Playing your favorite song while streaming on Facebook Gaming? Your dream might not be too far-fetched from reality, after all.
Many streamers stray away from playing copyrighted music in their streams on Facebook Gaming in order to avoid any copyright strikes from the platform.
However, Facebook announced a move that would benefit many content creators on that matter.
Available to use
In an official blog post, Facebook reassured its streamers to worry less over a DMCA notice for playing copyrighted music in the background of their live streams.
In fact, the platform is working out new deals with various music labels, including the likes of Universal, Warner, Sony, Kobalt, and BMG.
“We’re partnering with the music industry to open up a vast catalogue of popular music for Facebook Gaming Partners to play while livestreaming games. Our work with music labels, publishers and societies, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Kobalt Music Group, BMG publishing, Merlin and many partners means you’re able to include a vast amount of music across a variety of genres – current pop hits, dance floor beats, hip hop, 80s classics and much more.”
Further details of the official agreement are confidential, but the deal will bring some of the most popular music across multiple genres available for Facebook content creators to use.
Who can use the music?
Since the feature is fresh and new, the platform plans to prioritize Facebook Gaming partners with early access.
Level Up creators need not to worry though, the platform also plans to roll out the feature among lower tier streamers soon.
“We’re rolling this out first with partnered creators, but we can’t wait to enable it for all gaming creators. In the meantime, please continue to use Sound Collection for royalty-free music options.”
A wave of DMCA notices
This move comes after many streamers, a majority coming from Twitch, voiced out their frustrations towards DMCA notices for playing background music on their videos.
With more content creators getting copyright strikes, it created a mass panic in the online community. Many tended to stray away or completely avoid playing any sort of music or potentially copyrighted material.
A few even went on to delete large catalogs of their old streams to avoid getting into a possible legal dispute.
Facebook didn’t reveal the complete details on how the agreement works, but it seems like using the copyrighted songs is allowed provided that the music should only be in the “background.”
“Your stream should be about gaming, not music… In other words, you’re okay to stream music as long as it’s in the background, with game sound effects and your voice (and anything else) over the top. Playing DJ without gaming is a no-no.”
Is your favorite song on the list? Unfortunately, the official list of songs that will be available to use isn’t confirmed yet.
“Rights for music are complex; they vary based on territory and are subject to change. The specifics of our licensing agreements are also confidential, so we’re unable to disclose which songs are not covered…”
Fans better stay tuned for more updates from the platform!
Read more about Facebook Gaming’s update and related FAQs here.
