“It’s just 15 seconds of that song, nobody will say anything.” That sentence has preceded many deleted videos, withdrawn campaigns and settlement invoices. Here are five misconceptions about music in corporate video, and what’s really true.
Myth #1: “You just have to buy or stream the track”
Buying a track or paying for a streaming subscription gives you the right to listen to it, not to include it in a promotional video. A recorded piece of music means two worlds of rights: the composition (authors, composers, publishers) and the recording (the producer and the performing artists). To score a video with a commercial track, you need the agreement of the right holders concerned. In other words, it’s long, sometimes costly, and rarely done at the last minute.
Myth #2: “This song is old, so it’s free to use”
Copyright lasts 70 years after the author’s death in the European Union. The rights of performing artists and recording producers, however, run for a separate period, from 50 to 70 years depending on the case. A piece by Mozart is in the public domain, but a recording by a contemporary orchestra is not necessarily. This scenario surprises everyone.
Myth #3: “TikTok or Instagram sounds are made for this”
They are made for individuals. The platforms’ music libraries are negotiated for personal use. Hence a rule you may have come across: on TikTok, a business account is limited to the Commercial Music Library, a catalog of tracks cleared for commercial use on the platform. Meta, for its part, offers a Sound Collection of royalty-free tracks, whose commercial use must be checked track by track. The big hits of the moment remain reserved for personal accounts.
A trap: these tracks are pre-cleared on the platform. Pull them out to put on your website, in a corporate film or an ad, and you’re out of bounds.
Myth #4: “Royalty-free means free of charge and unconditional”
“Royalty-free” means in practice: you pay for a license (once or by subscription), then use the music without an extra fee for each broadcast. Conditions remain: commercial use or not, paid or organic advertising, duration, territory, platforms. Read the license, not just the page title.
Myth #5: “If I credit the artist, it’s fine”
Crediting is not authorizing. Only the written agreement of the right holders, or a suitable license, settles the matter.
Which source for which use?
| Source | For whom? | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial track (hit, catalog) | Large campaigns with budget and lead time | Right holders’ agreement for the composition and the recording |
| Licensed music library | Brand films, ads, web videos | Scope of the license: platforms, paid advertising, duration |
| Platform library | Organic content on that platform | Business account concerned, use limited to the platform |
| Custom-composed music | Lasting sound identity | Clear assignment contract, duration, media |
Tip Keep in a folder the license, the invoice and the list of tracks used for each film. If a platform flags a track, or a right holder writes to you, you answer in five minutes instead of five days.
Common mistakes in brief
- Pulling a sound from YouTube or a streaming app to drop into the edit.
- Trusting a “personal” license for a corporate video.
- Forgetting that paid advertising (“boosting” a post) may require a broader license than organic publication.
- Not keeping proof of license.
- Reusing a scored film outside the intended scope: another platform, another country, expired duration.
Going further
This article gives general guidance and does not replace legal advice.
- EUR-Lex: term of protection of copyright and related rights
- Osborne Clarke: music on social media, what businesses need to know
- Social Media Today: TikTok and music for business accounts
Music is chosen at the edit, not after. At that dog, the soundtrack is part of the post-production work, with sound processed in Pro Tools and a music choice that takes into account where the film will be shown: website, social media, advertising. To go further on the role of sound, read our article on image, sound and light.
A soundtrack with no bad surprises
Tell us about your videos: we choose the music with where they’ll be shown in mind.