@Musopia
Is it just me , or have there been songs removed from the app again?
Yesterday had 95 favorite songs in my playlist, but today only 83!
For instance Wild Horses and Lady Jane by The Rolling Stones are gone.
I thought this would be announced, before removing them. As we discussed this last time it happened. I just renewed for a year, but this really p….s me off.
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I only recently started. Only been using the website. Downloaded the app to checkout the song list and noticed Three Little Birds isn’t even there. It’s the first song he recommends learning, but can’t play it in the app. Not sure I want to subscribe as it seems lots of songs keep disappearing. I wanted to use the app ot focus a but more on strumming patterns with the beginner songs.
I get there are licensing issues, but losing the songs used in lessons is insane. They become part of the practice routine. For now, I think I’ll give the paid app a pass and stick to the website.
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@ToniMacaroni @k1tsun3
Sorry …
The forum moderators have just learned from @larynejg that a number of songs have sadly been removed and once again for reasons beyond Justin’s control. Laryne is about to release an announcement in the community and across the various social media platforms.
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Thank you, Richard. Sad but true.
I personally would rather be paying some more, and keep the songs I like and am familiar with. Which made me want to play guitar in the first place. Then see all new songs I never heard off.
I know life’s full of choices.
Just my 2ct
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Yeah all but one of the Tom Petty songs are removed. 
It would be nice if they did like Xbox Game Pass and announce what songs are going to be leaving the app. Something like a “leaving soon” under the “new songs” which can signal to us to put it on paper form before they are gone.
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I’m only guessing but copyright laws are draconian. They are probably having to take them off as soon as they got a notice. Otherwise they would choose to keep them or give users notices.
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I know it has to do with copyright. But what I don’t get is , there are numerous apps out there where these songs can be played. And often cost the same or less. So my point is,is it about making money or serving your customers?
I don’t want to be on the negative, cause I really love JG.
Yea you did it to me again. Took away multiple songs I have been working on and had made lots of progress with.
I am done with the app, way too frustrating to invest all the time to learn a song that way and get the rug pulled. I have been transitioning to g. tabs and using spotify anyways. Guess I am all in with the new approach now.
Some more of my songs are missing again. What has happened?
I’m guessing maybe the Rolling Stone catalog was sold, or somethings similar to cause another “music rights” litigation thing. Wild Horses is gone, too. That was in my favorites waiting for me to learn more chords first. I wonder how long the other 9 Stones songs will last. sigh
Damn, I just checked mine and yup, Mary Jane’s Last Dance is gone!
Again I’m guessing they might not be as popular and missing publishers’ radar.
Has this announcement appeared yet or have I missed it?
I guess it’s a publishing rights (costs) issue again.
This is the second time this has happened (without notice) and like others I’m not amused that there hasn’t been any notification provided.
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Not yet, expect some kind of comment very soon.
RE; the situation - I would like to express my apologies on behalf of the team - it is beyond the control of anyone at JustinGuitar or Musopia unfortunately.
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Hey all.
Firstly - sorry. I would also be upset if a song I was working on was suddenly removed from the app. I hear your frustration and feel it too.
Of course, it’s upsetting for me when things like this happen because I know that people will be disappointed and angry, and because many of the songs are my personal favourites too - I’m a huge fan on Tom Petty and The Stones…
The legalities can get pretty complex because the app relies on agreements with publishers. Often the aim is to get blanket licenses with publishing groups to simplify the process and accounting, but sometimes publishers can remove themselves from a blanket and decide to negotiate things independently.
The legal team working for Musopia (the app development company) advised that we should remove the music whose rights were held by certain publishing companies to avoid litigation - and so we were not left with any choice.
I hope you can understand that removing songs is not a choice, nor is it done to profit - but to keep the app alive!
I am and will remain transparent about the problems with have with securing rights for the songs and it’s not always easy.
So, apologies again; there’s just nothing I can do but hope that the legal people can sort out an arrangement that satisfies everyone and the songs return. There are people working on it.
I will see what I can do to try and get some kind of notice period. As far as I’m aware, we don’t get one, so hard to pass it on… but will see what can be done on that front at least!
Apologies again. J.
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It’s sad 
that the music industry is run by bean counters and lawyers and most of the money never makes it to the actual artists who create the music in the first plays.
At least a lot of the new up and coming artist have figured out that keeping their rights to their music will pay off in the long run and with the internet they can even distribute their music themselves. Maybe some of them will discover Justin’s app and use it as another source of revenue and a way to get their music out for others to learn and play along with.
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Often the indy bands are even harder to license cos they don’t understand the business and sometimes it’s just too expensive for them to get into… the money from my app is unlikely to be a lot per song per year, and if yu have to hire a lawyer and do an admin deal with a major to take care of royalty collection, it might not be worth it… even sadder eh.
TBH, getting people to listen to your music is the hardest thing these days, so I’d imagine that just getting a song in the app would be cool - just getting more people to hear your music… but getting paid likely to be a pain in the ass!
But the industry is slowly ironing out the wrinkles 
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Maybe some day ai will come up with a simple method without lawyers bean counters raking in all the profit
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Justin, thanks for the explanation.
I think the lack of notice is what really angers people. It would certainly anger me if I was just starting to learn guitar, and had invested possibly many hours in learning a song…only to have that song yanked out from under me without notice or explanation.
So having some notice - say a month - would go a long way towards mitigating this.
BTW, this also applies to things like the website and the Community.
I did software development for 30+ years, and one of the things I learned the hard way was that the quickest way to anger the users was to change things with no notice and no explanation.
Clear, up-front communication is almost always easier than damage control.
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Thanks for shedding some light on the situation Justin. I’m sure the licensing is a serious PITA. I keep meaning to transpose all songs I’m working on to paper, but I get lazy 
So the lack of notice is the biggest part for me.