Twitch is giving users a new way to avoid copyright takedowns when using music in their livestreams -- and it doesn't involve licensing deals with major record labels.
The Amazon-owned livestreaming platform is popular among gamers (and recently, musicians) as a place to build community and monetize their live video streams. But as the platform continues to grow amid the pandemic, with 17.5 million average daily visitors, users are getting dinged by rights-holders for playing music in their streams without the proper licenses, and music industry trade bodies like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) are pressuring Twitch -- which does not have music licensing agreements with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group or Sony Music Entertainment -- to come to the negotiating table.