Tyler “Trainwreckstv” Niknam is a Twitch streamer with over 640,000 followers, has made a name for himself by sharing his thoughts (even when they get him banned for misogyny) and hosting his own podcast on the platform. After the wave of DMCA claims hit streamers, Niknam reached out to 21 Savage’s representation who informed him that he would have to ask the rapper himself. So that’s what he did, tweeting out a Hail Mary proposition to the platinum record recording artist, to see if the rapper would allow him to stream from his collection of songs. Asking with fairly colorful language, the streamer tweeted his plea. Shocking most people, 21 Savage agreed to Niknam’s proposition with a short but punctual admission: “Fasho champ.”
Niknam found out about the news while he was streaming, first believing that the account that tweeted at him had to have been a fake. His following freak out quickly went to the top of the LiveStreamFails sub reddit, pulling in over 7,000 upvotes in less than five hours.
Unlike a lot of the artists whose songs are played on live streaming platforms, 21 Savage owns his own master recordings. The deal the rapper signed with Epic Records 2018 allowed him to maintain control of his work and license it out to who he sees fit. It’s unclear if 21 Savage’s record label will actually allow the streamer to play music without it getting claimed by the system, but only time will tell.
21 Savage’s manager and Niknam did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Other streamers and content creators are trying to find ways to get around this DMCA kerfuffle. YouTuber Josh Zerker created a Spotify playlist full of copyright free music that can be played on Twitch.
Olajide “KSI” William Olatunji is a YouTuber turned boxer turned rapper that wants to allow creators to use his songs. He tweeted that he is “currently working” on a way to allow streamers an opportunity to stream his content.
Expect to see other musicians and content creators speak up about the issue as more claims get filed over the next few months.