How to Legally Add Copyrighted Music to Your YouTube Video? what you need to know
- Free Music: Select your YouTube profile picture and choose Music Studio. YouTube > Audio Library > Music free.
- Commercial music: Check the availability of music in the audio library > Do you have different music in your video? Check their copyright policies.
This article explains how to legally use copyrighted music in videos from Youtube. It also includes information about the restrictions that apply to the use of copyrighted music on YouTube.
How to Legally Add Copyrighted Music to Your YouTube Video?
Using commercial music as the background of your YouTube video without permission may violate US copyright law. The good news is that YouTube has options to help you keep your music legal.
- Sign in to your YouTube account from a computer browser.
This guide requires the full version of YouTube.Com, which you can use from a computer or by loading the desktop version on a mobile device. - Click on your profile picture in the top right corner of the screen and click on YouTube Studio in the menu that appears.
YouTube Studio (formerly Creator Studio) offers an extensive list of popular commercial songs by well-known artists that you can use under certain circumstances, and an audio library containing free music and sound effects. - Select the audio library.
- Select the tab for free music.
- Click on any of the entries in the free music watch to hear a preview and, more importantly, to read about music usage restrictions. In most cases, you will see You are free to use this song in any of your videos. In some cases, you can see You are free to use this song in any of your videos but you must include the following in the description of your video, followed by a disclaimer of some kind that is to be copied and used exactly as described. When you find the music you want to use, click the download arrow next to the title to download it for use in your video.
You are not limited to the music that appears on the screen. You can search by title, genre, mood, instrument, length, and attribution. As you might expect, clicking the Sound Effects tab opens up a selection of free sound effects that you can use in your videos.
How to find commercial copyrighted music that you can add to your videos?
The Commercial Music Policies section of Youtube contains many current and popular songs that users have shown interest in using. The restriction may be that the song is blocked in certain countries or that the owner can place ads on their video to monetize the use of the music. The list also includes songs that are not allowed to be used.
To view the list of commercial copyrighted music, click Do you have other music in your video? Check your copyright policies in the bar at the top of the audio library screen to open the music policies screen.
Types of YouTube Restrictions
Each song on the music policy list is accompanied by the restrictions that the music owner has set for its use on YouTube. In most cases, they apply to the original song and also to any cover of that song made by anyone else. They include:
- Comment on where the original music or covers can be used. This can be Viewable worldwide, Viewable everywhere except 2 countries, Not viewable in 74 countries, and other similar entries. You don’t want to choose a song that can’t be used in the US because your video would be blocked here. If you see a notice that music is blocked in a group of countries, tap the entry to open the list of countries and see which ones won’t be able to see your video.
- You will usually see a note that ads may appear. This means that the owner of the music can place ads on your video in exchange for you using the owner’s music. If you don’t like the idea of the music owner monetizing your video, you may have to select one of the free songs from the audio library, as most copyrighted music has this disclaimer of responsibility.
- You may see This song is not available for use in your YouTube video along with a warning that your video may be blocked if you use it. Don’t use it.
For example, at the time of publication, Gangnam Style is not allowed in the videos, Uptown Funk is blocked in over 200 countries, and not all of them mention that “ads may appear. »
Use one of these songs legal commercials on YouTube nor gives you the right to use it on any other site. Additionally, copyright holders can change the permissions they grant for the use of their music at any time.
