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The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits anyone from sharing copyrighted material, including music, without permission. Doing so on a live stream on Twitch may subject you to a takedown notice from music rights holders, muting of your VODs, and, at the very worst, multiple violations may lead to a permanent suspension of your channel.
However, with Soundtrack by Twitch officially no longer available since July 2023, you may be on the hunt for options to add music back into your live stream. Keep reading to learn about the rules for using music on Twitch.
Quick List of Music Sources for Twitch Streamers:
- Streamlabs Music (powered by Songtradr)
- Pretzel
- Slip.stream (available through Streamlabs Desktop).
- Epidemic Sound
- Artist
- Soundcloud
- Lud and Schlatts Musical Emporium
Streamlabs Music
The Streamlabs Music app is the easiest way to play DMCA-safe music on stream. Streamlabs Music is a free music player that works with your Streamlabs Desktop software. Powered by Songtradr, you can choose from a variety of playlists to fit your stream.
Features include:
- Curated mood, genre, and game-specific playlists
- Built into Streamlabs Desktop for ease of use
- All tracks are safe to use for streaming across Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Trovo. If you're interested in using music on other channels, visit songtradr.com to learn more about their other products.
- Hundreds of tracks with more being added regularly
- Custom playlists so you can curate the vibes of your live stream
Install Streamlabs Music and check out our getting started guide to learn more.
Pretzel (available through Streamlabs Desktop with Streamlabs Ultra)
The Pretzel Rocks Music Player gives live streamers access to over 550,000+ stream-safe tracks.
Features include:
- Curated Mood and Genre Stations
- Filter music by explicit or if it has vocals
- Use YouTube Safe to make sure the music is safe for YouTube
- Don’t like a song? Give it a thumbs down, and don’t worry about it playing again
- Like a song? Thumbs it up, then check out your own Liked Station
Additional tracks and the ability to create playlists are available with a Pretzel Rocks Premium subscription.
Slip.stream (available through Streamlabs Desktop with Streamlabs Ultra)
The Slip.stream music player offers a wide range of music that you can safely stream. With an upgraded subscription, Slip.stream also provides rights to use their music in your VODs.
Features include:
- 100,000+ tracks and sound effects
- Exclusive music collections with Riot Games, T-Pain, FaZe Blaze, Clix, and more
- Curated playlists
- New tracks added weekly
Epidemic Sound
One of the most popular streaming music services, Epidemic Sound, offers subscriptions starting at $9.99/month for personal use and features:
- Unlimited downloads
- Access to 40,000 tracks and 90,000 sound effects
- Access to Epidemic Sound mobile app
- Coverage for your channels on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and podcasts
Artlist
Starting at $9.99/month for personal use, Artlist features royalty-free music and sound effects for use on all of your social channels.
- Sort by genre, mood, video theme, or instrument.
- The personal plan allows monetization on one platform featuring sounds and music from the platform
- Unlimited use of music and sounds starts at $16.58 with the pro plan
Soundcloud
Soundcloud creators offer a range of royalty-free music selections by artists who make their tracks available for use. Different tracks will have different rules, so be sure to check each song before playing it on your stream.
Lud and Schlatts Musical Emporium
Lud and Schlatt's Musical Emporium is a collection of copyright-free music hosted on a dedicated YouTube channel, created and funded by Ludwig Ahgren and Jschlatt. This channel provides creators with access to music tracks that can be used freely in their own content, such as videos, streams, and podcasts, without the concern of copyright infringement (even for commercial use). However, proper attribution should be given as listed in the video description of the videos along with download links).
Don’t get a DMCA strike—instead, use copyright-free music when streaming on Twitch. As important as music may be to creating engaging content, in the long run, playing copyrighted music without permission does more harm than good. It limits your ability to monetize your content.
For more information about Twitch rules for playing music, please read Twitch’s community guidelines. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know. Remember to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.