If you have been on Twitch for any amount of time in the last few months you will undoubtedly have heard or seen conversations regarding “DMCA”.
In the good ol days Twitch streamers were able to play music on their streams without any real threat of action being taken against them, unfortunately, times have changed.
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As a Streamer you are now restricted to playing music which is determined to be copyright free, unfortunately, this means that the vast majority of music by popular artists is no longer available.
But what about music in video games, are you able to play video game music on Twitch without getting in trouble with “DMCA”?
The short answer is NO.
Playing any music on your stream without the copyright holders permission can get you in trouble with DMCA, unfortunately, although game developers have paid for a license for the music to be in their games, they haven’t paid for the game to be streamed on Twitch, therefore, you don’t have permission to play the music.
This is especially true for titles such as the GTA, NBA 2k and FIFA as these games play popular chart music which they have bought a license to use.
There are games such as Runescape which have hired composers to write soundtracks for the game and although technically you don’t have permission to stream the music, There is an unwritten understanding that you are allowed to stream the music.
Royalty Free Options for Twitch
Now you know that you basically are unable to stream any music without the proper copyright permissions, there are in fact a few options which at least allow you to stream some music.
- StreamBeats – StreamBeats is a collection of music produced by Harris Heller (Alpha Gaming) which can be found on many different platforms including; Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. StreamBeats was produced to be 100% free to use by anyone without the fear of any copyright strikes.
- OWN3D – Although primarily known for their professional overlays, alerts and panels for streamers to purchase and download, OWN3D have already produced copyright free music which is available for your Twitch streams. Their Playlist “OWN3D Music” consists of 200 LoFi and Synthwave tracks and are available on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.
- Epidemic Sound – Epidemic Sound is a royalty-free music licensing paid subscription service which allows you to play their music on videos, live streams, podcasts, and more. Epidemic Sound has an ever growing library of over 32,000 music tracks and 60,000 sound effects available for unlimited units for $15 per month. There is also a 30-Day FREE trial which allows you to test the service before buying.
Conclusion
Although you are technically not allowed to play music from your favourite video games on stream and there are certain circumstances which shouldn’t be a problem, it’s best to err on the side of caution as you don’t want to get yourself a copyright strike.
Using one of the recommended royalty free services which we have outlined in this guide will guarantee you a piece of mind and ensure you won’t have any DMCA strikes on your channel.
Know of any other good royalty-free music services?
Let us know so we can test them out.
