{"id":14428,"date":"2023-07-09T09:33:27","date_gmt":"2023-07-09T15:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/?p=14428"},"modified":"2023-07-10T02:14:13","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T08:14:13","slug":"how-to-get-permission-to-use-a-song-on-youtube","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/how-to-get-permission-to-use-a-song-on-youtube","title":{"rendered":"How To Get Permission To Use a Song on YouTube"},"content":{"rendered":"

Music brings a YouTube video together, which is why it\u2019s frustrating when the perfect song or track is copyrighted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re stuck using royalty-free songs. Keep reading to learn how to get permission to use a song on YouTube.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Do I Need Permission To Use a Copyrighted Song on YouTube?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When a song or musical score is copyrighted, it means that it\u2019s not free for anyone except the original creator to use. If someone else, like a YouTuber, wants to play it in one of their videos, they need to get permission to use it first. Not only that, but they also have to be prepared to pay a licensing fee or share ad revenue with the artist.<\/span><\/p>\n

You may not like the idea of having to pay to use a song. But sometimes it\u2019s worth it if a copyrighted track is the last piece you need to perfect your YouTube video. Plus, paying ensures that the artist whose music you\u2019re profiting from gets fairly compensated for your use of their work.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, how do you go about getting permission to get a song on YouTube? We\u2019ll guide you step-by-step through two popular methods: Creator Music on YouTube and a licensing company.<\/span><\/p>\n

How To Get Permission To Use a Song Using YouTube Creator Music<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Creator Music in YouTube Studio is by far the easiest way to get permission to use a copyrighted song.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Google rolled Creator Music out in early 2023 for <\/span>monetized YouTubers<\/span><\/a> to make it easier for these individuals to <\/span>license<\/span><\/a> popular music for their content. Its catalog features artists from giant music labels like Empire, Believe, Downtown, and Merlin, according to <\/span>TechCrunch<\/span><\/a>. For creators, this means you\u2019ll have a wide variety of great tracks to choose from.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how to access this feature, as well as how to use it to your advantage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Step #1: <\/b>Log into <\/span>YouTube Studio<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Step #2: <\/b>In the left-hand menu, click <\/span>Creator Music<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Step #3: <\/b>Check the box for<\/span> License available<\/b> and then search for the song you want to use by the track\u2019s name or the artist\u2019s name.<\/span><\/p>\n

Step #4: <\/b>When you find the right song, click <\/span>More Actions<\/b>, and then <\/span>Buy license<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Step #5: <\/b>If the song requires you to buy a license to use it, click Buy License<\/strong><\/span>. Then enter your payment information and click Pay Now<\/strong><\/span>. Then click Download Track<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/span><\/b>If the song has a no-cost license, just click Download<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>Step #6: <\/b>When you upload your video with the licensed song in it to YouTube Studio, click <\/span>Add Music Licenses<\/b> in the Video Elements phase of the process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This step will allow you to add the music license you just bought (or that you automatically received when you downloaded a no-cost license track) to the video so that the artist or their label doesn\u2019t come after you for copyright violations.<\/span><\/p>\n

How To Get Permission To Use a Song on YouTube Through a Licensing Company<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What if the song you want to license somehow isn\u2019t available through Creator Music? In that case, you may want to attempt to get permission to use it by going through the company that licenses the song.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow these steps to get permission to use a song on YouTube from a licensing company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Step #1: <\/b>Go to the official website for any one of the official music licensing organizations in your region. YouTubers based in the United States can use <\/span>ASCAP<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>BMI<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Global Music Rights<\/span><\/a>, or <\/span>SESAC<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Step #2: <\/b>Search the licensing website for the track or artist you\u2019re looking for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Step #3: <\/b>After you determine which licensing company owns the rights to the song you want to use, fill out their licensing application and pay the licensing fee.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Happens If I Use a Copyrighted Song Without Getting Permission?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If you use a copyrighted song in your YouTube video without getting permission first, your video could get taken down. It doesn\u2019t matter how much work you put into it or how great your video concept was. A single copyright strike is enough to get it taken down forever, or at least until you remove the music you stole.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you get three copyright strikes within 90 days, something far worse could happen than your video getting taken down. Your entire channel and YouTube account could get deleted from the platform. That\u2019s how seriously YouTube takes repeated copyright violations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why you should only ever use music that is license-free, or that you paid the license fee for via YouTube\u2019s Creator Music feature or a licensing company.<\/span><\/p>\n

What About Fair Use?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The legal doctrine of <\/span>fair use<\/span><\/a> may entitle you to use short clips of copyrighted music to criticize, comment on, or parody. But it still doesn\u2019t guarantee you full protection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Frequently Asked Questions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t
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Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The copyrighted song or music track that would perfectly complement your YouTube video may still be within your grasp. Try searching for it on YouTube\u2019s Creator Music catalog and pay the licensing fee, or getting a license to use it directly through the original artist\u2019s licensing company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If there\u2019s a copyrighted song that you know would be just perfect for your YouTube video, there may be a way you can use it without getting slapped with a copyright violation. Read on to learn how to get permission to use a song on YouTube.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":14433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-youtube"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"John","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralyft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}