CROSS-PLATFORM MUSIC LICENSING IN 2025
Adding songs and sounds to your YouTube and social media content isn’t as simple as adding the audio you want and hitting “post.” Each platform has its own set of rules you need to make sure you follow.
In this article, you'll learn about each platform's current requirements and recent policy changes. You'll also find out what happened to three creators when they didn’t license music for social media and YouTube in the right way.
Licensing music on popular platforms
The rules on licensing music for videos on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram differ between platforms. It’s also important to remember that licensing doesn’t just apply to the use of whole songs. It applies to snippets and samples you might use in other compositions.
TikTok music licensing policies
Personal/creator accounts can use popular sounds and songs thanks to the firm's agreements with publishers. They can access over one million tracks on both the general music library and Commercial Music Library (CML).
Businesses have a more restricted choice, as they can only use the pre-cleared songs and sounds from the CML or their own songs and sounds. They can’t use general library music as TikTok doesn’t have the clearances for them.
When a business tries to use a non-CML song or sound in a video, TikTok may show a “Music Usage Confirmation” prompt during the upload. By checking this, they confirm that they have rights to all of the music and sounds in a video.
The bottom line: if you use music beyond TikTok’s provided library, you must confirm you have proper licensing. If you don’t, TikTok may mute your video or remove it for copyright infringement. TikTok checks every video for copyrighted music.
Copyright holders can challenge the use of a song or sound at any time by reporting a video.
Instagram Reels and Stories music licensing
Instagram Reels are short-form vertical videos intended for mobile phone viewing. Instagram Stories are temporary posts that disappear after 24 hours. Users can add music to both Reels and Stories.
Similar to TikTok, Meta, Instagram's owner, has three types of accounts - personal, creator and business.
Personal accounts and creators have access to Instagram’s full Licensed Music Library. Business account holders, however, must use the much smaller Meta Sound Collection library with 14,000 songs and sounds.
Violations of copyright can result in the muting or removal of a video. Meta's tech is quite advanced, allowing it to monitor live broadcasts. If it detects the use of copyrighted material in a live broadcast, it will alert the account holder to the issue. If they fail to react, it may mute or block the stream.
At time of writing, there is no in-app way to license the use of copyrighted music on Reels or Stories.
YouTube video music licensing
Licensing music for a YouTube video is similar to music licensing for video productions on TikTok or Meta. Like with the other two platforms, you should only upload content (including music) that you own or have the rights to use.
If you do, however, include copyrighted music in a YouTube video without a license, YouTube’s Content ID will almost certainly detect it. What they do next depends on what the copyright holder wants.
They could require the platform to:
- Block the video
- Track the audience for the video
- Place ads and take your advertising revenue
You can dispute a content claim brought against you. Other options include trimming out the part of the video containing the music, muting it, or replacing the audio with something else. Sometimes, you may have to share advertising revenue with the music publisher that placed the claim.
Another alternative open to rights holders is to issue a formal takedown request instead of a Content ID claim. If successful, there’ll be a copyright strike against your channel. If a creator gets three strikes within a 90-day period, YouTube may terminate your channel altogether.
If you want to use music in your videos on YouTube, you have three choices:
- Youtube audio library: Royalty-free sound effects and music you can use for free and/or with attribution.
- Creator music: A library of music that creators can use, if they apply for a license within YouTube. Some tracks allow full monetisation while others require a revenue share.
- Synchronisation License: This allows use of part or all of a song in a video product. There’s no way to register a synchronisation license when you upload your video, so this is how it works:
The publishers will still receive a Content ID notice to let them know you have used their audio. However, they don’t progress with the complaint because they have the details of your Channel ID and subscription.
Multiple Platforms
If you get a license for use on one platform, it doesn’t mean it is extended to other platforms.
For example, you can only distribute videos that include songs from TikTok’s Commercial Music Library on TikTok only. That’s why sites like Soundstripe often warn creators to check before uploading.
Recent actions by rights holders
Please be aware that the platforms and rights owners take copyright infringement seriously. They will almost certainly detect any use of unauthorised music and sounds and get in touch with you about it.
Here is a recent example that went to court:
- Rapper "Trefeugo" vs. Sony Music: The musician paid Sony $802,997 in damages for using samples from a 1986 track without permission on TikTok.
Although most disputes don’t reach the court, as a creator you should still ensure you have the correct license to use music in your content. Many artists and publishing companies' will still pursue copyright violations. In fact, YouTube reportedly paid out more than $70 billion to rights holders in the three years to December 2023.
Understanding music licensing across different platforms is crucial in 2025. Each platform, from TikTok to Instagram and YouTube, has its own set of rules and consequences for copyright infringement. To ensure you're using music legally and effectively, use music and SFX through Universal Music for Creators to give you peace of mind.
