Facebook Live Stream Clamp Down a Hoax

Recently, some hoax stories around Facebook clamping down on Live Streams from the 1st of October, appeared on the Internet. These shared stories, seem to be the original terms set out when the Live platform was introduced in 2018.

The original story included “You may not use videos on our Products to create a music listening experience … If you use videos on our Products to create a music listening experience for yourself or for others, your videos will be blocked and your page, profile or group may be deleted. This includes Live.”

Apologies from us for reporting it. We have done more digging and a source at Facebook has given us the actual ‘Updates and guidelines for including music in video’

The site states: “Music is a bonding force in normal times. During difficult and isolating times like this, we know it can be even more important. As social distancing has forced everyone to stay apart, more people have turned to Instagram and Facebook Live to stay connected with their communities. This rapid rise in usage has created a lot of good during this crisis – raising money for frontline workers and underserved communities, driving awareness of healthy habits, encouraging people to stay safe by staying home and bringing people together through new forms of entertainment. But it’s also highlighted some confusion across the community – especially around the use of recorded music in Live on both Facebook and Instagram.At its core, Live brings people together in a real-time and unproduced way. This has opened up new creative opportunities for many creators, artists and other public figures.“

They continue “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.”

They are constantly improving the products at Facebook including the platform, Instagram and Whatsapp. They have said they the best ways to use music on the platform are in these manners.

• There are no limits on things such as music in Stories, or traditional musical performances (e.g. filming a live artist or band performing).
• 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.

You can read their full blog post here.