Oftentimes, creators like to add a soundtrack of music to the background of their content.
It makes sense, as using music well can add life to video content and help boost the overall feel of that content, both for solo streams as well as squad streams.
The issue however, is that various platforms seem to follow different rules and regulations when it comes to what music creators are allowed to use and how they’re allowed to use it. The punishments can vary and it can be quite confusing for creators.
So that creates the question: can you play music on Twitch? If so, what music can you play?
The simple answer is that yes, you can play music on your Twitch streams. It’s a little more complex than that, though, so we’ll dive into that in this post.
What Music Can You Play on Your Twitch Stream?
There are three main categories that Twitch is 100% okay with creators playing in their streams.
The first is probably the most obvious: music that is owned by you, the creator.
If it’s music that you’ve created, you’re in the clear to play that music on your live streams. This includes both live music as well as recordings of that music.
If the music you own is also owned in part by others, such as record labels, the use of the music on a Twitch stream does get more complicated.
However, this applies to a very small number of creators and even in situations where it does apply the specific details of how it can be used will differ depending on what deals have been made with the other owners of the music.
The second category of music allowed on to be played on Twitch streams is music that you’ve licensed specifically for that purpose. This category is also fairly self explanatory: you’ve licensed the rights to this music, thus you have the right to play it during your Twitch streams.
The third category that Twitch allows to be played on streams is music that comes through “Soundtrack by Twitch”.
What is Soundtrack by Twitch?
Soundtrack by Twitch is a resource provided by Twitch itself to help allow creators to use music in their content without the worry of copyright issues popping up.
You can use Soundtrack by Twitch either via its web player or by downloading and using the Soundtrack by Twitch application.
The potential downside to consider when using Soundtrack by Twitch is that this music can’t be featured in any of your saved VODs.
This means that in order to use Soundtrack by Twitch for your streams, you have to either set up virtual multi-track audio features that prevent the music you use in Stream from featuring in the VODs of that Stream, or by simply disabling VODs altogether.
