Canada's Major Labels Get a Court Order to Block YouTube Stream-Ripping Sites
Music Canada — on behalf of its members, Sony Music Entertainment Canada, Universal Music Canada and Warner Music Canada — has blocked the Canadian operations for three sites that enable the unauthorized copying of music from YouTube and other streaming services.
Music Canada is putting a stop to stream-rippers in Canada.
This week, the trade association that represents Canada’s three major record labels secured the first-ever Canadian website-blocking order against YouTube stream-ripping sites Y2Mate, YTMP3 and Savefrom that allow stream-ripping — the unauthorized copying of music from licensed streaming services.
The trio of sites has reached over 1.7 million monthly visits, benefiting from the unethical practice of ripping music from the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
Originally filed in November, the order’s approval marks the first time that a site-blocking order has been issued by the Federal Court of Canada regarding the Canadian music industry.
"I believe artists should be paid when their music is played. To create the best possible environment for that to happen, we have to shut down sites that promote stealing music,” writes Music Canada CEO Patrick Rogers, following the order’s verdict, in a statement also sent to Billboard Canada. “Big thank you to everyone who worked with us to make sure that artists are paid when their music is played."
In Canada, online streaming drives over 75% of recorded music revenue. According to IFPI’s 2025 report, overall Canadian streaming revenues increased 4.5% to $747 million, while subscription streaming revenues grew 3.4% to $598.5 million and ad-supported streaming (audio and video combined) rose 9.4% to $148.3 million.
“The idea that you can listen to any song ever recorded, when you want, how you want, through the service of your choice, is really powerful,” Rogers told Billboard Canada earlier this year.
While streaming is increasingly popular, so is stream-ripping, said to be one of the biggest forms of music piracy. The practice often prevents artists from receiving streaming royalties they would typically earn on their respective platforms.
Effective immediately, the Canadian operations of the three stream-ripping websites are blocked, and their domains have been deactivated. In addition, the order requires that nine major Canadian internet service providers (ISPs), including Bell, Rogers and TekSavvy, use DNS blocking or rerouting to block the domains for a period of two years.
According to the order, ISPs must notify visitors of the stream-ripping domains and explain why they are no longer available. If the sites attempt to evade the block by changing domains or IP addresses, those variants will be blocked too.
The order’s outcome follows recent cease-and-desist notices from Music Canada that shut down four stream-ripping websites.
“Our goal is to ensure that artists are paid when their music is played. Preventing stream ripping services from operating is one way in which we can help do that,” says Rogers.
