Music Agreement |Facebook | 2020

2020 has been an extremely difficult year for the performing arts industry which undoubtedly includes live music. The many hurdles this year has presented have forced the industry to adapt in new and unprecedented ways such as live streaming and fighting for the preservation of independent venues in the post-pandemic world. While many are working toward the solution, social media giant Facebook is reported to update their music agreement; which could mean bad news for indie artists. Facebook’s agreement could potentially limit an artists ability to “create a music listening experience”. This limitation extends to Facebook live which has become an extremely popular method of music sharing since the pandemic. 

“…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.”

As always with Facebook, the language is vague and ambiguous but this sounds like potential bad news for DIY/Indie musicians and artists. Under this reportedly new agreement, something as simple as a band giving a performance on Facebook live could violate the terms. In the present time, many independent artists are surviving utilizing the live feed function on social media platforms such as Facebook & Instagram. Although Facebook owns Instagram, no such rule has been implemented on the sister platform.  

All of this is being imposed under the guise of wanting its users to be able to “enjoy videos posted by family and friends”. At this point, the motive of the giant tech corporation remains in the dark, perhaps this may be the launch of a paid premium feature for artists? Now, more than ever working musicians need free channels to promote their music and reach their fans. A move like, if it is what it seems, has the potential to impact countless musicians and artists globally. It has also been reported that representatives from Facebook have gone on record mentioning this agreement will not affect musicians ability to live stream on their platform citing that this text had been in Facebook’s music agreement since 2018.  

To read more about Facebook’s new Music Agreement please visit here. 

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