Usually not. TikTok says businesses can’t use its general music library, and Meta bars commercial use of music without a license. Each offers a free business library, but those tracks only work on that one platform. That catches anyone posting one video everywhere. Big brands have been sued over this. For a small business the likelier cost is a muted or removed post, though we can’t rule out more.
The sound in the app isn’t licensed for your business
It feels like it should be. The song is right there, the app offers it, and the post it’s on has a million views. But the deal behind that button mostly covers people, not companies selling things. TikTok’s help page says it flatly: “Businesses cannot use the general music library for commercial usage.” It lists organic posts as commercial, along with ads and branded content. So a normal post from your shop’s account counts.
| Platform | What it says | What can happen |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok | Use the Commercial Music Library, about 1 million songs, free. Its terms cover TikTok only, and using anything else commercially is on you | Posts taken down or muted. If TikTok loses the rights to a track later, it can mute or remove your video, and you can’t claim against it |
| Instagram, Facebook | Music Guidelines: commercial use needs your own licenses. Sound Collection is free for commercial use on Meta’s products only | Blocked, muted or removed. Meta’s Reels ad specs say ads shouldn’t contain licensed music at all, and point you to original audio or Sound Collection |
| YouTube | Content ID scans every upload. Music from the YouTube Audio Library won’t get a claim | The owner can block it, run ads on it or track it. Shorts over one minute with any active claim are blocked |
| X, LinkedIn | We found takedown-based copyright policies and no automatic matching for uploads. X’s pages refused our reader, so we saw search excerpts only | Takedown notices |
When you post to TikTok through an app, you also have to agree to its Music Usage Confirmation. You’re saying the video has no copyrighted music, or that you’ve paid for every license it needs, both the song and the recording. If you can’t say that, TikTok’s page tells you not to accept.
Labels really do sue
- Crumbl: Warner Music sued in April 2025 over at least 159 works in Instagram and TikTok videos, at up to $150,000 a work. They settled in 2026 on terms that weren’t made public.
- DSW: labels listed more than 200 songs in a May 2025 suit, and others followed. Many of the videos came from paid influencers, not DSW’s own accounts, so paying someone else to post doesn’t get you out of it. Sony and DSW reached a settlement in principle in August 2026, not yet final when reported.
- OFRA Cosmetics: Sony sued in October 2023 over at least 329 videos, on a brand with 1.7 million Instagram followers.
These are mostly claims in lawsuits, not rulings, and the other side has an argument. DSW says the platforms and labels invite everyone to use these songs and that the fine print is confusing. As of a 24 August 2026 report, a judge had dismissed DSW’s own suit against Sony, Warner’s suit and DSW’s claims against Universal and BMG were still open, and Sony had just sued Kroger over at least 392 uses. A commercial lawyer writing about DSW says most disputes like this settle quietly before anyone sues.
Every suit we found was against a large brand. We found none against a one-location business. That isn’t the same as safe. Our guess is that a small account is far more likely to get a muted video than a letter from a lawyer, but that’s a guess.
The trap if you post one video everywhere
TikTok’s business library doesn’t leave TikTok. Meta’s doesn’t leave Meta’s apps. So if you edit a TikTok business track into your video and then upload that same file to Reels and Shorts, you’re outside the terms on those two. For one file on every channel, you need music you hold rights to everywhere, or no licensed music in the file at all. The other way is to post a silent or voice-only file, then add each platform’s own business track inside its app.
Your real options
| Option | Where it works | Rough cost | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own voice, or real sounds from the job | Everywhere | Free | You have to record it. Nobody can claim it unless you’ve used someone else’s music in the background |
| Each platform’s business library | That platform only | Free. Some TikTok tracks marked Premium can cost extra | One edit per platform. You add it in the app |
| YouTube Audio Library | YouTube is the only place its page promises no claim | Free | Check each track’s terms before using it elsewhere |
| Free music sites | It depends on the site | Free | Freesound says its free sounds still draw Content ID claims when someone has used the same sound in a registered song. Pixabay’s summary leaves it to you to check whether you need anyone’s consent, and it publishes a guide to clearing claims |
| A paid music subscription | Usually several platforms | Monthly, from a few dollars to much more | Read whether “commercial” includes paid ads and which channels. One partner’s published Epidemic Sound terms bar paid media |
| Commission your own track | Everywhere, if the contract is right | A composer quoted by CD Baby in 2013 put 30 seconds at $300 to $2,000. Rough | You need a real contract. See below |
| AI-made music | It depends on the tool’s terms | Varies | Suno’s free output is non-commercial, and ElevenLabs’ paid plans have their own limits. YouTube wants it disclosed when it’s the main focus. You may not own it: the US Copyright Office says prompts alone aren’t enough |
If you commission a track
A cheap gig often keeps ownership and sells you a license, so read what you’re buying. These are the things we’d ask a lawyer to put in writing, and a lawyer should read it:
- It’s signed by both of you and calls the track a work made for hire, with a back-up line that assigns all rights to you. The Copyright Office explains why that wording matters.
- It covers the song and the recording. Those are two separate rights.
- The composer promises not to register it with Content ID or a distributor, and not to sell it elsewhere. If they do, your own videos can get claimed.
- It’s original, with no uncleared samples. If you’re paying for human-made music, say no AI parts.
What to do today
- Check that your business account uses each platform’s business library. Going forward, stop using trending sounds from the general library.
- If you pay creators, write it into the deal: approved tracks or the business library only.
- Keep the license, the date and the file for anything you paid for. It’s your evidence if a claim comes.
- If you get a claim you believe is wrong, dispute it with that evidence. Freesound’s page says disputes usually sort out its cases.
- Look through your most-watched old posts. Those lawsuits reach back to videos already up. Ask a lawyer before deleting anything if you’ve had a letter.
Does a video need music at all?
We found no good public test of this for small businesses, so we won’t tell you it does. A person talking about the product, or the real sound of the work, avoids the whole question. We’d start there.
This matters to us because Lou by Luven AI, the video tool we’re building, has to put sound on customers’ videos. So Lou won’t use trending songs or either platform’s library in the file. We’re using real recorded effects from Kenney’s free CC0 packs, and we haven’t settled on music yet. Lou isn’t open. This isn’t legal advice, and these rules change, so check before anything big.
Rules read 3 and 4 Nov 2026
How we write these: with AI help, from the sources we link, with dates. Counts marked as ours were made by an AI reader with no second check. If something’s wrong, email everest@luven.ai and we’ll fix it and say so.
