Twitch, the livestreaming and gaming platform owned by Amazon, now offers users a way to avoid copyright takedowns when using music, although it has not yet licensed by major labels.
The platform on Wednesday announced the beta launch of Soundtrack by Twitch, a music-streaming service within the platform that includes more than a million songs by independent artists that users can employ in their livestreams, legally and free of charge, with all rights cleared. The product has already been rolled out with select users, with wide release planned for the coming months; users can join the waitlist here.
Partners include SoundCloud, CD Baby, EMPIRE, Create Music Group, UnitedMasters, DistroKid, Westwood Recordings, Dim Mak, Nuclear Blast, Chillhop Music, and the artist mxmtoon, among others.
Twitch apparently has not struck a deal with the indie label collective Merlin.
Twitch, which has been criticized by the RIAA and other trade organizations for its licensing practices, when announcing the program said: “We know how important music is to your creative process, and have heard how frustrating it is to understand and navigate the complex and evolving music ecosystem. Soundtrack gives you a curated collection of rights-cleared music and integrates with your streaming software to separate your audio sources, allowing you to keep your channel safe while you create compelling content and grow as a creator.”
The announcement included enthusiastic comments from top execs at the companies that have signed on. Steve Stoute, Founder & CEO of UnitedMasters, said, “This launch from Twitch is a gamechanger for independent artists everywhere.”
Empire founder/CEO Ghazi Shami said, “Gaming and music drive today’s culture and Soundtrack is the next essential step to support this thriving community.”
Jeff Ponchick VP, Head of Repost at SoundCloud, added: “We Believe that Twitch is a companion platform to SoundCloud in that we are both passionate about helping creators make a living through their audiences online, on their own terms. “We are excited to partner with such a like minded platform In an effort to build towards a uniform goal of creator empowerment.”