Are YouTube Videos Considered Commercial Use? Royalty Free Music Downloads to Help you Make Money
Soundstripe Team
Jun 4, 2024
There's a lot to learn when starting out in YouTube content creation.
Of course, we’re talking about all of the intricate details about how to record and edit your videos, but there’s a whole host of problems that you’ll need to solve regarding the music and sound effects you choose to use in your YouTube videos.
To make matters more complicated, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about the different types of music licensing options and copyright rules that YouTubers need to follow if they want to keep their channels in good standing and not be liable to receive any copyright strikes—which can be devastating to any budding YouTube channel or brand.
So, if you’re curious whether your YouTube videos are considered commercial use. Or if you want to download royalty free music to help you and your YouTube channel make money.
Or if you’d simply like to learn more about how to license music for commercial use—and even what a commercial music license is—let’s explore everything you need to know about commercial use music for YouTube.
What does “commercial use” mean?
Let’s start with the basics by defining the term “commercial use” and specifically what is commercial use of music for videos means. Commercial use is a term that refers to the monetization of any product, service, or media for financial gain.
This means that any video content used to market a product or sell a service is considered commercial use. For YouTube in particular, this definition can be a bit tricky, as many content creators might not even realize their videos are selling services or facilitating commerce, but—by a broad legal definition—they are.
Commercial use is a term used to differentiate content from personal or non-commercial use, which is a different type of content subject to different rules and regulations.
A closer look at non commercial use
According to the language of the license, non commercial use is defined as “not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.”
Does this wording seem a little vague to you? That’s the point. According to the Creative Commons wiki, “the definition of NonCommercial is intentionally flexible; the definition is specific enough to make its intended operation and reach clear, but versatile enough to cover a wide variety of use cases.”
Certain cases are pretty cut and dry. If you add the music into a video game you plan to profit from, that's commercial use. And if the song is for a piece of software, a training video on corporate websites, or an ad for a business, then you're using the music with the goal of a financial transaction.
The difference between commercial use and non-commercial use
As mentioned above, the basic difference between commercial use and non-commercial use is financial gain. If you shoot a video on a camcorder, for example, and show it to your family one evening on your home TV, that would be considered a personal project, not a commercial one.
And, in that case, you could even use copyright protected music, sound effects, or other assets in your personal videos if you’re just going to show them with your family or close friends. However, things become a bit trickier once you start putting your content out on the internet, specifically social video platforms like YouTube.
In theory you can create personal projects that are non-commercial use and upload them to YouTube. However, technically speaking, the second you start to profit from the content, your videos are now in commercial use.
License music for commercial use
If you’d like some royalty free commercial use music tracks to use in your videos, we have some selections to share with you here below.
Description: A high-energy, electronic song best described as happy and hopeful. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A medium energy, score song best described as reflective. Percussion and strings are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as reflective and hopeful. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as reflective and suspenseful. Synth and ambient tones are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as happy and fun. Samples and electronic drums are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A high-energy, acoustic song that is best described as inspiring. Banjo and guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A medium-energy pop song best described as calm and chill. Electric guitar and synth are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A medium-energy pop song best described as hopeful and chill. Synth is the primary instrument in this track.
Description: A low-energy pop song best described as romantic and sad. The piano is the primary instrument in this track.
Description: A low-energy folk song best described as calm and romantic. The guitar and electric guitar are the primary instruments on this track.
If you’d like to check out more music, here’s our full royalty free music library.
Are YouTube videos considered commercial use?
So, looking specifically at YouTube, many creators may think they’re creating video content strictly for personal use. However, even if a channel’s goal might appear to be simply entertainment, there are often elements of the content that could be considered commercial use.
Examples of commercial use content in YouTube videos could include ad reads, sponsored sections, or promoting or even reviewing products or services (especially if creators receive payments for promoting said goods).
Still, if you look around YouTube you’ll find many content creators bouncing between commercial use and non-commercial use content, so it’s very tricky to regulate. That being said, if you do (knowingly or unknowingly) create commercial use content on YouTube, you’ll want to be extra careful about how you license elements of your content like your music, sound effects, stock images or footage, or other copyright protected materials.
Do monetized YouTube videos count as commercial use?
Sadly, while all of this might indeed be a gray area, the answer to the question of whether monetized YouTube videos count as commercial use is most often going to be a yes. One could make the argument that a YouTube channel made purely for educational purposes could be non-commercial use; however, if the channel is monetized, even with YouTube, it could be considered commercial use.
Your best bet for creating content on YouTube, regardless of your goals or intentions, is to assume that anything you share outside of privately with family and friends will be considered commercial use.
When it comes to music, using any copyright protected music in your YouTube videos is going to be a huge risk. So, consider signing up with a company that specializes in royalty free music downloads for filmmakers.
At Soundstripe, our song library is filled with royalty free music for videos, including, YouTube, your website, other social media sites, or wherever you want to use it. For one low monthly or yearly subscription cost, you can access our entire library and use all the songs you want any way you want. There are no confusing licenses or risks of getting sued for copyright infringement.
If you want unlimited access to radio-quality music (with song stems), check out our pricing options and music library. Plans start at $20/month.