Yesterday we reported on Facebook’s update to the Music policy, regarding livestreaming. This policy has been in place since 2018 (and they have not acted on banning any pages since this time) and updated on Friday, September 11th. Being that we have some experience with social media (our owner is a digital marketing expert for brands), we tried to shed a light on these changes and what they mean for bands. A representative of Facebook saw our post and reached out to us to clarify Facebook’s policy. Since we want to enlighten bands and fans on what is possible and what is prohibited, here is a synopsis of what the new rules really mean. 

According to the updates to Facebook’s music policy, here is what is and is not permitted:

• Music in stories and traditional live music performances (e.g., filming an artist or band performing live) are permitted.

 

• The greater the number of full-length recorded tracks in a video, the more likely it may be limited (more below on what we mean by “limited”).

 

• Shorter clips of music are recommended.

 

• There should always be a visual component to your video; recorded audio should not be the primary purpose of the video.

 

In a nutshell:

Videos with music are okay, but not long interrupted videos, uploads of entire albums with no visual, or long music clips with no video, uninterrupted. 

 

Your videos of yourself or at shows are likely okay and safe for now. 

 

DIY artists, your videos of your own music uploaded to Facebook are OK, but don’t upload a full album all at once. 

Stories with music clips are okay. 

 

The more videos you post of full-length tracks of music in a single video (i.e. an album) you are more likely to be “limited”.

 

A comprehensive statement on permitted music use on Facebook can be found in the following blog post. 

https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/blog/updates-and-guidelines-for-including-music-in-video

 

Directly from this FB blog.

 

These guidelines are consistent across live and recorded video on both Facebook and Instagram, and for all types of accounts — i.e. pages, profiles, verified and unverified accounts. And although music is launched on our platforms in more than 90 countries, there are places where it is not yet available. So if your video includes recorded music, it may not be available for use in those locations.

People also have access to a library of custom music and sound effects at no cost using Facebook’s Sound Collection. The Sound Collection includes thousands of tracks available to use in the videos you share on Facebook and Instagram without any limits – spanning genres like hip hop, pop, jazz, country, and more.

 

In-Product Video Notifications

We know it can be frustrating to have a stream interrupted or to have parts of your video muted because it includes music. To minimize these interruptions and to prevent confusion around audio use, we’re also improving our in-product notifications. These notifications are intended to alert you when our systems detect that your broadcast or uploaded video may include music in a way that doesn’t adhere to our licensing agreements.

Updates include making notifications clearer and surfacing notifications earlier to live broadcasters. This will give people time to adjust their streams and avoid interruptions if we detect they may be approaching our limitations. And if your video is muted or blocked, we’ll make it clear what actions you can take to stop the interruption.

 

Looking to The Future

With these improvements, we look forward to people, artists, and creators continuing to use music to share and bond with each other across our platforms.

We will continue to work hand-in-hand with our music partners to enable people to build community with music in new ways. And during this time, we’re working together to increase people’s ability to express themselves through our products.

 

https://www.facebook.com/legal/music_guidelines