Twitch CEO: In-game music muting 'a mistake,' appeals feature added
Video game streaming service Twitch has modified many of its recent controversial policy changes in response to user feedback, announcing that streamers will now be able to appeal muted content-matched audio in archived videos.
Earlier this week, Twitch introduced a Content ID-like auto-muting feature in an attempt to weed out the broadcasting of "unauthorized third-party audio," including copyrighted music from popular artists. The feature's current implementation yielded multiple false positives, however, muting large chunks of archived streams that only featured original in-game music and author commentary.
Responding to questions in a Reddit AMA yesterday, Twitch CEO Emmett Shear notes that muting in-game audio is "a mistake," and assures that "We have zero intention of flagging original in-game music."
Emmett also revealed that the policy will only apply to archived content, and users will not be muted during live streaming sessions. "We have no intention whatsoever of bringing audio-recognition to live streams on Twitch," he said. "This is a [video on demand]-only change for Twitch."
Speaking with Twitch Partnerships and Strategy VP Justin Wong, Grand Theft Auto series speedrunner Adam Kuczynski reports that additional site-wide changes are in the works, eventually resulting in lengthier archived highlights, shorter stream delays, and more precise flagging of matched audio, among other improvements.
[Image: Twitch]
