Why Record Labels Should Be On The Twitch Music Library

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Twitch and Music?

Twitch is a video streaming platform that allows people to live stream different types of content from Video Games to IRL content. It just so happens that a good amount of people, meaning anyone I have ever watched, has utilized music at some point in time during their stream. Well, why does this matter? It can get pretty complicated, but essentially people need permission to use music on their stream. Twitch has audio recognition software that will mute VODs (videos of past live streams) that contain copyrighted music. Luckily, Twitch created a program where music creators, record labels, and other copyright holders of music can submit their music to be used by Twitch streamers on a royalty-free basis in their live streams and their VODs. I don't know how the rights holders are compensated for this, but the direct monetary aspects are not the most important parts of such a program for our purposes.

So Why Do It?

1. Promotion

This is the most important part of this program for rights holders because thousands of people watch streams every day and those streams will most likely contain some form of music at some point in the stream. If you are a record label, this means streamers have access to, and may exclusively use, the songs you have allowed to be used royalty-free on Twitch. Many times I have been in a stream where the chat either asked the streamer what song was being played or typed a command in chat to identify the song being played. This enables record labels to essentially advertise and promote their music to Twitch streamers and to the thousands of followers and subscribers who could be watching them daily. Also, this form of promotion may be more powerful because it is not in the form of an advertisement where the viewers may tune out.   

2. Loyalty

There are a lot of Twitch streamers out there, and when they see that your record label is allowing the royalty-free use of certain songs on the Twitch platform, it could easily translate to loyalty to the label. A lot of Twitch streamers starting out may find it hard to obtain the rights to use music in their streams and subsequent VODs, but giving these streamers access to songs royalty-free is highly respectable. This could lead to positive word-of-mouth from the streamers to their viewers or possibly even music licenses with the streamers in the future. For example, Monstercat puts songs on the Twitch Music Library. If I am just starting out on Twitch and I like Monstercat, I will most likely utilize the songs that they have designated as being royalty-free on Twitch. However, as I grow, I may go to Monstercat directly and obtain their music license for Twitch which currently costs $5 a month. This is all hypothetical, but it makes sense that a record label could use this program to essentially market their music to businesses (streamers), as well as at the same time having their music played to possibly thousands of people, possibly creating two groups of loyal customers. 

The Point

The point is that the Twitch Music Library is a powerful tool that record labels and other rights holders can use to promote their music and at the same time gain loyal customers. What Twitch has created is an opportunity for Twitch broadcasters, and music creators to help each other obtain their goals. Music may be overlooked as a traditional product that is marketed and sold, but record labels should use this tool to market their product not only to traditional consumers but to businesses who use the label's product for commercial purposes.