The Twitch DJ Program is an opt-in agreement that lets you live stream DJ sets built from tracks listed in Twitch's DJ Music Catalog. In return, a music-rights deduction comes out of your channel's revenue, saving VODs and uploads is switched off on the enrolled channel, and since 1 September 2026 Clips are allowed only when they contain no catalogue tracks.
Whether that trade suits you depends on how much of your streaming is DJing, how you earn and how much you rely on recorded video to grow. This guide covers enrolment, the catalogue, the set rules, costs, Clips and leaving, then gives you a worksheet to decide. General music rules for every other kind of stream are in our explainer on playing music on Twitch without DMCA trouble, and the revenue split itself is covered by the Twitch Plus Program guide.
What opting in commits you to
The DJ Program Terms, last modified on 31 August 2026, are a binding contract that includes an agreement to arbitrate most disputes. Twitch's Terms of Service and, if you have signed it, the Monetized Streamer Agreement keep applying; where they conflict, the DJ Terms win, then the monetisation agreement, then the Terms of Service.
Twitch decides where the program runs. Section 2 of the Terms says it is not available to users in Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and Syria, and by opting in you promise that you live inside the program territory. The catalogue licence you receive is limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable: it covers live streaming your own copies of catalogue tracks as part of a live audiovisual performance on your channel, and nothing outside Twitch.
The DJ Program FAQ defines a DJ broadly: anyone who makes mixing pre-recorded music they do not hold the rights to the main focus of a stream, in any genre and at any skill level. Joining is voluntary, but the FAQ is blunt that DJing other people's recordings outside the program without your own rights exposes you to DMCA takedowns, strikes and bans.
How the DJ Music Catalog works
The catalogue is a searchable list of track information, not a music library. You keep playing your own files, vinyl or other media through your usual software and hardware, and use the catalogue to confirm each track is marked as allowed. A few details shape how you prepare a set:
- Tracks are added and removed as rights change, and section 4 of the Terms asks you to recheck tracks you previously confirmed.
- The FAQ says the catalogue can vary depending on where you are located when you enrol.
- Twitch's Restricted Artist List is a quick reference only; the catalogue search is the source of truth.
- Anything missing from the catalogue, or not marked as allowed, is played at your own risk unless every rights holder has given written permission.
- Pre-release and unreleased tracks are banned even when a promo copy arrives from a label; the FAQ says the label has to ask its Twitch contact for an exception.
Set rules: a performer, not a jukebox
Section 4 of the Terms turns the licence into conduct rules. Break them and you face account enforcement, label reports or a DMCA notice.
- Do not publish a setlist ahead of a set, and do not play audience requests straight after they are made.
- Avoid a full album, or substantially all of one, in a single stream, and never build a stream from one artist alone, whether they are the featured or a side artist.
- Stream a live, interactive performance with video; audio-only and automated broadcasts are out, as is rebroadcasting your own past sets.
- Get written permission before playing music videos or rebroadcasting concerts.
- Never imply that an artist or label endorses your channel by using their name, image or trademark.
- Keep branded content to product placement, such as signage, logos and overlays, plus on-stream call-outs, unless Twitch permits more, including sponsorships it arranges.
- Leave Twitch's track reporting alone; manipulating how plays are attributed is a breach.
The penalties for enrolled channels are published in the Music Reporting Process. Playing unreleased recordings ends the stream and brings a 24-hour suspension on each of the first two reports, then a permanent suspension on the third. In the same penalty table, audio-only broadcasts, rebroadcast concerts or DJ sets, and playing a whole album or one artist for more than 30 minutes with little else, follow a 24-hour, 24-hour, 48-hour ladder before a permanent suspension on the fourth report. Lesser breaches, including tracks outside the catalogue, sponsored segments with recorded music outside Twitch's monetisation programs and recordings that contain catalogue tracks, draw a penalty for each report until the fourth, which ends in a permanent suspension.
What Twitch has published about music costs
The FAQ says part of the earnings your channel generates is set aside and paid to music companies for the musicians they represent, calculated as a percentage of total revenue so that it scales with what you earn, with no upfront fee. It also says Twitch is splitting these costs equally with you, and that Twitch covers the costs for DJs who are not yet monetising, so they feel no financial effect until they become eligible.
Twitch's June 2024 launch announcement was more careful: costs vary with how a channel monetises, most streamers would split them 50/50 with Twitch, and Twitch would initially absorb more. Its August 2024 go-live post tied a subsidy to enrolling during the program's first year, starting at 100% for that August. Anyone enrolling now is well outside that window, so do not count on a subsidy unless your dashboard shows one.
The mechanics are in the binding documents. Section 5 of the Terms says the Music Costs deduction applies throughout your participation, starting at midnight UTC on the day after you opt in and ending at midnight UTC on the day after you opt out. The opt-out article describes it as a fixed monthly percentage deducted when Twitch calculates your channel's Net Revenue. None of these pages states the percentage itself, so read the figure Twitch shows you before enrolling a channel that already earns.
Enrol-or-not worksheet
Fill in each line from your own records. The worksheet uses letters instead of sample numbers because your results are the only ones that matter.
| Sheet line | Figure to enter for your channel | Where you will find the answer |
|---|---|---|
| A | Total hours you streamed over the last three months | Stream history in your channel analytics |
| B | Hours in that period spent mixing other people's recordings | Your stream titles, categories and schedule |
| C | DJ share of your streaming, B divided by A | Worked out from lines A and B |
| D | Average monthly revenue on the channel you would enrol | The Earnings page in Analytics |
| E | The music-cost percentage Twitch shows for your channel | The DJ page in your Creator Dashboard or Twitch's program notices |
| F | Estimated monthly deduction, D multiplied by E | Worked out from lines D and E |
| G | How much new audience arrives through VODs, Highlights and uploads | Video analytics and where new followers say they found you |
| H | Tracks in your crate that the catalogue does not list as allowed | A catalogue search of your usual playlist |
| I | Whether you live in a country Twitch excludes | Section 2 of the DJ Program Terms |
| J | Sponsor formats you run beyond product placement and call-outs | Your current sponsorship agreements |
- If line I is yes, you cannot enrol, and DJing other people's music needs your own licences.
- If line C shows DJing is a minority of your streaming, the FAQ recommends a separate DJ channel; if DJing is most of what you do, it recommends keeping one account.
- If line G matters to your growth, keep DJ sets off your main channel, because enrolment disables future VODs, Highlights and uploads on that channel regardless of category.
- If line H is long, the program will not cover those tracks; trim the crate or get written permission.
- If line J lists other formats, move them to a channel that is not enrolled or ask Twitch first.
- Weigh line F against the alternative, which is DJing without cleared rights and carrying the strike and suspension risk described above.
Sponsor formats are a common snag; our guide to getting sponsored as a streamer explains Twitch's sponsorship routes, which you can then check against section 6 of the DJ Terms.
Channel-split checklist for a second DJ account
Twitch's article on secondary accounts and the DJ Program says a second account is never required and that Twitch will not decide for you. If you split, monetisation on the new channel takes two support tickets:
- Confirm your main account is an Affiliate or Partner that has signed the Monetized Streamer Agreement and completed its Path achievements.
- Create the secondary account, switch on two-factor authentication and enrol only that account in the DJ Program.
- Check you can sign in to both accounts and their email addresses.
- From the main account, open a support ticket under Category DJ and Sub-Category Secondary Linked Account, giving the secondary username.
- From the secondary account, open a second ticket under Topic General, Category DJ Program and Sub-Category Secondary Linked Account, giving the main username.
- Watch for Twitch's reply in the ticket filed from the main account.
- Remember that enforcement history carries across, and conduct on the DJ channel is treated as if it happened on the main one.
- Keep DJ sets and catalogue tracks off the main channel completely, because Twitch can act against catalogue tracks played in DJ sets on any unenrolled channel.
Status granted to a secondary account through the program is conditional, and Twitch's two help articles disagree on how far. The secondary-accounts article says opting out ends Partner status, with a downgrade to Affiliate 30 days later unless you reply to Twitch's notice, and that Affiliate status granted the same way is kept. The opt-out article says Partner or Affiliate status granted through the program is removed when the account leaves. Plan around the stricter version. Section 9 of the Terms adds that Twitch may let Partners enrol an additional monetised DJ channel, and may downgrade it if it leaves the program. For Partner eligibility on the main channel, see our Twitch Partner requirements guide.
Clips came back in September 2026, with a catch
For two years enrolled DJs could not save new VODs, Clips, Highlights or uploads, and the FAQ still says so. That changed when Twitch announced that Clips are now part of the DJ Program on 1 September 2026, describing Clips that keep your voice, crowd reactions, chat and other non-music audio, available to creators, editors and moderators.
When the help article and the contract disagree, follow the contract. The DJ Terms dated 31 August 2026 allow Clips but say they must not contain any catalogue tracks, and still ban VODs or any other recording that contains them. The Music Reporting Process lists recordings containing catalogue tracks among reportable breaches. So clip the talking, the reactions and the visuals, and check what audio a Clip actually carries before you post it elsewhere.
Two smaller effects are worth knowing. VODs and Clips you made before enrolling stay available, according to the opt-out article, and the FAQ says mobile viewers can watch DJ streams but cannot switch to audio-only listening.
Leaving the program and coming back
You can opt out from the DJ page of your Creator Dashboard, which takes effect immediately, or by opening a support ticket from the enrolled account under Category DJ Program and Sub-Category General Questions. A support request takes effect when processed or seven days after you send it, whichever comes first. Secondary accounts that received Affiliate or Partner status through the program must use support rather than the dashboard.
On leaving, you lose catalogue access and the DJ badge, your earlier storage settings for VODs, Clips, Highlights and uploads come back, and the deduction stops from midnight UTC the next day. Keep DJing other people's recordings afterwards and you are back to the strike and enforcement risk the program was built to remove. You can re-enrol at any time, but status removed from a secondary account is not restored automatically.
Limits of this DJ Program guide
This guide reflects the DJ Program Terms, FAQ, help articles and Twitch blog posts in the versions online on 1 October 2026. The FAQ had not caught up with the September 2026 Clips change when checked, and Twitch can amend the Terms by posting a new version, so reread them before you rely on any rule. The music-cost percentage is not published on the public pages cited here, which is why the worksheet asks you to enter your own.
The program covers live streaming on Twitch only. It does not license your sets for other platforms, recorded mixes or events, and it says nothing about tax on your earnings. Before signing a label deal or relying on permission for tracks outside the catalogue, get advice from a music lawyer, and ask an accountant how the deduction affects your income.