Facebook Gives Clarity on Music Guidelines for Videos in Latest Updates

Facebook recently released its latest updates on their Guidelines for Including Music in Video. This policy paints a clearer picture for content creators on Facebook and Instagram, helping them avoid disruptions due to copystrikes while going live.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has not shown much diminishment, more artists are bringing their gigs to live broadcasting and videos on various social media platforms. Virtual performances are a great way for entertainers to keep in touch with their audience. This means livestreaming helps solve the challenge for artists to stay connected with their fans, especially when in-person concerts are now impossible almost everywhere in the world.

Applied for both recorded videos and livestreams on Facebook and Instagram, the new guidelines are Facebook’s effort to ensure their alignment with music right holders and video creators.

Facebook Guidelines on Including Music in Videos and Livestreams

“We want to encourage musical expression on our platforms while also ensuring that we uphold our agreements with rights holders,” the owner of Facebook and Instagram claimed. 

Key points of the guidelines:

• Music in stories and live performances of artists or bands are unlimited.
• It is more likely that your video might be limited — interrupted stream or partly muted video — if you have a certain length of recorded tracks included. 
• Shorter clips of music are recommended.
• Videos should include visual components. Facebook does not encourage recorded audio as the main purpose of the video.

Additionally, in their Music Guidelines, Facebook clearly explains that you may not use videos and livestreams to create a music listening experience for yourself or others:

“We want you to be able to enjoy videos posted by family and friends. However, if you use videos on our Products to create a music listening experience for yourself or for others, your videos will be blocked and your page, profile or group may be deleted. This includes Live” (Source: Facebook Music Guidelines)

Therefore, recorded audio is prohibited from being the main purpose of the video. If violated, the videos will be blocked, and the associated page, profile, or group may be deleted.

Facebook users should note that although music is supported on the two platforms in more than 90 countries, there are still locations where the recorded music is not available yet. It is advised that video creators make sure their music content is authorized in the countries they broadcast to. That means the availability and authority over the music content are the possible cause that could cause interruptions during the livestream.

How to Use Music on Facebook Without Copyright Infringement

Facebook provides the creators on the platform with its Facebook’s Sound Collection — a free library for custom music and sound effects. This library covers different music genres, including hip hop, pop, jazz, country, and many more on both Facebook and Instagram. 

To give a better experience for its users, Facebook also improved their in-product notifications for music usage. If your stream has copyrighted music, a notification will appear, then Facebook will mute the music. 

Now the alert is more visible and shown earlier to give video owners enough time to adjust and avoid unwanted interruptions. In the case of videos getting blocked due to music copyright issues, Facebook will provide clear instructions on how to fix the problem as well.

Facebook’s guidelines for including music in videos have been released since 2018, and their latest guidelines update will take effect in October with minor adjustments. We believe the revised guidelines help make it more transparent and more straightforward for Facebook users and content creators to enjoy sharing videos and livestream without violating any license agreements in the future.