Despite our collective society having more than two decades of social media experience, there’s still a learning curve when it comes to properly licensing and using copyrighted materials in personal and professional social media posts.
To be fair, social video content is still relatively new, and in the earliest days of online video content, it was the Wild West when it came to how creators and brands were using materials like music, footage, and other assets.
However, as the social video space has become more defined—and much more popular—some complex rules outline what can be used in different posts and videos, specifically when it comes to music.
If you’re creating social content for a company, brand, or non-profit, you might quickly learn what happens if you try to use mainstream music in your content with copyright strikes, mutes, or even account takedowns and bans. Or worse, expensive lawsuits.
To help you navigate this emerging space, let’s go over everything you need to know about why your brand can’t use mainstream music on social media, as well as an exploration into what to do instead.
The legal reality of using music on social media
As mentioned above, the repercussions for using mainstream music in your social posts or videos without properly licensing said content can be quite devastating to a brand, to say the least.
To avoid copyright infringement issues, such as muted videos, content removal, or account bans and lawsuits, use royalty-free music for social media videos that is pre-cleared for all platforms and channels.
And while there are some differences between advertising content and personal use content, if you’re ever unsure if the content that you’re creating is a personal post (on your personal page) or something promoting a brand or business, it’s always best to remember that all music can fall under copyright law, regardless of your intentions or the platform you’re using.
If you’ve ever wondered, “what music can I use on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook?” the answer depends on how each platform defines commercial use. For example, TikTok only allows commercially-approved tracks for business accounts, whereas Instagram features licensing deals to allow popular music to be featured in personal Reels and Stories, but not promotional content or ads
As always, if you’re ever in doubt, err on the side of caution and opt to use pre-cleared royalty-free music licensing for social media from a trusted resource like Soundstripe.
What happens when you break the rules?
As we alluded to before, breaking copyright rules can go far beyond having your video muted or your post taken down. If mainstream music is improperly used or not licensed for marketing or promotional purposes, you leave yourself—and your brand—liable to music copyright lawsuits.
With the rise of AI detection tools, most major social media platforms are becoming increasingly adept at monitoring posts and content for unlicensed materials. For smaller brands or personal accounts, the ramifications can be minor at first if something is simply uploaded by mistake, but the consequences start to add up quickly—so it’s never worth taking the risk.
The safest solution: Use pre-cleared music
If you do a bit of searching online, you’ll undoubtedly come across one of the most popular solutions for properly licensing music for your videos and social content. Royalty-free music is music that has been pre-cleared to be used for all types of social media and marketing purposes.
To understand how music rights and royalties work, you must know that all music has basic copyrights. These copyrights extend to both the composer of the music and the musicians who recorded it. And if you want to use any music in any videos, you’ll need to obtain permission from the copyright owners.
Royalty-free music is an excellent option for all your videos, as it’s easy to find and use. Soundstripe’s roster of musicians included Grammy-winning artists who know how to make great music for all types of films and video content.
How Soundstripe makes compliance easy
Using a reputable music licensing resource like Soundstripe is also a great option, not just because of the pre-cleared protection, but also for its diverse music library, which features many different genres, moods, and curated playlists.
The licensing is integrated into the platform, so you get pre-cleared music protection, allowing you to focus on finding the right song for your videos and content with minimal worry and maximum results.
Soundstripe also offers several different integrations, which make adding music directly into video editing platforms like Adobe Premiere Pro and Express, Frame.io, and Twitch, so that your creativity will never miss a beat with simple-to-understand licenses, coverage, and protection.
Don’t risk takedowns and copyright headaches
At the end of the day, there’s no reason to risk takedowns and bans or other copyright headaches. If you use pre-cleared music for all of your branded content, the results can be just as good as mainstream music, and the process can be much simpler and more streamlined, leaving you with more time to work on the fun stuff.
If you’re curious to learn more, check out these additional articles about licensing high-quality pre-cleared music for your brand marketing needs below.
- How to License Music for Video
- How to Avoid Copyright Infringement in Marketing Campaigns
- How to Make Money on Instagram: Top Tips, Monetization Tools, and Finding the Best Music for Your Content
- Royalty Free Music for Content Creation Agencies: 4 Tips to Select the Best Royalty Free Music for Business
- The Details Everyone Should Know About Music Copyright
