on a “structure” in which DJs and platforms “have to share funding with record labels.” He said he had discussed the issue with some DJs. Of course, DJs realize they would rather not share their earnings. But Clancy said Twitch will pay some of the money owed to record labels, while DJs hand over a portion of their earnings.

Clancy’s statement came as part of his response to a host’s question about the copyright status of music streaming on the platform. The CEO responded that Twitch has been discussing the matter with music labels and hopes to find a stable solution so that DJ streamers are not hit with DMCA takedown requests. He also said that the site is currently doing “pretty good things” with record labels — apparently involving Twitch paying them — but that it’s not a sustainable long-term solution. Plus, the labels are only agreeing to the deal for now because they know Twitch is working on another solution that will make them make (more) money.

Clancy also clarified that live streaming and video on demand have different rules for playing copyrighted music, and the latter is definitely a problem. That’s why he suggested that DJs should mute pre-recorded videos themselves, as Twitch’s system doesn’t always detect and mute copyrighted songs. The CEO said Twitch is close to signing deals with record labels, but it’s unclear how the Amazon subsidiary plans to monitor live music streams and whether it already has the technology to do so.