List of Facebook restrictions on music livestreams

If you are planning to conduct live streams on the giant social network Facebook, this article will provide an insight into Facebook livestreams policies and restrictions on the usage of music in live streams.

With the pandemic hitting the live music scene since the beginning of the year, music artists found livestreams a great alternative to music shows and the perfect way to promote their music; with Facebook and YouTube being the preferred streaming tools. However,  streamers have been facing problems arising from music licenses and permissions to play certain tracks. Facebook’s guidelines(updated as of 2018) on music usage are as follows:

• You are responsible for the content you post
  • People use our Products to share content with their family and friends. Keep in mind you remain solely responsible for the content that you post, including any music that features in that content. Nothing in these terms constitutes any authorization by us with respect to any use of music on any of our Products.
  • Use of music for commercial or non-personal purposes in particular is prohibited unless you have obtained appropriate licenses.
• You may not use videos on our Products to create a music listening experience
  • We want you to be able to enjoy videos posted by family and friends. However, if you use videos on our Products to create a music listening experience for yourself or for others, your videos will be blocked and your page, profile or group may be deleted. This includes Live.
• Unauthorized content may be removed
  • If you post content that contains music owned by someone else, your content may be blocked, or may be reviewed by the applicable rights owner and removed if your use of that music is not properly authorized.
• You may not be able to post or access videos containing music in every country of the world
  • We want you to be able to share videos with your family and friends wherever they are, but any music in your video, if it is allowed at all, may not be available in all countries of the world.

Although YouTube remains the number one platform, the Facebook restrictions on live streams have indeed proven to be problematic, especially for rising up and coming artists looking to make a name for themselves in the music scene.  There actually are other good alternative streaming platforms out there, but these have much less visibility. YouTube aside, Twitch and Mixcloud Live (paid subscription) might be good alternatives, nevertheless, the clear con is that neither of them have the power and reach that Facebook has.

Image Credit: Rukes.com