How to Use Copyrighted Music on YouTube Shorts – Master the Rules and Grow Your Reach

While we all know how YouTube has grown to be the most popular online video-sharing platform in the world over the past decade, its sibling short-form video app, YouTube Shorts, is still very much in the infancy of its development.

Facing stiff competition from the likes of TikTok and Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts is steadily growing all the same. And for aspiring content creators or brands looking to engage with a new, emerging user base, getting in on YouTube Shorts as it grows is a great idea.

Still, while getting signed up and started on YouTube Shorts may be simple, creating short-form vertical content that stands is no small feat. To help you with your YouTube Shorts videos, let’s help you discover how to use copyrighted music on YouTube Shorts.

We’ll also cover some music licensing and copyright basics to help you understand how to keep your YouTube Shorts free of any potential violations or takedowns.

The basics of adding music to YouTube Shorts

As is the case with most social video platforms these days, it’s remarkably easy to add music to YouTube Shorts. We have a full guide on how to add music to YouTube Shorts here. The process is very similar to adding music to TikTok or adding music to Instagram Reels, and it can be done in a few clicks.

With that being said, there are some basic principles that you should be aware of when adding music to your YouTube Shorts. According to YouTube’s own rules and guidelines, you can’t just add any music to YouTube Shorts.

Unless you’re using music that you’ve 100% created yourself, you can’t upload any music to YouTube Shorts (or YouTube’s main platform) that hasn’t been cleared for commercial use. YouTube does offer its own music library for this, but these tracks will only be cleared for YouTube, not for use on other social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, etc…

Understanding the types of music copyrights

That’s why most seasoned content creators and video editors recommend using royalty free music licensed from trusted music licensing websites and platforms like Soundstripe.

Why do things work this way? It’s because all music has copyrights associated with it. These copyrights extend to the artist who recorded the song and the artist who wrote the song.

If you want to use any copyrighted music in your videos or content, you’ll need to negotiate with the copyright holders for the songs. This protects the artists and is how we can ensure that musicians and songwriters are compensated for their hard and awesome work.

At Soundstripe, we also own every single song in our library, so you won’t find our music anywhere else. And you’ll have two options on how to license a song. You can pay for a single song license in our royalty free music library and use that song for as many projects as you want. You can also sign up for one of our Soundstripe subscription plans, which gives you unlimited access to our entire library.

How to use copyrighted music on YouTube Shorts, legally

The easiest way to legally use copyrighted music on YouTube Shorts is to license tracks directly from Soundstripe. To help you get started and give you a taste of what Soundstripe has to offer, here are some top track recommendations for royalty free music to use on YouTube Shorts.

Get Flipped Or Die Trying by Sam Barsh

Description: A low-energy, hip-hop song best described as chill and fun. Bass and bass guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 84
Key: E Minor
Listen and license here

Do It To Me by Mandimore

Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as reflective and romantic. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 111
Key: A Minor
Listen and license here

Good Tonight by Cira Grandi

Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as fun and happy. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 120
Key: C Major
Listen and license here

Night Life by LNDÖ

Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as fun and happy. Bass and bass guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 109
Key: B Major
Listen and license here

Shock Rock by JMPSCR

Description: A medium-energy, hip-hop song best described as angry and fun. Bass and synth bass are the primary instruments in this track.
BPM: 150
Key: A Major
Listen and license here

You can further explore more of the best royalty free music for YouTube Shorts here and more high-quality tracks in Soundstripe’s full music library.

Using copyrighted music on YouTube Shorts

Once you’ve picked the right royalty free music track for your YouTube Shorts, copyrighted music is quite simple to add to your videos.

You can edit the music in your videos using your preferred video editing software. Whether you choose a pro-level editor like Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, or Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve or an easier-to-use smartphone video editor app like CapCut, Adobe Rush, or Adobe Express, there are no wrong answers.

You can also add music to your videos directly on YouTube or YouTube Studio apps. To review some specifications for your first YouTube Shorts, check out these Shorts upload tips here.

YouTube app

Tap the “Create” button and upload a video.
Select a video with a square or vertical aspect ratio and trim as needed
Tap the “NEXT” button to go to the editor screen to add text, filters, music, or other audio to your Short. (Note: Audio picked from our library is limited to 15-second clips.)
Tap the “NEXT” button to add details to your video, such as a title (max 100 characters) and the privacy settings.
Tap to select your audience.
Tap the “UPLOAD” button to publish your Short.

YouTube Studio app

Open the YouTube Studio app.
On the top, tap “Create” to upload a video.
Select the file that you'd like to upload.
Add details to your video, such as a title (max 100 characters), the privacy settings, and your audience.
Tap “UPLOAD SHORT” to publish your Shorts.

Once you’ve added your royalty free, copyrighted music to your videos, you’re good to go. You’ll be able to post and share your videos worry-free of any copyright strikes or takedowns.

For more tips on working with YouTube Shorts or licensing music for your videos, check out these additional articles from the Soundstripe blog below.