Pre-recorded downloads or streaming
YouTube, SoundCloud and Facebook have blanket licensing agreements with all major international record labels and music publishing companies, meaning that users of these websites can safely assume that recordings they upload to one of these sites are covered. This includes posting a video to YouTube (for example) and then embedding it you’re your own website.
There are benefits to sharing your recordings this way rather than hosting directly on your own website and we highly recommend our groups use this method.
- It is the easiest and cheapest way to use music online - the platform (e.g. Facebook) takes care of the licencing and you don’t have to buy your own
- You can embedded videos and recordings from the third party site on your own site (and are still covered by the blanket licences)
- Your recordings are easily and publically accessible
- If you want a recording to be private most platforms have the option of uploading it privately
- Your recordings can be easily shared via social media or email
- You can create playlists of your recordings.
Livestreaming
Similar to posting pre-recorded music, those wishing to live stream via Facebook Live or YouTube Live should be covered by the respective licensing agreements in place between those platforms and PRS for Music. At the time of writing SoundCloud does not offer live streaming services.
