Twitch and Music Publishers just agreed to agree…

The rumored music licensing agreement between Twitch and The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) is more of a truce than a deal.

The pair announced “an agreement to work together to build productive partnerships between the service and music publishers.”

While clearly signaling a pause in the hostilities between Twitch and publishers over the use of music on the widely popular gaming and live streaming platform, the announcement offers few specifics on any changes as to how or how much publishers, labels, and artists are compensated for the use of music.

As part of the agreement, music publishers will be offered an opt-in deal “allowing for future collaborations to bring new facets to both the gaming experience and songwriter exposure.”

Twitch has also created a new process that participating music rights holders can opt into to report the use of their music.

How record labels and foreign PROs react will indicate how much industry support that there is for the truce and proposed next steps.

The details, so far from a joint press release:

“The deal paves the way for the economics of new gaming models to increase visibility and revenue for songwriters. From virtual shows to studio sessions, the partnerships stemming from this agreement will connect the Twitch community in many ways to the music they enjoy.”

“Twitch will provide new opportunities to music publishers who will be offered an opt-in deal allowing for future collaborations to bring new facets to both the gaming experience and songwriter exposure. These collaborations will create an even more dynamic and expansive environment for people to discover, watch, and interact with songwriters.”

NMPA President & CEO David Israelite said, “Both NMPA and Twitch are creator-focused and our respective communities will greatly benefit from this agreement, which respects the rights of songwriters and paves the way for future relationships between our publisher members, songwriters and the service. Through our discussions, Twitch has shown a commitment to valuing musicians and to creating new ways to connect them with fans in this burgeoning and exciting space.”

Twitch Head of Music Tracy Chan added, “We are pleased to reach this agreement with the NMPA and excited about our shared commitment to empowering songwriters and other creators to share their work and passions while connecting with audiences. That’s what Twitch is all about, and we know that great music starts with a great song. We look forward to innovative collaborations that further unlock the incredible potential of our service and our community for music publishers and their songwriter partners.”

“Additionally, Twitch has created a new process that participating music rights holders can opt into to report certain uses of their music, to address when creators inadvertently or incidentally use music in their streams.”

MORE: Twitch nears deal with US publishers, but that won’t solve all its music problems

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.