Following yesterday’s failed agreement between Meta and SIAE, almost all Italian and international music has disappeared on Facebook and Instagram, including songs that belong to the catalog Soundreef, the main alternative to the SIAE in Italy for the management of music royalties and copyright. In short it is clear that Meta is making a big mess and to pay the price, once again, are the consumers and the artists.
The removal process itself appears somewhat ambiguous. For example, the Facebook and Instagram library, at the moment, does not even have songs by great international artists who are probably managed for the Italian territory by SIAE. However, it is possible to find Cenere di Lazza, a piece belonging to the SIAE deposit. The even more serious aspect, however, concerns the repertorio Soundreefwhich has nothing to do with the lack of agreement with SIAE, unjustly penalized by Meta.
Meta, SIAE and Soundreef: silence is deafening on Instagram
The mess combined by Meta, it is not yet clear whether knowingly or by mistake, Soundreef did not like at all, which obviously finds itself with the songs of its artists removed from the Zuckerbergian social media library. In fact, the musical purge process is affecting not only the part of the catalog that Soundreef shares with SIAE, but also the remaining part of the repertoire independently managed by Soundreef. The latter released a press release a few hours ago which reads:
“We know that the take down of the songs by Meta, which already started yesterday afternoon, is concerning not only the SIAE repertoire and the Soundreef repertoire shared with it, but also the repertoire entirely administered by Soundreef and foreign repertoires.”
Soundreef says it is ready to go through legal channels
In the press release Soundreef underlines the seriousness of what is happening in these hours, due to an unprecedented event that is “damaging all the collecting societies operating in Italy and elsewhere”. Literally caught in the middle of two fires, Soundreef is currently working to restore its catalog on Meta’s social platforms, saying it is also ready to take legal action where necessary.
“It is understood that, should any liability arise with respect to the failure to reach an agreement, Soundreef will assert its rights in relation to and in defense of its repertoire”, the press release concludes.