Dream Image Club
Videographer
How do you use music in a video without copyright problems?
Short answer
Music you buy or stream to listen to does not give you the right to put it in a published video. The safe route is music from a library whose licence covers the channels you will use — website, social media, ads or television. If you use music labelled free, read the terms in full: can it be used commercially, and does it require credit? If you want music that belongs to your brand, commission an original track. On my jobs, I choose music and sound effects licensed for the channels agreed at the start.
Why videos with popular songs run into trouble
Platforms such as YouTube and Facebook scan music automatically. If they find a track registered by its owner, the video may be claimed, muted, blocked in some countries, or rejected as an ad. This usually happens after posting, which is the hardest moment to fix it.
A common misunderstanding is that buying a track, or crediting the artist, makes it usable. In fact, buying music gives you the right to listen, not to use it in a published video, and a credit does not replace permission.
Four options that actually work
- Licensed music libraries — plenty of good tracks; each licence type covers different channels, so match it to where you will publish.
- Platform music libraries — some platforms have a library businesses may use, separate from what personal accounts can use; check which kind of account you have.
- Free music — usable if you read the terms in full; some tracks forbid commercial use, some require credit, some cannot be used in ads.
- An original composition — ideal for brands that want their own sound; usable long-term and unique, but it takes more time and budget.
Where you publish changes the terms
The same track might be fine on a website but need a different licence for paid ads or television broadcast. So before starting, I ask everywhere the video will go and choose music that covers all of it from the start, rather than swapping tracks after the edit is finished.
Agency films broadcast on TV, or videos screened abroad, are examples where this must be thought through first, because the reach is wider than a post on a page.
Wedding films — we want a song that means something to us
Many couples have a song tied to their story. If the film will be posted publicly, popular songs are often muted or blocked. What many couples choose is licensed music in the posted version, while their meaningful song plays live during the event — say, for the entrance — as part of the real atmosphere of the day.
We can talk this through while planning; I can help find licensed music with a similar feeling to the song you love.
Other sounds in the video need the same thought
It is not only music. Sound effects, fonts used for on-screen text, and images or footage you did not shoot all have their own usage terms. Some fonts are free only for personal use; most images found online carry no right to commercial use.
Another often-forgotten point is music playing at the location during filming — in a restaurant or a mall during an interview. It ends up in the sound and can be detected just the same, so it is worth asking for location music to be turned off while speech is recorded.
What to ask your videographer about music
- Where does the music come from, and does the licence cover the channels we will use?
- If we later want to run the video as an ad or on TV, what else is needed?
- If our agency needs proof of rights, can you provide it? Raise this when quoting.
- Are the sound effects and fonts in the video licensed too?