Last Updated on 01/02/2023 by Dean
This article contains FREE ways to get royalty-free, DMCA-proof music for your Twitch stream.
3 DMCA strikes and you’re out. That’s the sad reality Twitch streamers have to live with. If you want to avoid getting banned on Twitch, you need to stick to royalty-free music during your streams.
Many companies charge a monthly premium to access a library of royalty-free music. This article is about FREE ways to get copyright-free music on Twitch.
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In a hurry? Get taken directly to the Royalty-Free songs for Twitch.
🎬 This article is part of our Start Streaming on Twitch series.
How to avoid DMCA strikes on Twitch
🙅♀️ Don’t play any music you are unsure about
You’d be surprised how quickly you can get a DMCA on Twitch. The safest way to avoid any type of trouble is to only play music that you’re sure off.
- Not sure if the song is copyrighted or not? Don’t use it.
- Small artist surely doesn’t have his/her music copyrighted? NOT TRUE. Don’t use it.
🙅♀️ Purchasing music does not give you the right to use it on your Twitch stream
Many streamers seem to be under the impression that when they purchase a song on iTunes or have an active Spotify subscription, they can freely play those songs in the background of their Twitch stream. This is not true.
👍 Stick to royalty-free music ONLY
Royalty-Free music means the music is free from future payments.
You don’t need a license to play this music on stream.
Copyright-free is not the same as Royalty-Free.
Copyright-free means the music is in the public domain. This mainly applies to songs where the copyright has expired (e.g. published before 1942)
These uncopyrighted songs don’t require licensing and can be used in whichever way you see fit.
Royalty-free music is still licensed, and you are limited in its use, but you can still use them for Twitch.
Free DMCA-free music for Twitch
1. Streambeats
Streambeats is a copy-right free music library designed with Twitch streamers and YouTubers in mind.
The Streambeats library contains over 1,000 songs in 10 different genres. Examples of genres are lo-fi, rock, EDM, synthwave, and more.
👉Attribution required: no
2. OWN3D Music
Own3d music is a library of over 200+ royalty-free music designed for Twitch streamers.
👉Attribution required: no
3. Comfi beats
Comfi beats is a YouTube channel owned by LilyPichu. The music genre is lo-fi and streamers have permission from Lily to use her music on stream.
👉Atribbution required: yes
4. Chillhop
Chillhop is a YouTube channel that offers Lo-fi and chillhop music for YouTubers and Twitch streamers.
Heads up: you need to sign up to their creator’s platform (100% free) and link your Twitch channel in order to use their music for free.
👉Attribution required: yes
5. TheRelaxedMovement
TheReleaxedMovement is a YouTube channel that provides 12-hour-long DMCA-free Lo-fi beats for Twitch streamers.
👉Attribution required: yes
6. Gamechops
Gamechops is a record label specializing in video game music. All music found on their YouTube channel is DMCA-safe and can be used by Twitch streamers.
👉Attribution required: yes
7. Royalty-Free Music
Royalty Free Music is a YouTube channel dedicated to providing creators with royalty and copyright-free music.
👉Attribution required: yes
8. Beatsbackground
A passion project between two brothers, BeatsbyBackground offers fun playlists on both Spotify and Apple Music that you can play in the background of your Twitch streams.
Genres include Lofi, EDM, Hip Hop, RNB, and more.
👉Attribution required: no
9. Noban
Noban has a couple of playlists with DMCA-free Twitch music that you can use in the background of your livestreams.
Their library is small for now but might increase in the future. It’s free so worth to check it out!
You can listen to Noban on both Spotify and Apple Music.
👉Attribution required: yes
How to Give Credit
Most Royalty-Free music requires some form of attribution.
Especially if the music comes from an artist (and not a service like StreamBeats).
And if not required, they will definitely appreciate it.
Here’s a couple of ways you can give credit for the music you use on stream.
✏️ Let your chat bot post a link
✏️ Use an OBS plugin to display the song that is now playing
✏️ Create a music graphic in your Twitch profile where you leave attribution
If you’re using copyright-free music that belongs to an artist, you should always check out how you can credit them.
Many artists on YouTube will state how you can credit them in the description of their video.
Or they might have something listed on their site.
Tip: search [music] + ‘how to credit’.
For example, the google search: ‘comfi beats how to credit’ gave me the following result:
LilyPichu allows the usage of her music on Twitch, as long as there is some form of attribution.
Some artists are a little more strict in their attribution rules so make sure you get it right.
If you can’t figure out how you can credit them, you can tweet at them.
Free Music for Twitch by Twitch
Twitch has released its very own (free) library of DMCA-free music.
It’s called ‘Soundtrack by Twitch’ and you can install the beta today.
Soundtrack by Twitch integrates with your OBS software.
How to use Soundtrack by Twitch
Step 1: Install SoundTrack by Twitch
You’ll be prompted to authorize your Twitch.
Step 2: Pick your OBS software
Pick OBS or Streamlabs depending on the software that you use.
Install the plug-in and hit next.
You’ll now be able to add play music from Soundtrack.
Step 3: Add source to OBS
In your OBS head over to ‘Sources’ and add ‘Soundtrack by Twitch’ as a source.
Now you can play DMCA-Free songs from Soundtrack by Twitch as background music for your stream!
Paid Royalty-Free Music for Twitch
There are many free services and artists that offer royalty-free music for Twitch.
If you still need more, you can go for a premium service.
Paying for any of these three services will grant you access to a library with tens of thousands of songs.
🎵 35,000+ royalty-free songs
💵 $15 per month
1. Epidemic Sound
A favorite among streamers. Epidemic Sound has a free 30-day trial to get you started.
🎵 91,477+ royalty-free songs
💵 $16.50 per month
2. Envato Music
Envato Elements has a HUGE royalty-free library that you can browse and subscribe to.
🎵 18,000+ royalty-free songs
💵 $16.60 per month
3. Artlist
If you love quality, you’ll dig Artlist’s royalty-free library.
🎵 420k+ royalty-free songs
💵 $9.90 per month
4. Pretzel
Pretzel has a huge library of music that is available to their monthly subscribers.
If you are interested, you can try out a there small free plan first which contains a limited amount of DMCA-free Twitch music. (requires chatbot)
FAQ
🤔 I accidentally played copyrighted music on stream, what do I do?
We all make mistakes. If you played some music you don’t have a license to make sure you delete the VOD. If you’re unsure how to delete a VOD, read our article.
🤔 Doesn’t music on Twitch count as fair use?
No. Playing music for entertainment does not fall under fair use.
🤔 Why did I get a DMCA strike on Twitch?
If you received a DMCA strike, you must have played copyrighted music on stream.
Most music is copyrighted and unless you obtain a license, you do not have the rights to play that music on stream.
🤔 Isn’t copyright-free music bad?
No! Just because music is copyright-free or royalty-free doesn’t mean the music is bad!
People listen to lo-fi and chillhop music ALL the time to study, work, commute, and so on! Many of those songs are royalty-free.
🤔 Can I play copyrighted music on stream if I remove the VOD?
If you remove the VOD, you’ll be eliminating a lot of the risk (because the proof is gone). But not all of the risk. You can still get DMCA’d while you’re streaming.
Additionally, removing VODs isn’t great when we speak in terms of your growth on Twitch.
🤔 Why do big streamers get away with playing copyrighted music on Twitch?
The big streamers you are thinking of are removing their VODs as soon as they are done streaming which eliminates a lot of the risk of getting caught.