Ice Seguerra urges fans to take down full uploads of 'Sessionistas'

Singer and director Ice Seguerra recently spoke out against concertgoers and fans who record and upload full or nearly complete performances to YouTube and other social media, asking them to limit their posts to highlights instead.

Seguerra raised the issue in a social media post on Monday, August 24, following the upload of several videos from the “Sessionistas: The Playlist” concert, held Saturday, August 22, at The Theatre in Solaire in Parañaque City.

“I appreciate that people take video highlights of our performances during shows. I love seeing your reactions, your favorite moments, and the songs that meant something to you,” he wrote.

Seguerra said there is a difference, however, between sharing short clips and putting an entire performance or nearly the whole concert online.

“When you buy a concert ticket, you’re buying the experience of watching the show. You are not buying the right to record the whole thing and upload it to your own YouTube page or social media pages,” he said.

He also noted that a concert involves the work of many people, from performers and musicians to composers, producers, publishers, and crew members. 

“That work is protected, and reposting full songs or entire portions of a concert without permission is not simply ‘sharing.’ It is an unauthorized distribution of someone else’s work.” 

Still, he made clear that fans can continue documenting and talking about the shows.

“Please share your favorite moments. Post your photos. Post short clips. Tell people what you loved about the show. We appreciate all of that,” he said.  “But please don’t upload the concert itself.”

Seguerra also asked those who had already uploaded full performances from his shows to take them down.

He closed his message by urging fans to support the artists while respecting their work. 

“Support the music. Support the artists. Please don’t turn our work into content you never had the right to distribute.”

The “Sessionistas: The Playlist” concert featured Seguerra alongside Sitti Navarro, Nyoy Volante, Kean Cipriano, Princess Velasco, and Juris Fernandez. Seguerra also served as the show's director. The group rose to prominence through a musical segment on “ASAP” in 2009.