In today's digital age, social media platforms have become an integral part of our lives, allowing us to connect, share, and express ourselves creatively. One popular form of expression is incorporating music into our posts and videos. However, the use of copyrighted music can present challenges due to copyright law and licensing restrictions. In this blog post, we will explore how to use copyrighted music on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, highlighting their similarities, differences, and strategies to overcome challenges when using the same video content (with the same songs) across all platforms.
Understanding Copyrighted Music and Licensing: Before delving into the specifics of each platform, it's crucial to grasp the concept of copyrighted music and the necessity for licensing. Copyright laws protect original musical works, giving the creators exclusive rights to control the use and distribution of their music. To use copyrighted music legally, you generally require permission from the rights holders or a valid license. Unless you know any artists personally, it will be tough to get permission, meaning you will most likely need to pay for a license every time you use music in a video. If you don't, the audio will likely be muted or the video will be taken down. Repeated copyright infringement can result in an account ban, meaning you will have to start a brand new account from scratch. Don't take that risk. Fortunately, it is fairly simple to legally use music on most social media platforms.
Instagram: Instagram offers several ways to include music in your posts, stories, and reels. The platform has a vast library of licensed songs accessible through the music sticker feature. By searching for a specific track or exploring curated playlists, you can add licensed music to enhance your content. Additionally, Instagram provides the option to add music to your stories directly from popular streaming platforms like Spotify.
Instagram allows you to use copyrighted music legally in your posts without any limitations, provided you select songs from the platform's licensed library. However, it's important to note that if you plan to monetize your Instagram content, certain licensing restrictions may still apply. Additionally, some songs may not be available for monetization, or there may be geographic restrictions on the songs in place.
Snapchat: Snapchat also offers various ways to incorporate music into your snaps and stories. The platform has partnerships with major record labels, enabling users to access a vast library of licensed music. By selecting the music icon in the sticker drawer, you can search for songs, preview them, and legally overlay them onto your content.
Snapchat's music features are similar to Instagram's, but it's worth noting that Snapchat's music library may differ from Instagram's. Some songs available on one platform may not be available on the other due to licensing agreements.
TikTok: TikTok has revolutionized the way users interact with music by making it an integral part of its platform. The app provides an extensive library of licensed music that can be added to your videos through the "Sounds" feature. Users can browse popular tracks, viral sounds, and even create their own sounds to legally accompany their content.
TikTok has become synonymous with music integration, making it easier to discover trending songs and engage with sound-based challenges. However, due to licensing restrictions, some songs available on Instagram and Snapchat may not be accessible on TikTok, and vice versa.
Using the Same Video Content Across Platforms: Sharing the same video content across multiple platforms can be a great way to reach a broader audience. It also saves you a ton of time, as you can create one piece of content, and share that to as many social media platforms as you like! Sounds great, right? But if you have music in your videos, you will probably run into copyright issues. You can't just download your TikTok and share the video to YouTube, as the music in your video will be flagged for copyright as you only had permission to use it on TikTok. You can definitely re-add the music in Instagram and Snapchat (if they have the same song / sound), but that can become quite tedious, especially if you post a lot of videos. Worse, if you time your music to your videos, you will have to replicate that timing in every app, which would be insanely annoying. So what is the best option?
To overcome this issue is quite simple. You can either pay to license music you can use on all platforms (which can become quite expensive), or find a FREE source of music that is safe for use on all social media platforms, such as StreemTunes. StreemTunes has over 1100 songs made specially for content creators and is available on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. This lets you create your content on TikTok, for example, and then download the video and share it elsewhere (YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Vimeo, Snapchat, Insta, etc...), without worrying about changing the music or copyright.
Check out StreemTunes' catalog of royalty free and DMCA safe music here
Listen to all the professionally curated playlists here
Download any of the songs in the catalog to use in your content here
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