Music Guidelines
Twitch values the work of songwriters, musicians, and other creative artists. As a company committed to supporting creators, we respect, and ask our users to respect, the intellectual property of those who make music and those who own or control music rights.
We know that you may have questions about what types of music content you can safely share on Twitch. In order for you to better understand what uses of music are allowed for your content, we’ve further clarified these guidelines in the sections below.
Sharing Music on Twitch
We ask that creators only share content for which they have the necessary rights. It is a violation of our policies to stream or upload content containing copyrighted music unless you have the appropriate rights or authority to share such music on Twitch.
You may not include music you do not own in your Twitch streams or VODs (Past Broadcasts, Past Premieres, Highlights, Clips and Uploads), except as described below or otherwise permitted by law.
Please note that buying music (such as a CD or mp3) or subscribing to a music streaming service typically does not grant rights to share the music on Twitch. Such a purchase or subscription grants you a personal license to access the content only for your personal and private playback
Types of Music Content
In the sections below, we describe some common types of music content, along with some information about whether you may or may not share that content on Twitch.
Here are some example types of music content you may use in Twitch streams and VODs:
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Music Owned By You – Original music which was written by you and either recorded or performed live by you, and for which you own or control all rights necessary to share the music on Twitch, including the rights to the recording, performance, and to the underlying music and lyrics. Please remember that if you have a contractual relationship with an organization that controls rights to the content you create, such as a record label or publishing company, you should make sure that you are not in violation of that relationship by sharing that music on Twitch.
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Music Licensed To You – Copyrighted music owned in whole or part by someone other than you, if you have secured a license to share it on Twitch from the relevant copyright holders.
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Twitch Sings Performance – A vocal performance of a song as captured in Twitch Sings gameplay, provided it is created in accordance with Twitch’s Terms of Service.
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Twitch Music Library Track – An authorized track from the Twitch Music Library.
Here are some example types of music content you may not use in Twitch streams or VODs:
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Radio-Style Music Listening Show – A Twitch stream or VOD which focuses on playing music that is not owned by you and is not licensed for you to share on Twitch.
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DJ Set – Playing and/or mixing pre-recorded music tracks which incorporate music, other than music which is owned by you or music which is licensed for you to share on Twitch.
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Karaoke Performance – Singing or performing to a karaoke recording other than an in-game karaoke performance that is licensed for you to share on Twitch, such as a Twitch Sings Performance.
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Lip Synch Performance – Pantomiming, singing, or pretending to sing to music that is not owned by you or is not licensed for you to share on Twitch.
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Visual Music Depiction – Lyrics, music notation, tablature, or any other visual representation of copyrighted music other than music owned by you or music which is licensed for you to share on Twitch, or on-screen lyrics or depictions of music provided by Twitch as part of Twitch Sings gameplay and captured in streams or VODs of your Twitch Sings Performances.
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Cover Song Performance – Performance of a song owned by someone else, with the exception of a live performance in your Twitch stream. If you do perform a cover song in a live Twitch stream, please make a good faith effort to perform the song as written by the songwriter, and create all audio elements yourself, without incorporating instrumental tracks, music recordings, or any other recorded elements owned by others.
How This Impacts You
If you violate these guidelines, you may be subject to a takedown notice from music rights holders under our DMCA Guidelines. We may also take action under our Community Guidelines.
In addition, we may mute VODs, such as if our automated content filtering systems detect that audio in a VOD contains unauthorized music. If you have the necessary rights to share music in your Twitch VODs, we want to ensure that your VODs are not muted. To learn about how to appeal muted audio, please read our help article on How To Appeal Muted Content.