You can play music on Twitch only when you own it or hold a licence that covers sharing it on Twitch. Twitch's Music Guidelines say a streaming subscription or a bought CD normally gives you personal listening rights only, and that unlicensed tracks can bring DMCA takedowns, copyright strikes, muted VODs, deleted Clips and, for certain uses, suspensions or a permanent ban.
The rules are spread across several Twitch documents written at different times, and most guides blur them together. This one separates what each system does, so you can tell a harmless mute from a strike that counts towards termination. DJs mixing other people's recordings have a separate licensed route, covered in our guide to the Twitch DJ Program and its music costs. If you also upload to YouTube, its claim system works differently; see how YouTube treats copyrighted music.
The two kinds of music Twitch says you may use
The Music Guidelines, last modified on 31 July 2023, name only two safe categories. The first is music you own outright: songs you wrote and recorded or performed yourself, where you control every right involved, including the recording, the performance and the underlying composition and lyrics. Twitch adds a warning for signed artists: if a label or publisher controls your catalogue, check that your contract lets you stream it before you press play.
The second is music licensed to you by all of the relevant rights holders for use on Twitch. A licence from one party is not always enough, because a recording and the song underneath it can belong to different companies. Twitch's help centre maintains a list of music options for streamers that includes libraries such as StreamBeats, NCS, Monstercat Gold and Pretzel by Songtradr, and it notes conditions that are easy to miss, such as Chillhop Music asking channels that monetise to credit the artist. Each library's own terms decide what you can do, so read them rather than relying on the list.
One option many older articles still recommend no longer exists. Twitch shut down Soundtrack by Twitch in 2023, and its developer announcement says the related API endpoints stopped working on or soon after 17 July 2023. Any tutorial built around it is out of date.
Music-use decision table: live, VOD and Clips
Find the closest match to what you plan to do. The wording comes from the Music Guidelines unless another Twitch page is named, and “licensed” always means licensed by every rights holder for Twitch specifically.
| What you want to play | Live stream | VODs and Clips | What decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own songs, where no label or publisher holds the rights | Permitted as music you own | Permitted, though detection can still mute it and you then appeal as the owner | Owning the recording, performance, composition and lyrics; a muted VOD can be appealed |
| A track from a stream-safe library you subscribe to | Permitted when the library licence covers Twitch live use | Only if the same licence also covers recorded video | The library's terms, including any credit rule for monetised channels |
| Songs from a music streaming app, a download or a CD | Not covered by the purchase or subscription | Not covered; mutes cannot be appealed on the basis that you paid | Music Guidelines plus Twitch's muted audio appeal article |
| Hours of recorded music with no live performance, radio style | Banned without your own rights and written exemption from Twitch | Banned on the same terms | Radio station-style broadcast rule; first report can mean a permanent suspension |
| Mixing other artists' recordings as a DJ set | Only through the DJ Program catalogue, your own tracks or written permission | Catalogue tracks may not appear in any recording | DJ Set rule and the DJ Program Terms |
| Singing along to a karaoke backing track, or lip-syncing to a record | Banned unless you own the music or hold permission | The same restriction applies to saved VODs and Clips | Karaoke and Lip Synch Performance rules |
| A cover you sing and play entirely yourself | Permitted as a live performance, played as the songwriter wrote it | The exception is written for the live stream, so saved copies can still be muted or claimed | Cover Song Performance rule; no instrumental tracks or other recordings mixed in |
| Lyrics, sheet music or guitar tabs shown on screen | Banned unless you own the song or hold a licence to display it | Equally banned in recordings without that licence | Visual Music Depiction rule |
| A leaked, promotional or not-yet-released track | Detected uses can bring account enforcement on their own | Same risk, plus muting or deletion | Proactive detection section of the Music Guidelines |
| A composition old enough to be in the public domain | The song can be free to use, but a particular recording of it may not be | Perform it yourself or use a recording whose rights you hold | Uses Permitted by Law section and the DMCA FAQ |
Game soundtracks sit in a grey area the guidelines do not settle. Twitch's DMCA and Copyright FAQs point out that games are copyrighted works and that publishers often say on their websites whether streaming is allowed, so check the publisher's policy for games with licensed songs and be ready to appeal a mute with that permission in hand.
Mutes, audio warnings and strikes are separate systems
The panic usually starts with a muted VOD, which is the least serious outcome. Twitch scans VODs and Clips with audio recognition, mutes the parts of a VOD where it detects copyrighted audio and may delete affected Clips. According to Twitch's article on appealing muted audio, a muted VOD does not mean anyone sent a DMCA notification and does not count against your channel. The same article says live content is not muted; the process covers VODs only.
- A muted VOD segment is automated detection. It needs no response unless you hold the rights and want the audio back.
- A Copyright Audio Warning is an email Twitch sends when detection keeps finding copyrighted audio in your VODs. The FAQs describe it as an awareness tool, not a DMCA notice and not a strike.
- A DMCA notification comes from a rights holder or its agent. Twitch removes the material and records a strike unless the claim is withdrawn or disputed.
- A music reporting penalty comes from a separate contractual process with participating labels, and its penalties run alongside the DMCA system rather than replacing it.
- An account enforcement can follow when Twitch's own systems detect an unreleased recording, or DJ catalogue tracks in DJ content on a channel that is not enrolled in the DJ Program.
The FAQs also stress that detection is not a safety net. Twitch says no technology is foolproof and that your recorded content remains your responsibility, which is why it suggests reviewing old VODs and Highlights and removing anything you are unsure about.
Penalty tiers when labels report a non-DJ channel
Twitch has deals with certain music rights holders that let them report misuse through what it calls the Music Reporting Process, last modified on 31 July 2024. The page says these deals treat background, incidental and in-game music more leniently than flagrant uses, and it publishes the escalation for channels outside the DJ Program:
- A channel that mirrors a radio station, playing recorded music for long periods without interacting with viewers, faces a permanent suspension on the first report.
- Live DJ streams with recorded music draw a music reporting penalty for each of the first three reports and a permanent suspension on the fourth.
- Unreleased tracks, rebroadcast concerts and whole-album playback each end the live stream and, under the published penalty table, bring a 48-hour suspension plus a penalty for the first three reports, then a permanent suspension.
- Streams built around recorded music, such as a fitness class, along with ads or sponsored segments that contain recorded music, karaoke or lip-sync performances and viewer song-request playback, collect a penalty per report for three reports before a permanent suspension.
The song-request item matters for anyone running a viewer request bot over commercial tracks, because it is named as a penalised use. Creators can appeal a reported use, and only rights holders who have opted in can use this process, so a DMCA notice from someone else is still possible.
DMCA notices, strikes and Copyright School
Under Twitch's DMCA Guidelines, last modified on 11 October 2023, a complete notice from a rights holder leads Twitch to forward its details to you, including the claimant's name and email address, remove or disable the recorded content and record a copyright strike. A live stream can be disabled, or the account suspended, if the claimed infringement is still happening when the notice arrives. Three strikes make you a repeat infringer, and Twitch terminates repeat infringers' accounts.
Strikes are not permanent. The FAQs say expiry depends on factors such as when the strike was issued and the account's standing, without giving a fixed period. If you are invited to Copyright School by email or a banner and complete it, the Copyright School section of the guidelines says one strike is removed, and you can do this once every 12 months. Taking the course without an invitation teaches the same material but removes nothing.
You have two ways to dispute a notice you believe was a mistake or misidentification:
- Ask the claimant for a retraction, using the contact email shown in Twitch's notice and in your Copyright Claims Manager. A retracted notice does not count as a strike.
- Send a counter-notification to dmca-notifications@twitch.tv with the original URLs, the claimant's name, your channel, your full legal name, email, postal address and phone number, and a statement carrying your name that consents to court jurisdiction and confirms your good-faith belief under penalty of perjury. Twitch's online form takes notices only, not counter-notifications.
Think before using the second route. Twitch forwards counter-notification details to the claimant, the claimant can go to court to keep the content down, and the guidelines recommend getting legal advice first. The FAQs add that an authorised representative such as a lawyer can file on your behalf if sharing your home address is a concern. A disputed notice generally does not count as a strike until the dispute is resolved. If a music claim led to a suspension rather than a strike, the separate process is in our Twitch suspension appeal guide.
How to appeal a muted VOD
- Open the Video Producer under Content in your Creator Dashboard and find the video showing a red muted speaker icon.
- Open its three-dot menu and choose Appeal Muted Audio.
- Select each flagged track and the reason that fits: the audio is not in your video, you created and performed it with no third-party audio, you have permission from every rights holder, or your use is fair use.
- Attest that you have the right to use the audio, adding your full legal name and address, then submit.
- Wait for the outcome email. The video shows Unmuted or Denied once reviewed, and Twitch asks you not to file a second appeal while one is pending.
Two arguments always fail. Buying or streaming a track does not let you put it in a VOD, and crediting the artist is not permission, unless the licence itself grants rights in exchange for credit, as some Creative Commons licences do. Remember too that unmuting does not stop a rights holder from sending a DMCA notice later.
Pre-stream audio checklist
- Write down every audio source your scenes can send: music player, browser tabs, alerts, text-to-speech, game audio and any guest call.
- Next to each music source, note the licence and whether it names Twitch live streams, VODs and Clips.
- Keep library licences, receipts and any artist-credit wording in one folder you can attach to an appeal.
- Close personal streaming apps before going live, or route them to headphones only so they never reach the broadcast.
- Turn off viewer song requests unless the bot draws only from a library licensed for Twitch.
- For covers, play and sing every part yourself, with no backing track, and leave lyric overlays off.
- Hold back promotional or unreleased tracks unless the label has arranged permission with Twitch directly.
- If a licence covers live use but not recordings, use the OBS Twitch VOD Track feature to leave the music source off the VOD audio. It removes music from the recording; it does not make unlicensed live use acceptable.
- After the stream, scan the VOD for muted sections before cutting Highlights or Clips from it.
- Charity, birthday and subathon streams follow the same rules, so plan their music with the same care as our charity stream checklist asks for the fundraising side.
Limits of this Twitch music guide
This guide summarises Twitch's Music Guidelines, DMCA Guidelines, Music Reporting Process and help articles, all checked on 1 October 2026. The legal pages carry modification dates from 2023 and 2024, so Twitch may change penalties or wording without much notice. Copyright is territorial and fair use or fair dealing defences differ between countries; Twitch itself says its guidelines are not legal advice and that it cannot judge disputes between you and a rights holder.
Licences also vary in scope. Twitch's DJ Program FAQ warns that a licence from a performing rights organisation may not cover streaming worldwide, so read the actual terms of any licence you rely on. For a counter-notification, an ongoing dispute or a high-value licensing deal, speak to a lawyer who practises copyright law where you live.