- Musicians wrote Amazon Bezff CEO Jeff Bezos a letter asking for a response on how the company’s streaming platform covers combating the use of unlicensed music, according to a report by The Telegraph.
- Twitch, which Amazon acquired for nearly $ 1 billion in 2014, gives notices for the abolition of copyrighted music instead of licensing for music.
- The letter comes after Bezos attended an anti-trust hearing last month. A lawmaker asked the exec if Twitch paid for music tours, to which Bezos replied, “I do not know.”
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Musicians come after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos over the use of unlicensed music on Twitch, the popular streaming service that the e-commerce giant purchased in 2014 for $ 970 million.
According to a report by The Telegraph, musicians and songwriters with the Artists Rights Alliance accuse Bezos of “intentional blindness” over the use of copyrighted music on Twitch. The platform consists largely of video players that livestream themselves with background music.
Nonprofit board members wrote Bezos a letter asking the CEO to respond publicly with the efforts being made to combat the playing of unlicensed music and to ensure that artists “pay fair market value for the work.”
“If Twitch uses music to grow its audience and shape its brand, the company owes creators more than the intentional blindness and vague platitudes you have offered,” the letter said, according to the Telegraph.
Twitch does not have a license for music and instead chooses to issue notices to streamers to take down music they misuse. The report said music rights holders began issuing thousands of such notices for copyrighted songs, including Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings,” which should be released in June.
Twitch’s policy of issuing takedown messages instead of licensing music was addressed during the Big Tech Showdown and Congress in late July that included the CEOs of the tech’s largest companies, including Bezos. When lawmakers grieved the executions over anti-trust concerns, one congressman asked Bezos if Twitch paid for music tours, to which the CEO replied, “I do not know.”
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request from Business Insider for comment.
