Using Music on Sponsored Content: All You Need To Know!
By: Katie Kuroski, Account Director @ Foodie Tribe
You did it! You created the perfect Instagram Reel. You nailed the transitions, mastered the voice-over, and came up with the greatest caption of all time. You know the brand is just going to love it! But, before you go ahead and add that new upbeat Lizzo song, or “Angeleyes” by ABBA, you need to make sure that the brand has purchased the rights to that specific tune or it’s time to go back to the drawing board and find a royalty-free song to use instead.
You may be asking yourself, what does royalty-free music actually mean? Royalty-free music is music and sound effects that you can use in your sponsored videos and content without the lingering fear of copyright infringement. If you were to use a licensed song – where the rights of the song are owned and distributed by a specific person or record label – you run the risk of your sound being removed, your content being blocked, your video being taken down or worse – legal issues from the owner of the music. You also miss out on the opportunity for the brand to repost your content on their platform, as it’s just not worth the risk for them.
Brands can purchase the rights to a specific song for their campaign by reaching out to the holder of the license and paying a fee, which can range anywhere from $100 to $50,000+, depending on the size of the artist. If the brand has gone ahead and purchased the rights, they will more than likely mention using the specific sound in the creative brief as a requirement in the deliverables, seeing as they probably dropped a pretty penny to secure the usage rights.
Luckily for you, there are a ton of websites that cater to the need of helping creators and brands find royalty-free music. Meta has their own in-house (and cost-free!) program called Sound Collection, where creators have access to nearly 10,000 songs and 2,000 sounds - all of which can be used worry-free.
If Instagram isn’t your platform of choice, we recommend checking out HookSounds for an extensive library of royalty-free music that can be used across all social platforms including YouTube and TikTok. While this website requires a subscription that costs $14.99 a month, you can rest assured knowing that you’ll have access to unlimited downloads, licenses valid for a lifetime (meaning if you cancel your subscription, your video is still protected), and new tracks that are added every week.
We know how much work goes into making sponsored content, and the last thing we’d want to see is that effort go to waste over using a licensed sound! Always be sure to do your research, and if you’re not sure if a song is royalty-free, we highly suggest you err on the side of caution and go with something else. With so many royalty-free resources at your fingertips, we’re confident you can find an even better alternative!
Are you a brand that’s not really sure how to navigate the waters when it comes to music and usage rights? Have no fear – Foodie Tribe is here! Reach out to our team and we can help you get started today!