Heads up if you make or enjoy music and use Facebook.
Facebook’s Music Guidelines are ever changing and there have been recent updates that affect bands who use the platform to promote their music. It’s up to the user to make sure they are not in violation because accounts who violate this term of agreement may have their videos blocked and can risk the page, profile or group being deleted entirely.
The guideline updated September 11, 2020 state:
“We want to encourage musical expression on our platforms while also ensuring that we uphold our agreements with rights holders. These agreements help protect the artists, songwriters, and partners who are the cornerstone of the music community — and we’re grateful for how they’ve enabled the amazing creativity we’ve seen in this time.
Our partnerships with rights holders have brought people together around music on our platforms. As part of our licensing agreements, there are limitations around the amount of recorded music that can be included in Live broadcasts or videos. While the specifics of our licensing agreements are confidential, today we’re sharing some general guidelines to help you plan your videos better:
— Music in stories and traditional live music performances (e.g., filming an artist or band performing live) are permitted.
— The greater the number of full-length recorded tracks in a video, the more likely it may be limited (more below on what we mean by “limited”).
— Shorter clips of music are recommended.
— There should always be a visual component to your video; recorded audio should not be the primary purpose of the video.
These guidelines are consistent across live and recorded video on both Facebook and Instagram, and for all types of accounts — i.e. pages, profiles, verified and unverified accounts. And although music is launched on our platforms in more than 90 countries, there are places where it is not yet available. So if your video includes recorded music, it may not be available for use in those locations.”
On the bright side – they say the will warn you before they shut you down.
