Twitch to allow streamers to broadcast popular music as part of its upcoming DJ Program

Twitch has announced an upcoming program that would allow DJs on the platform to stream a "vast majority of popular music." This will be made possible through the platform's partnership with major music labels such as Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music. The list also includes other independent labels and the Merlin Network, a digital music licensing partner.

Labeled the DJ Program, this would allow creators to stream music on the platform without risking a copyright strike. As mentioned in its blog, this feature would benefit the DJ community on the platform, which has quadrupled in size since 2020. The DJ Program will go live later this summer, with a separate DJ category being launched a few weeks later.

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How will the upcoming Twitch DJ Program work?

Earlier, the DJ community on the live-broadcasting platform faced issues with hosting streams involving copyrighted music, as the platform would need to factor in compensation for the artists who originally produced the music being mixed by the DJ. Now, per the Twitch blog, the purple platform will set aside a portion of the earnings generated by the DJ channels to pay musicians through their representative companies and subsequently cover the tracks being used.

Further, the costs will be based on the channel's monetization status. Twitch will split the costs 50/50 with the DJ streamers. However, the platform will initially incur more cost. Twitch will offer a one-year subsidy for the costs to help the platform's existing DJs, with it reducing in amount over time.

Further, it is willing to cover the costs for those DJ streamers who haven't monetized yet. Conversely, those not monetizing their channels will not be financially impacted.

Also, it is important to note that this does not apply to other copyrighted music outside of live-streaming as DJs. Such creators will be required to opt into an agreement that covers their entire streaming content for their channel, and the platform has advised part-time DJs to create a separate channel dedicated to only DJ streaming.

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Twitch has announced key changes to the subscription prices in over 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, Europe, and New Zealand. This change will take effect starting from July 11. In particular, the United States will see an increase of $1 in the cost of Tier 1 subscriptions, going from $4.99 to $5.99. The changes had initially been announced in February 2024.