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The steps you need to take if you want to use commercial music in your marketing or corporate video without violating copyrights.

Either if you make marketing videos for your own small business or create content for your clients, you may find yourself in need of legal background music.

As a rule of thumb, you need to obtain permission from the copyright holder to use any copyrighted material, even for non-commercial projects.

In this post I am going to look at what you may need to do if you want to use copyrighted music in your video or media project.

music licensing basics

One of the most common myths about using copyrighted music is that you can use any music you like as long as you clearly say that you don’t own it and give credit.

I always found it somewhat odd how people can believe that publicly admitting that they don’t own something magically gives them the right to use it.

Myth: You can use any music in your video, as long as you give credit

Read more: 5 myths about using copyrighted background music that can make your video disappear from YouTube

download unlimited royalty-free production music for videos

Let’s see what you really need to do if you want to use a commercial song as the background music of your business video.

When it comes to music, copyright law may get very tricky very fast. In many cases, the copyright is split between the record label and the publisher. The label controls the recording, while the publisher controls the song itself (i.e. the words and melody that appear in the recording of the song).

If you want to use a commercial song in your video, you must obtain two licenses – the synchronization license to use the song and the master license to use the recording of that song.

Synchronization licenses are administered by the publisher. The publishers may vary from large companies to individual songwriters who publish their own work. For the master licesnse you need to contact the recording label or, for independent artists, the artist directly.

The Harry Fox Agency used to be the one-stop destination to handle such requests but, as far as I know, that service was discontinued. However, you can search for publisher and label information using the sites below:

http://www.ascap.com
http://www.bmi.com
http://www.sesac.com
http://www.loc.gov/copyright

You can find a much bigger listing per country in Wikipedia.

If you can’t find it there get in touch with the artist and ask. I have to warn you that it may get prohibitively expensive or just impossible to license a specific track, so have a plan B.

On the bright side, many indie artists will be very open to this kind of discussion.

Why should I care?

If you are simply making a home video to enjoy with your friends or family, you probably shouldn’t be much concerned.

If you want to put this video on YouTube or share it on social media you should start considering the consequences that may range from YouTube placing the ads on the video to Recording Industry Association of America going after you for copyright infringement.

Furthermore, keep in mind that YouTube employs a robust content matching system that scans every uploaded video for copyrighted content.

If you use copyrighted music on YouTube, here are the most likely outcomes:

– Your video will get muted.

– Your video will get blocked and you get a copyright strike (the worst case).

– Your video will get a copyright claim (not a strike but still may limit what you can do with the video) and will have ads. If you are in YouTube Partner program you won’t be able to monetize.

If you need background music for your business video or for a project you’re doing for client, my suggestion is never to use unlicensed music.

Many people ask: How to use music in videos legally?

The answer is simple:

Never use unlicensed music in your business or client video! Period.

Sounds complicated.. Is there an easier way?

Tracking down publisher’s contact information and negotiating the license may not be neither quick nor easy.

Not to mention that, in many cases, using a popular commercial music track in your video may cost you a small fortune, not only in licensing fees but also in subsequent royalties paid either to the publisher or to the artist’s PRO (Performance Right Organization).

UNLIMITED ROYALTY FREE MUSIC FOR VIDEOS & COMMERCIAL USE
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The easier way

The two biggest issues with negotiating the license on your own are time and money. If you are on the budget and can’t afford to pay for the background music for your videos, you can consider one of the following:

  • Music already in Public domain. That covers compositions and recordings with their copyright expired. A word of caution. The copyright laws vary in different countries and so does the copyright expiration time. Furthermore, even if the composition itself is in public domain, the recording may be copyrighted. That’s ofter the case with classical and jazz records.
  • Music available under Creative Commons license. That’s the case when the authors decide to share their music for free. However, there are different kinds of creative commons license, so pay attention to the details. Often you will be required to give credit, may be restricted from using the music in commercial projects, or will be obligated to share your work under the same terms.

Keep in mind, that even though it won’t cost you in terms of dollars, you may need to invest potentially substantial time to find the music that fits your needs. You will be searching through a vast pool of music that neither was specifically made to be used as background music, nor was made to adhere to any particular quality standard.

Not to say that free music is bad (not at all!) but be ready to search through a really mixed bag with often unclear usage conditions and ownership records.

Related: Read This Before Using “Copyright Free” Music In Your Marketing Video

If you’re using music for commentary, news, or some non-profit causes you may (!) be able to use it legally under “fair use” doctrine of the copyright law.

Learn more: Using copyrighted music under “fair use” provision

Even easier way

music for business videos

If you are short on time but willing to spend some money consider purchasing royalty free stock music from a music library. Traditional stock music libraries cater to TV and film industries and may be somewhat pricey for individual producers.

More recently, a new kind of music libraries emerged offering budget-priced royalty free music for smaller clients, like freelance video producers, YouTubers, vloggers, software developers, and so on.

Not sure what royalty free means? Read this post: What is royalty free music.

A quick Web search will give you plenty of options to choose from in terms of both licensing terms and price. Just to give you an example, here are few songs I created for my clients:

Average rating:

Buy Once, Use Forever

  • To use in personal or small business (up to 5 employees) promotional video, social media, podcast, presentation, free / student film, free app / game, and any media / online content not intended for sale.
  • To use in corporate promotional video, social media, podcast, presentation, tradeshow, point of sale, on hold, event, online / regional TV advertisement incl. political, and all revenue generating media, games and online content up to 1,000 sales.
  • To use in all revenue generating content with unlimited sales, feature film with unlimited distribution, TV/Radio show with nation-wide audience, and commercial TV/Radio advertisement.
Free download for members Learn more
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Add to Cart

Positive and confident royalty free background instrumental music with uplifting and motivational feel for corporate videos and marketing projects.

Average rating:

Buy Once, Use Forever

  • To use in personal or small business (up to 5 employees) promotional video, social media, podcast, presentation, free / student film, free app / game, and any media / online content not intended for sale.
  • To use in corporate promotional video, social media, podcast, presentation, tradeshow, point of sale, on hold, event, online / regional TV advertisement incl. political, and all revenue generating media, games and online content up to 1,000 sales.
  • To use in all revenue generating content with unlimited sales, feature film with unlimited distribution, TV/Radio show with nation-wide audience, and commercial TV/Radio advertisement.
Free download for members Learn more
Already a member? Login here
Add to Cart

Positive corporate royalty-free music with assertive and grand feel for an uplifting and motivational corporate video or commercial.

Average rating:

Buy Once, Use Forever

  • To use in personal or small business (up to 5 employees) promotional video, social media, podcast, presentation, free / student film, free app / game, and any media / online content not intended for sale.
  • To use in corporate promotional video, social media, podcast, presentation, tradeshow, point of sale, on hold, event, online / regional TV advertisement incl. political, and all revenue generating media, games and online content up to 1,000 sales.
  • To use in all revenue generating content with unlimited sales, feature film with unlimited distribution, TV/Radio show with nation-wide audience, and commercial TV/Radio advertisement.
Free download for members Learn more
Already a member? Login here
Add to Cart

Positive, motivational, and uplifting royalty free background music for corporate and small business videos with inspirational and confident feel featuring the mix of acoustic and electronic sounds.

My top 10 best selling royalty free music tracks

Need more music?

My catalog is relatively small, so check out TunePocket – a MUCH bigger library with thousands of royalty free audio assets, including non copyrighted music (safe to use on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram) and sound effects.

The best part, you can save at least 50% compared to most popular libraries that offer similar services.

In my follow-up post I’m discussing advantages and disadvantages of the above options in greater details and list some useful resources.

Related: Where To Find Great Background Music to Use in Low-Budget Videos

Making lots of videos?

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Mik
About the author: Hi, I’m Mik. I make royalty free music for promotional videos, YouTube business vlogs, marketing campaigns, film, and more. All my music is available for licensing online with a simple royalty free commercial license. Buy once, download instantly, use forever!

51 comments

  1. Hello Mik, thanks for your post.

    What if we use someone to make a cover of copyrighted music. Does that still involve copyright issues.

    Thanks

    1. Hi Joe,

      Yes, it does. You can freely record and distribute cover songs by paying a statutory royalty fee but if you want to use your cover version on a video, you still need to secure the sync license from the publisher (the owner of the music composition, that is, the owner of the original music and words that you re-recorded). Hope that answers your question.

      Mik

      1. Hi mik I was wondering if it’s illegal to use a copyrighted song for less then 20 seconds just to load on Facebook? And if I did what would happen? What if I take it off after a week?

        1. I was under the impression that you could use a small part of a copyrighted composition as long as it was only a short section

  2. I am trying to find a way to uses music for videos with my university’s newspaper. We wouldn’t be making any money from the videos because they are more of promotional for the newspapers comments.

    1. Hi Alexa,

      There are many options available, from legit free music (check out YouTube’s own music library to start with) to ultra affordable royalty free music. Hope that helps.

      Mik

  3. Hi Mik, I had used an instrumental background music of a popular song for a video of certain shoe brand. I will upload it in Facebook for our page. Will it still be illegal even if I give credit to the composer and the very popular singer?

    1. Generally speaking, giving credit does not grant you any special rights, unless you’re using creative commons music that requires attribution. If you upload a popular song to Facebook, the chances are your video will be flagged.

  4. What do you do if there’s a muzak or muzak type system playing IN a store & you’re doing a video in that store and you have no way to turn off that music since the store is playing it ?
    I have no control over a speaker that’s blaring out music some 6-9 feet over my head and that permeates the sound through much of the store.
    I just did a video and got a copyright dispute and really don’t know what to do about this sort of thing.
    3 years ago I recorded a Halloween decoration video at a private home and one of the decorations was playing recorded music & I said to You Tube that since I have no control over the music & it was part of the decoration, there was NO way to turn it off as it was being played continuously.
    Any help on this would be appreciated as my vocal is on the video.
    I made NO attempt to monetize their music.

    1. Hi George,

      That’s a common issue and I don’t think there is a universal solution. For perfect results, I would replace the music and dub your vocals over, basically replacing the soundtrack. Or you could filter out the music and leave the vocals (similar process to making a ‘karaoke’ version of a song), this may work as well but it’s hard to say without seeing the video.

      Cheers!
      Mik

      1. I just read this comment and it made me think what if someone was up singing karaoke does that mean you cant record them and put the video online?

  5. What must I do to legally use music as background for a promotional video for a ministry?

    1. In order to legally use copyrighted music, you must secure permission from the copyright owner, either directly (for instance, if you purchase a license to use my music) or through an intermediary, like a publisher, recording label or a production music marketplace.

      For promotional / commercial videos I strongly suggest using music that is explicitly cleared for commercial use. That is, read the license to make sure it grants you proper rights to use music in such context.

      The same applies to “free” music. Make sure it’s still free if you want to use it in a promotional video.

      Hope that helps!

      Mik

      1. So like I’m suppose to call INXS or their promotional company on the phone and just be like, “hey what’s up using 90 seconds of one of your tracks is that cool with y’all??”

        I guess I don’t really understand that part. Is that what people really do?

        1. Not necessarily.

          If you simply want to use a song in a YouTube video, you may be able to do so in exchange for allowing ads in your video. Check out YouTube’s music policy page to see what happens to your video if you use a particular song.

          Read more here: How To Use Copyrighted Music On YouTube

          If you want it for a film or promo video then yes, you need to get in touch with the publisher / record label (or a clearing company that can negotiate license on your behalf).

        2. You will not be able to get a hold of the band/artists. This article has already given the names of the databases where you can find the publisher information through a search, and if needed, they will contact the artist. I just went through this 2 weeks ago where a label needed to contact John Fogerty for my request. And just a hint: don’t ask Fogerty for anything, he will not let you use anything for free. BTW, sarcasm is rude.

  6. Hey Mik,
    I would like to put copyrighted songs as background for home videos, specifically to share with family and friends on social media (Facebook). What do you suggest?
    Thanks

  7. What if I have a guest on my show on my Chanel and they come with their music can I still be liable for license or royalties even if they are part of the show.

    What u meant is that I have a tv show where I invite musicians on YouTube channel to promote their music and most of them are popular artists. So what happens then?

    1. If they are part of your show, I assume they’re giving you permission to use their music and will be willing to clear any copyright claims if it comes to that.

  8. Hi – I’m wanting to use Santa Claus Is Coming to Town instrumental in the background of a video for a client. This is a promotional video for their brand and they want this song for their Christmas video. I’ve researched and found that this isn’t in public domain and we will need to purchase a license. We don’t have a ton of time to wait so I’m just wondering if you have any direction you could send me?
    THANKS!

  9. Hi there,

    If I create a video using apps such as ” Slideshow” that aready has built in music- is that safe to share on a business/start up page?

    1. Hi! I would assume so but I’m not familiar with “Slideshow” specifically, so it’s best to ask them directly to be sure. If you want specific music with safe-use warranty you can license some of my tracks ;-P or check out TunePocket, they give unlimited access to their entire library for a moderate annual fee.

  10. It is sad that it is still practically impossible to buy rights to use popular music. I suspect so many great projects never see the light of day because of this. Sad.

    1. Perhaps.. however affordable stock music is extremely high quality these days and there are many talented producers who can make soundalikes on request in any genre imaginable.

  11. Hi,
    My daughter take voice lesson and I recorded her singing the karaoke version of someone like you. my video was remove from Facebook: ((((We were required to remove that content because we received a report from Universal Music Group that the content violates their copyrights. They’ve chosen to report your content because they believe you don’t have the sync rights for the musical composition from them.))) do I need to buy sync right to post someone practicing a song?

    Thanks

    1. When you purchase music from Amazon, iTunes, etc you are purchasing for personal use only and not getting any sync or broadcast rights. If you want to use this music in videos or commercial projects you will need to arrange for a license from the publisher / label.

  12. Hello.

    I’d like to include the Piano Guys version of Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” / Amazing Grace as background to a video with our mission statement scrolling. Our goal is to help the healthcare industry become more reliable and prevent harm to its patients. Please advise on how we can do this legally.

    Thank you

    1. You need to contact the publisher / recording label for permission or settle for a stock music track with similar vibe.

  13. Hi Mike .. I am wanting to use a cover version of a popular song with the same initial line and then change the second line to suit our business advertising campaign. Same music same first three words and then change the next line (probably 5 words but same music as original song….. This will be used as a tagline jingle of sorts. What kind of license and approximately what would it cost and how often?

    1. Hi Mik I use a lot of music from artists on my video I edit through IMovie and I do guitar covers with music in the background. I mostly use it for personal use and share it with my dad and another friend of mine. I decided to take one video off because I used music without permission. But if I use music and other video clips from YouTube in my iMovie to entertain friends and family is it still wrong. Is it a sin?

  14. What if i create a live recording of a band at a concert. Do I have the right to use that music in my videos.

  15. You make a good point that if a business is making a video or doing a project that they should never use unlicensed copyright music since the Recording Industry Association of America could go after them for infringement. It would be smart for them to hire a company to make the music for their video and then they wouldn’t have to worry about it. The business should listen to different samples from companies to see their style before choosing too to see if they follow regulations and have a sound they like.

  16. I have an issue, our charity sings gongs that have copyright attached to them and played by an accompanist, can I put a comment in the description of the video saying the music is copyright to…?

    We don’t want to step on toes of the owners of the music.

    Thanks.

  17. Hi i have aan idea about make a promo movie with no budget on it,
    first idea was to use this song but was confused about copyrigts and credits for it
    if You wold be able to get some answers where can i get copyrights for it or is it possible tu put on video for credits ?

    1. As a rule of thumb you can’t use any copyrighted material without permission. Giving credit does not automatically give you permission to use somebody else’s work.

      For projects with extremely low budgets I always recommend TunePocket where you can pick any 5 soundtracks for $39 (at the time of this writing) with commercial license, so you can safely use it in the promo film.

      Hope this helps!

  18. What if we use a portion of a song in a joke video we made to make a response to a post someone made on facebook because you wanted to mock something and thought the song in the video fit the point you wanted to get across? Like a meme or a gif?

  19. I own the rights to my music. I wrote and sang and published it and now it’s copyrighted. Others need my permission to use my music.

    How will Facebook know that I own the rights. Do I have to wait to be flagged and then appeal it?

    What steps do I need to take in order use my own music on facebook

  20. I got one for you Mik. What if I have a signed contract with a band and in that contract they affirm that their song they are allowing me to use for commercial purposes is their own but I find out later that they is not. I would of course pull the video but who would be liable for any fines incurred?

    1. Hi Amy,

      If you sign a licensing contract with the band you would need to have a clause in the contract where the band guarantees that their song is original. If it turns out they weren’t truthful, you can sue them for damages.

      Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer and this can’t be considered legal advice. Please consult an attorney if you need to draw a contract.

      There is an easier way, though. You can simply license songs from a reliable music library that pre-screens the artists. Check out this library for example: https://www.tunepocket.com

  21. I WOULD LIKE TO USE THE OPENING PART OF FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLE BE
    THE ONE I SAW AT YOUTUBE
    CAN DO THIS OWN MY SITE
    (NOT YET UP

  22. I have an internal meeting that will never be shared online. we used a a song that we re-wrote the lyrics to but we are not posting it online anywhere. just to be used for our internal meeting. we had a professional singer record the track to put in the background of a video.

  23. Hi, I am part of a gospel music group and we use commercial background tracks in our concerts. We have a published CD for which we obtained song licensing and sell. That CD contains our own recorded arrangements so copyright laws are fulfilled.
    However, many people have asked for a live recording of the concert where we use unlicensed commercial tracks. If we make a DVD of the concert and give them away for a donation to our 501(c)3 charity, do we still require a licensing fee for each song or per disk?

  24. WOW just what І wass searching fⲟr. Came here by searching for info on how to use music on youtube.

  25. hi mike
    i have a channel in YouTube
    Audio world and running very well i have some copyright claims in my channel
    if i buy your Royalty free license
    its going to work for my all songs which i uploaded
    plz ASAP
    thanks
    Nikhil

  26. Hello. I want to make a short one-time used video using pictures from my graduation yearbook, with Mancini’s version of A Time for Us as background. I would be showing this during the reception for our 50th graduation anniversary. Unfortunately, I’m not very tech savvy, although I have made power point presentations in the past. which did not include music. Can anyone give me some tips on how to go about this?

  27. This always depresses me. There is not one helpful thing in this article. And what I mean is that it’s all just bad news. I remember when I first started doing wedding videos years ago how stupid I thought it was that I needed to obtain a license for a wedding video, something that the client will at best share to their social media pages, and then at the same time companies like Spotify and Pandora are playing all these songs and the artist are seeing pennies at best…I can not calculate the amount of hours I have wasted on web searches for the right song for a commercial, promo, or wedding. Or the amount of money spent on sites like Motionarray, or Audioblocks where hours are still spent sifting through the monotony of choices. I honestly think its just plain stupid but thats just my opinion.

  28. Hi Mike,
    Thanks for the article. I have a question. I am a filmmaker and hired to film a product launch. In the event, the company hired a band to perform some cover songs. They asks me to make a promo video which includes interviews about the product and shows the music performance as well.
    I am really confused who I should contact to help the company to get license in a circumstances like this. Is it BMI or the publisher?

  29. Hi Mik,
    Please tell me how can I put music in a video without copyright infringement?

    Thanks.

  30. Hi! I’d like to promote my own music on TikTok (it’s copyrighted), but the app won’t allow me due to copyright issues. How can I inform them that it’s my music?

    I’ve tried reporting the issue but nobody has gotten back to me.

    Thanks!

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