Questlove is tired of not being able to play his own music on his own platforms.
On Thursday (June 11), YouTube announced an initiative to donate $100 million to “amplify” black creators. Retweeting the announcement, the Roots frontman questioned whether this included allowing him to finally play his own stuff without getting flagged for copyright infringement.
“does this include not red flagging my dj sets?” he questioned. “I’m not doing BTS numbers but I know djs are saving people from doing something self destructive in the night. the flagging is so bad I got warnings for playing my own music I created.”
YouTube plans to use the money to develop talent and fund new shows, according to CEO Susan Wojcicki.
Throughout the quarantine, Quest, as well as the likes of D-Nice, Cut Chemist, DJ Premier and more have been keeping fans’ spirits up with live DJ sets. And as labels ramp up efforts to have software detect their artists’ music on streaming sites, it continues to create an issue with the creators themselves.
21 Savage recently addressed a similar copyright issue when a popular Twitch user reached out on Twitter. According to personality Trainwreck, the service keeps flagging him for playing 21’s music during his streams, so the rapper tweeted out confirmation he had his approval. It’s not clear whether the Savage Mode artist’s tweet will hold any weight.