Legal
You have 3 alternatives on how to operate from a legal perspective.
- Use unlicensed music
- If you have unlicensed music you have used for promotional content before, you can use this in your live stream as well.
- You can also buy unlicensed music, in this case, there is often a one time cost for the unlicensed song - the cost should never be higher than the price of a regular album in-store.
Make sure to confirm that the music is in fact unlicensed and royalty-free before using it in your live stream.
- Use a service provider for commercial music.
There is several service providers for commercial use of music. When using a service provider for music, make sure you have a commercial license and not a personal license. For example, you can use Epidemic Sound, they provide commercial and royalty-free music subscriptions on a month to month basis. Read more on their website:
- Buy music and licenses to use it.
If you buy a song or album through a music store, for example, iTunes. You are allowed to use this music for commercial purposes if you pay for the right licenses. In Sweden, you will in most cases need a license through IFPI and STIM.
Recommended Gears
To add music to your live stream, connect the music source as you would connect a microphone.
Wired music
You will need to connect your music source (laptop with a 3,5 mm output is recommended as a music source) with a 3,5 mm cable to the RØDE SC6-L.
If you want more than only music, you can connect a microphone to the second input on the RØDE SC6-L.
Please note: you will need to connect a Røde SC4 adapter between the 3,5mm cable and the RØDE SC6-L for both the microphone and music source cable.
If you want to hear the music in the studio in real-time with the stream you can connect a speaker with a 3,5 mm cable to the headphone output on the RØDE SC6-L. Use the iPhone volume buttons to increase or decrease the output in the studio.
Please note: if you have a microphone in addition to the music source you need to be careful so you don't get feedback in the stream.
Wireless music
When adding music wirelessly you will need to use the Saramonic Blink 500 B4 or Saramonic VMICLINK5. Use a 3,5 mm cable to connect a music source to the transmitter, instead of connecting a microphone cable.
Pro tips
- Remember to mute notifications from your music source.
- Test the volume thoroughly before going live, the music is often louder than the microphone - and if it's too loud the sound can clip.