Twitch has strict guidelines regarding which songs can be played in streaming. Ignoring the rules to play protected music tracks is committing copyright infringement and could result in the deletion of live streaming content. In some cases, the streaming platform may permanently ban your account from the platform for playing licensed music.
We gathered the opinions of top streamers from our Discord community of more than 30,000 members to compile this list of the best places to draw music from for streaming playlists.
DMCA Free Music for Twitch
There are several places where you can get safe music for your Twitch account, allowing you to stream freely without having to worry about DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedowns. Here are 11 of the best options:
I won’t to be making a video on the new deal with Twitch and the Music Publisher’s Association.
Because really nothing has changed, yet. No rights have been secured, you still can’t listen to music without a license.
Make sure you protect yourself and only listen to safe music.
1. Epidemic Sound
The undisputed leader on this list is Epidemic Sound. The platform offers over 30,000 tracks of royalty-free music in a variety of genres and is compatible with Spotify. Using their program, you will have the ability to listen to each track on their music player, and then download each part of an audio track separately if you wish. This makes it easy to create custom Twitch playlists and sound alerts or use part of a track for a YouTube compilation.
The affordable personal license covers music for YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch, and the company offers a 30-day free trial that will allow you to see firsthand what the platform has to offer.
2. OWN3D Music
Although they are generally known for their professional graphics for Twitch, OWN3D also has a music program for Twitch specifically designed for streamers. They have created over 200 LoFi and Synthwave tracks (on 8 different albums) that can be used completely free of charge.
The tracks are free to use and there are no constraints on their use. They plan to add new tracks periodically, so you won’t have to worry about getting tired of the same songs over and over again.
Although you cannot normally play Spotify on Twitch, you can use their playlists, making it easy to integrate with Twitch and Twitch extensions of Spotify.
3. Artlist
With Artlist membership, you can download unlimited music for your streaming. Entrusted to many large companies, Artlist’s music selection makes it easy to find soundtracks for a variety of platforms, including Twitch and the social sites you use to grow your brand.
Artlist offers three different plans that will allow you to get unlimited music to use during your membership. Artlist will never claim copyrights to content made during your membership on its platform. In addition, Artlist uploads new audio from its artists daily, allowing you to always have something fresh to listen to or use on your Twitch channel.
With the Music content and SFX plan, you can download unlimited music and sound effects.
4. Comma Music – Award-Winning Music
Comma Music not only allows you to search through thousands of songs by genre and style, but it is also the only royalty-free music library to offer a student plan. You can easily create playlists for use on Twitch and other sites while streaming or creating traditional content.
Their music has been licensed for monetized content, so you don’t have to worry about them pursuing you with a DMCA action. They work with the best composers, so you get top-notch music that you and your community will enjoy video after video. In fact, their music has been used in many commercials or events by famous brands.
Different subscription plans are available, depending on your musical goals and station in life. Occasionally, they offer an additional discount to content creators if you agree to subscribe for a year or more.
5. Pretzel Rocks
Pretzel Rocks is another popular platform that provides DMCA-safe music for your broadcasts. It is free to use, but requires mandatory chat attribution unless you choose the premium plan. The plan costs $4.99 per month and gives you a role on Discord and access to support. Seventy percent of the fees go to the musicians who recorded each soundtrack.
6. Stream Beats by Harris Heller
Harris Heller of Alpha Gaming has released over 6 hours of music that he allows streamers to use for free on their channels. Being a streamer himself, he understands the difficulty of finding good music to use without the risk of DMCA attacks.
7. Incompetech
Incompetech offers a wide variety of music that you can download and arrange to be played on your stream. The tracks can be used for free with attribution. To avoid attribution, you must pay $20 per track. Paid licenses allow the track to be used in any project for life.
8. Monstercat
You can stream Monstercat music on your live stream for $5 per month. If you do not plan to monetize your channel, you can use it for free. The service is available to Twitch, YouTube and Facebook Gaming streamers. To listen to their music, visit their Twitch channel.
In late 2020, Monstercat and Twitch have joined forces and any streamer who signs up for Monstercat will automatically gain Twitch affiliate status. To be clear, this does not guarantee viewers or revenue.
9. SoundStripe
SoundStripe offers two premium plans to access its weekly updated music library. The first costs $11.25 per month and includes music licenses and unlimited playlists. The second costs $21 per month. It offers the same features as the first, plus more than 30,000 sounds that you can use during your Twitch stream, allowing you to build a good connection with your viewers. It also offers pre-released music and more than 1,000 tracks with stems.
10. Royalty-free YouTube channels that you can stream
In addition to these platforms and apps, there are some musicians on YouTube who offer royalty-free content in the public domain. Some ask for attribution. You can also create your own playlists with songs from these channels to use during your broadcast. Consider contacting other content creators who have their own curated library of original music. Ask them if they are willing to collaborate with you and let them know how you can help support their channel.
Here are ten channels you can use as background music on Twitch for your audience:
Copyrighted music restricts how your content can be used
While Twitch’s music policy (as well as that of other platforms) may be more lenient toward your content, other apps and companies will put stakes on your Twitch channel for copyrighted music. If you are interested in using clips from your streams for YouTube collaborations, you need to make sure you are using royalty-free Twitch music. YouTube is very strict with its music policy, and failure to comply could result in a strike on your account.
Twitch Artists
Search Twitch’s Music and Performing Arts directory for artists who create original content. If you like their style, contact them and ask if they will allow you to use some of their music with attribution. Let them know your broadcast style and how you can help them in return. You may be able to find collaborators in a completely different category than your own!
How to broadcast any music on Twitch
If we have not yet convinced you to refrain from playing copyrighted material while streaming, you may be able to reduce the number of times your streams on Twitch are subject to copyright laws. Most of the silences come from audio recognition software used by the platform. If the music is quieter than the rest of the stream and you keep talking, the bot may not detect the infringement. That said, we would not risk using copyrighted material in our next stream.
Frequently asked questions.
Is it possible to play background music on Twitch?
There are many services that offer free music and entire Twitch-approved playlists. On Twitch all music must be copyright free. With DMCA takedowns becoming more frequent and bans after three strikes, it is important to keep your channel protected by following Twitch’s TOS.
Is it possible to play royalty-free music on a Twitch channel?
Royalty-free music is the only type of music that can be played on Twitch without risking a DMCA takedown. There are several providers of royalty-free music online that can be used for any genre of music.
How do I get permission to play copyrighted music?
To obtain permission to use copyrighted music, you must identify the copyright owner of the intellectual property (usually a record label) and contact them. It is often necessary to negotiate a financial fee for the music license in order to use such tracks in your Twitch streams or YouTube videos. Twitch accounts that do not do so will be liable for copyright infringement.
Are Spotify tracks allowed to be played on Twitch?
You are not allowed to play copyrighted music on Twitch. Even if you own Spotify premium and can access its full music library, you do not have the appropriate rights to any of the music.
Is it possible to play copyrighted music while streaming?
You are not allowed to play copyrighted music during live streaming. It is illegal to use it either as background or cover music and could cause the Twitch account to be banned from the platform. Currently, if a streamer receives three DMCA strikes (copyright claims) for using copyrighted material, they will lose their account, even for past content stored on the platform.
Do I need permission to use a song in a video?
If you are not using creative commons music, you must obtain permission from the copyright holder to use the song in the video. Otherwise, the video may be deleted or may be affected by copyright.
Can I use 10 seconds of a copyrighted song?
There is a myth that under copyright laws, you can use a section of the soundtrack between 10 and 30 seconds long, as long as the song is longer. This is not true and you may receive a DMCA strike on your account if you play any part of a song on your Twitch channel.
As you can see is not. so hard to find a royalty free music library, so you can play music of genre and type, hip hop, epidemic sound, or even chillhop music for your Twitch channel.
