Copyright Rules For All Streaming Platforms
While there are nuances to each platforms rules, the main one to always remember is: Dont stream copyrighted material.
All platforms are concerned most with the streaming/re-streaming of media. This includes movies, live sporting events, and music. Basically, they dont want you giving away the content theyre selling, for free. That seems both obvious and understandable but there are a few situations when you may not even realize youre streaming these things.
Watch out for background sounds. Is there a radio or other device playing music that can be heard in your video? That could get you flagged.
Be very careful when using other internet videos. Rebroadcasting someone elses YouTube video, even on the sharing site, can get you flagged. In some cases, you may want to air a clip of someone elses video and discuss it. That might be legal as Fair Use, but be aware, youll only be able to make that argument after your video has been flagged and possibly taken down.
How To Choose A Streaming Platform
Finally, weve come to the most important part of the deal, which is choosing the right streaming platform. Nowadays, there are dozens of cool platforms, but only a few are particularly great for musicians. These are YouTube Live, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, Twitch, and Twitter. Without further ado, lets briefly describe each of them.
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Original Music Covers And Remixes
Of course, you can play original music youve created on live streams. But what counts as original? A cover is a version of another song that doesnt use any elements from the original song. You can use covers youve created entirely yourself, but you would still have to pay royalties to the owner of the original song. This type of license would be a mechanical or cover license.
A remix is a modified version of an existing song. If you download a song and edit it on your computer, youve created a remix, not a cover. To use a remix legally, you have to negotiate directly with the copyright holder for licensing. If you create a remix or cover without permission from the copyright holder, its a bootleg copy, and its illegal.
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Why You Need Music In Your Live Streams
Music ups the production value of your live stream. Viewers pay more attention to broadcasts with music, and you can set a tone for your stream with music. If you want your viewers to feel a certain emotion while watching your stream, music is the easiest way to evoke it. An upbeat pop song can create excitement, a slow piano solo can invoke sadness, and some EDM will make your viewers feel ready to party.
When added at the right moments, music adds another layer to your broadcast. Even if you or your guests are extremely engaging speakers, the right music will put your live stream over the edge.
How can you use music during a live broadcast? Playing a jingle at the beginning of your stream as an intro helps cement your brand in viewers minds. Add music when you display your stream screen, before your broadcast starts, to set a mood for the rest of your stream. If you have guests, you can assign them a theme song for when they first appear.
Your live stream has endless opportunities for adding music. The only downside is ensuring you add music you have the right to play. Copyright infringement can get your stream shut down and get you in real trouble.
The Music Syncing App Ampme Is Launching A Feature That Lets You Hang Out With Friends Virtually While Listening To Music
If youve ever tried to play music while chatting with friends or family on FaceTime or Zoom, you know that it doesnt really work. Even if one person plays music thats loud enough for their online friends to make out, the sound quality is terrible, and it can be difficult to hear everyone talk. You can tweak your Zoom settings to make it easier to play music via screen sharing still, video chatting software simply wasnt made for people to listen to music together.
But now, the music-syncing app AmpMe is launching a video-chatting feature that lets a group of up to eight people hang out while listening to music from Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, or Deezer. The host of the party gets to act as DJ, uploading a playlist from any of these platforms for everyone to enjoy. If you use YouTube, AmpMes interface will also play video along with audio.
Ive tried with a few friends many times during this confinement to do Zoom drinks. But its really not made for that, says AmpMe CEO Martin-Luc Archambault. You can change the background, but you cant play music. Music is a big part of partying or having fun with your friends.
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When You Join Your Meeting Before The Customers Attend Click On The Share Button At The Bottom Of The Page
Once youve entered the meeting, you will see at the bottom of your screen a couple of different options. Click on the green share button . It will open up a secondary window with a list of options.
Dont worry, this will not close or stop your meeting. It is advisable that you set this up before the class so as to avoid an awkward interaction with your members as they wait for you to set this up.
Please note: The share screen button may be in a different location, depending on what Operating System and device you are using.
Ensure that your sound both on your device and within the meeting is not muted.
Setup For Streaming Live Music
The very first question that pops in your mind is probably about streaming equipment. But, even if you are new to live streaming in general, the answer shouldnt perplex you. All you need is your PC, preferably a webcam, your music production equipment, and a streaming app . Thats the bare minimum, assuming you have a stable internet connection.
Now, lets talk more about your options here. The better the PC you have, the smoother your live stream can be. Live streaming does require lots of resources from your machine. However, the operating system is pretty much irrelevant. It can be Mac, Windows, or even Linux. In some cases, though, a simple smartphone can do the job.
As for a webcam, you want to make sure the picture quality is good enough for you. Pro live streamers tend to invest in more expensive professional cameras. However, every musician understands that sound always comes first, doesnt it? Therefore, you may focus on having a good microphone to channel that beautiful voice of yours or perhaps the majestic sound of your guitars.
The next step on the menu is the music production equipment. Well, you probably know what you need better than anybody else does. Some top stars live stream right from their luxury studios, whereas other musicians simply do it with an acoustic guitar and nothing else. Its totally up to you to decide where to stand on this scale.
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Have An Amazing Class
Once youre done with the class, just click on the red stop share button at the top of the meeting. This will stop the music being shared with the members but it will still play on your device, so remember to stop the music too.
Before running your classes we advise that you run some practice sessions with your friends or family to get some feedback and ensure that you’re getting it right!
How To Add Music To Twitch Stream
On their Music Guidelines page, Twitch makes it very clear that no users are supposed to use copyrighted music on their content, be it live streams, past broadcasts, and premieres, highlights, clips, and uploads.
Music that can be shared on Twitch should either belong to a user or a user needs to have permission to play it . Other music that can be played is from Twitch Sings such as Monstercat.
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How then do you add music?
Music is a beautiful spice that gives a bland live stream the energy it needs. A silent video will always feel strange. As pointed out, copyrighted music is a no-no. You can get banned when Twitch discovers that you are playing music illegally if you know what that means.
You can use either use Nightbot or Spottybot to add music to your Twitch stream. Since Spottybot is only available in select countries, this article will focus on how you can add music using Nightbot.
Using Nightbot to add music to Twitch Stream
If you dont know, Nightbot is a chatbot developed by NightDev. It will help you to add music to your Twitch stream. Nightbot can add music from Sound Cloud, Spotify , and YouTube to your live stream.
Before you start the steps that follow, you need to sign into Nightbot using your Twitch account.
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If You’re Using Zoom To Live Stream Your Classes Then Here’s How To Make The Sound Sound Great
Teaching classes online opens up a new world of possibilities and like training for face to face teaching, online teaching requires you to familiarise yourself with the tools too to get it right.
As an instructor, you want to provide the best class you can to your new online members while making the class feel as normal as possible as if they were there in the room with you. One of the best and easiest ways of doing this is by playing music while teaching.
It is important that you use this option to share sound correctly as it needs to be playing through the ‘meeting’ and not being played on any device to be picked up by your microphone. Doing the latter will interfere with your voice and cause poor sound quality.
Do you need a music license?
This is intended to be a guide on how to play music while teaching through the Zoom app, it is not advice on music licensing.
If you wish to play music during your sessions then please also ensure that you have paid the relevant music licensing fees, whether you are delivering your session in person or online.
You can read more about music licensing and purchase a license here.
Donations And Fan Subscriptions
With each passing year, online donations become a more and more reliable source of income for live streamers. Partly, it is due to the growth of the live streaming market. Regardless, people are willing to tip the artist online. However, thats not the only way a live streamer can make money. Paid fan subscriptions can also add to your income.
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What Kind Of Music Can You Use
Many streamers mistakenly think that if they purchased a song or have access to it via a streaming subscription service, they have the right to play it on their streams. Purchasing a song gives you a license for personal use playing it on a live stream is considered public use. Therefore, even if you paid for the song, you still need permission to play it on your live stream.
When you want to add music to your live stream, you have three options:
- Music in the public domain
- Music that is royalty-free
- Original music
Play Music From Whichever App Or Website You Want
Go to whatever music playing app or website you wish to use and choose your music. You will definitely want to adjust the sound on the music playing service youre using so that your voice can be heard over it.
If the music is still too loud, go to your device settings and change your microphone options to increase the volume.
Microphones and Headphones?
To ensure clear and consistent sound, we advise using a good quality microphone if possible so that your lovely voice can be picked up clearly.
It can be advised to use headphones too when instructing and playing music, so that the music that’s playing doesn’t get picked up by your microphone. When the sound is playing through the meeting on your computer, but also getting relayed through your microphone it can create out of phase music.
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Ways To Avoid Getting Flagged
First, beware the rules are ever-changing. After learning the basics of these copyright laws keep your eyes open for announcements about adjustments to policy on the platforms you use most. Even if you havent heard of changes its a good idea to research them every few months to know not only what has changed but what may be altered in the future, so you can be prepared.
Second, even if you can get away with something, dont. Many times you or other content creators may get through an entire live stream with some sort of copyrighted material in it and nothing happens. The problem here is that it creates a belief you can stream things you should not. One day you may get caught and be potentially banned from streaming ever again. If youve been investing time and money into growing your audience and brand with live streams, this could be a death sentence.
Third, understand how you get flagged. Modern video streaming platforms have multiple methods of finding and shutting down live streams and uploaded videos that contain copyrighted material. Gone are the days of relying solely on viewers to report things, although any user can still report or flag your video. Today, algorithms are being used to automatically scan your video for copyrighted material as you broadcast it.
How To Determine Copyrights
There are three ways to tell if a song you want to use on your live stream is copyrighted or not :
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