Instagram Reels music library and TikTok music licensing: what the app covers, and where a licence takes over

A 22-second reel can get its music two ways, and each rests on a different permission. A song picked from the Instagram Reels music library or TikTok's Commercial Music Library is used on the app's terms and stays inside that app; a track laid under the clip in an editor and uploaded with the file needs a licence from its owner, and a brand account needs the Commercial tier. Take a florist who has filmed those 22 seconds: a bouquet wrapped, ribbon tied, with "Golden Skyline" from the Brasil After Dark channel, a track of four minutes and thirty-five, as the song. On screen the two routes look identical. The difference shows when something goes wrong or when the video travels.

What does the Reels or TikTok music library cover, compared with a track already in the video?

The in-app library is music the platform has arranged for its users, on the platform's terms, inside the platform's app. TikTok's Commercial Music Library terms put it this way: "You may only post or share videos that include Commercial Sounds within TikTok and by using the sharing features made available to TikTok users." The next sentence closes the door behind that one: "Commercial Uses outside of TikTok are not permitted and no rights are granted by TikTok for such uses."

So the library permission belongs to the app, not to the person posting. The same terms spell out what happens beyond that: "Any uses outside of TikTok are subject to you obtaining separate permission and licensing the necessary rights directly from the Commercial Sound rights holder(s)." Their list of outside uses begins with "posting videos on third party digital platforms".

A file uploaded with the music already in it is the opposite case. The platform has granted nothing. Meta's Music Guidelines, which apply to music in content on any Meta product, Instagram included, say so in one line: "Nothing in these terms constitutes any authorization by us with respect to any use of music on any of our Products." Whatever makes that upload legitimate has to come from the owner of the music. That is what a purchased licence is: the owner's yes, in writing, with a buyer's name on it.

The library's permission stays in the app. A licence travels with the video.

Does a brand account need a Commercial licence for a Reel or a TikTok?

Both platforms draw a line at commercial use. TikTok's terms describe Commercial Uses as including "The association of a Commercial Sound with a brand, logo or trademark or other brand identifying characteristics" and "Advertising, marketing, endorsing, sponsoring or publicizing" a product or service. Then: "Commercial Sounds are the only sounds made available on TikTok for Commercial Uses. Otherwise, no rights are granted to make Commercial Uses of any other sounds (music and non-music) on or through TikTok." As I read that, TikTok is describing the limit of what it gives. A brand that wants a sound from outside that library has to arrive with its own permission.

Meta's version, in guidelines with an effective date of March 26, 2024, is one sentence: "Use of music for commercial or non-personal purposes in particular is prohibited unless you have obtained appropriate licenses." The second half of that sentence is where a purchased licence fits.

Now the tiers. On the ONE36TY Sounds licence page, Personal at $3.99 reads "Your own videos, podcasts and socials. Non-commercial. Non-exclusive." Commercial at $9.99 reads "Ads, client work, film, games, unlimited views. Non-exclusive." The word "socials" sits in the Personal line, which is why people assume any reel is Personal. The word after it decides the matter.

The florist's reel exists to sell bouquets. The way the studio reads its own wording, that is marketing, and marketing is Commercial however small the shop. Three more cases, read the same way:

• A personal account posting a holiday clip, nothing sold, nobody paid: Personal.
• A personal account posting a sponsored clip for a brand: Commercial, because a fee is attached to that upload.
• A freelancer cutting reels for a client's account: Commercial. "Client work" is named on the tier, the same line that decides a wedding video once a videographer is paid.

The tier follows the purpose of the upload, not the size of the account or the type of profile.

What happens when the same video is posted to both platforms?

Suppose the florist builds the reel inside TikTok with a library sound, downloads it, and posts the file to Instagram. Under the terms quoted above, that second post is an outside use, and the library permission did not come along. Staying inside those terms means rebuilding the video in each app, which may mean a different song on each.

With the licensed route the arithmetic is simpler. One Commercial licence at $9.99, one edit with "Golden Skyline" under it, and the same file goes to Reels, TikTok and the shop's website. "Unlimited views" means the price is the same at 400 views and at 400,000. Playing that track through the shop's own speakers is a separate right, covered in the cafe, gym and salon post; in the UK it usually means TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS.

A licence does not switch off the platform's own rules, though. Meta's guidelines still apply to a licensed upload: "Shorter clips of music are recommended", and "The greater the density of music in content, the more likely it may be limited". Twenty-two seconds of a 275-second track, under moving pictures, is the shape those lines describe. The guidelines also warn that content "may be blocked, muted or removed if your use of that music is not properly authorized", and that a restriction can be disputed "via the notification" that announces it. The certificate is what that dispute rests on, so it helps if it can be found from a phone.

Before posting, I run through five things:

1. Which route is this: the app's library, or a file with the music already in it?
2. If the library, does the video stay inside that one app?
3. If a licensed file, does the tier match the purpose of the upload?
4. Is the name on the certificate the name on the account, or of the business behind it?
5. Is the certificate saved somewhere it can be reached in two minutes?

The useful question about any short video with music is who said yes, and how far that yes reaches. The app's yes ends at the edge of the app. The owner's yes goes wherever the licence says it does.

Sources

• Licences (Personal, Commercial, Exclusive buyout) · ONE36TY Sounds, one36ty.com/sound
• Commercial Music Library – User Terms · TikTok
• Music Guidelines (effective March 26, 2024) · Meta