Twitch under fire for banning streamer using their own music

Kurt Perry
Cardboard Cowboy visual used during 24/7 Lo-fi streams.

Streamer CardboardCowboyLofi has been banned from Twitch for playing music that he legally owns the rights to stream after a communication breakdown.

It’s been a rough week for Twitch after its controversial policies on limiting branded content were received so poorly that the CEO himself had to come out and apologize.

A variety of big-name streamers spoke out against the proposed changes including Ninja and MoistCr1tiKaL.

Twitch has backed out on its policy change proposal but now it has a new problem. The banning of CardboardCowboy has made its community furious.

CardboardCowboy banned by Twitch despite streaming legally owned music

CardboardCowboy was banned from Twitch for streaming music despite owning the rights. Naturally, the streamer appealed the ban pleading his case but this was rejected.

The contents of the email didn’t explain why the appeal was rejected but rather informed CardboardCowboy that he would remain suspended for “violation of our Community Guidelines.”

“What exactly was the violation? What do I need to change to not violate TOS? There has been 0 discourse with me about why my appeal was denied. Just this confusing email. It would really help if you could be clear about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.”

Hoping to bring more light to the situation, Ludwig responded to the tweet by tagging Twitch and asking them to “pls help.”

PirateSoftware would follow up revealing more about the specifics of CardboardCowboyLofi’s ban.

“CardboardCowboy created a Lo-fi channel which is a 24/7 music channel. He owns 100% of the rights to that music. He owns 100% of the right to the visuals on it. Twitch banned him for 48 hours saying he was running a music channel and that he needs to sign a contract to prove he owns the rights to the music.”

“He does own the rights to the music. So he reached out to them for that contract and they responded to him saying he’s actually indefinitely banned with no reason for it.”

CardboardCowboyLofi has been a Twitch partner for five years. Creating and distributing Lo-fi music is his full-time job and the ban has limited his ability to do so.

Following the ban CardboardCowboy has moved his Lo-fi streaming to YouTube. It will remain on YouTube “until further notice,” largely dependent on when Twitch clears the ban.

About The Author

Kurt Perry is a British games writer who started at Dexerto in April 2023. He graduated from Staffordshire University in 2019 with a BA in Games Journalism and PR. Prior to joining Dexerto, Kurt contributed 900 articles for PC Invasion including over 350 guides. He's an all-rounder who is particularly knowledgeable about Call of Duty, Destiny, and Pokemon.