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Artists are taking to social media to complain that DistroKid has unceremoniously removed their work without notice. Now DistroKid has confirmed to The Verge<\/em> that the takedowns are a direct response to claims made by UMG. The label filed a lawsuit in September claiming that DistroKid has created an \u201cAI-slop pipeline.\u201d Artists are saying that their non-AI works are being caught up in the purge, however.<\/p>\n Musician and self-described \u201cVideo Game boy\u201d McGwire reported that six of his songs had been removed from streaming. As has been the case with others, McGwire says that there was no communication from DistroKid before or after the removals, and that he had to contact the company for an explanation.<\/p>\n DistroKid also makes it exceedingly difficult to contact them. McGwire first had to have a \u201clengthy circular conversation\u201d with a bot before getting hold of a live agent. One of the songs removed was a cover of Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cIsn\u2019t She Lovely,\u201d which he claims to have had a proper license for. Another track used a beat he purchased through a marketplace, which others had also licensed.<\/p>\n Most infuriating for McGwire was a song removed for an uncleared sample. The song he allegedly sampled was released two years after<\/em> his track.<\/p>\n Music producer and marketing pro Jesse Cannon told The Verge that, \u201cDistroKid gave up on customer service about two years ago.\u201d He was sympathetic to artists\u2019 plight, but seemed unsurprised by the company\u2019s indifference. \u201cThey should have allowed artists to have recourse in this and a warning to debate,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I\u2019ve been told by former employees they see customer service as a waste of profits since they have such a high market share and remain ubiquitous.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of the frustration from artists stems from the lack of communication and recourse. Nerdcore rapper Insane Ian posted that he \u201chad an original song taken down with no warning, and they wouldn\u2019t tell me why either.\u201d Rapper King Chase also struggled to get through to a person at DistroKid. He told The Verge<\/em> that an entire album for an artist he had been working with was removed with no communication or explanation. \u201cThe album had been up for 3-4 years without incident,\u201d he said, and that there had been \u201cno copyright strikes or anything either.\u201d<\/p>\n Amanda Ferri, DistroKid\u2019s VP of Artist Services, told The Verge<\/em> that \u201cA very small number of recordings distributed through DistroKid have been removed in response to claims made by UMG. We strongly dispute the allegations underlying UMG\u2019s lawsuit and regret the disruption to affected artists. We are working to minimize that disruption while protecting artists\u2019 ability to release their music.\u201d<\/p>\n