Can I use a copyrighted song on Instagram or Facebook for my business?

Not as freely as a personal account can. Meta's music library is licensed for personal, non-commercial use, and its Music Guidelines say commercial use of music is prohibited unless you have the right licences. A business that wants a real song in its posts has three options: Meta's own Sound Collection, a licence from the rights holder, or a sync licence from a platform that represents the artist.

What does Meta allow business accounts to do with music?

Meta's in-app music library is intended for personal, non-commercial use, and Instagram says some business accounts and some types of posts cannot access it at all. Meta's Music Guidelines go further: using music for commercial or non-personal purposes is prohibited unless you have obtained the appropriate licences yourself.

That is the key point many brands miss. A song showing up in the Reels audio picker on your account is not a commercial licence. The library exists because Meta has deals with labels and publishers for everyday personal sharing, and those deals do not hand your business the right to use a track to sell something.

For business use, Instagram points to the Sound Collection: more than 14,000 royalty-free songs and sounds that Meta says can be used in Reels and Stories, including for commercial purposes such as ads. It is a reasonable free option. The trade-off is choice: you are picking from a stock library, not the song you actually had in mind.

Why is business and branded content treated differently?

Because the purpose changes the deal. When a person shares a song with friends, the music is part of everyday expression that platforms license in bulk. When a business uses a song, the music is helping to sell a product or build a brand, and rights holders expect to approve and be paid for that commercial use separately.

This applies to more than ads. A Reel promoting your cafe, a product launch video, or a sponsored post a creator makes for your brand are all commercial uses, even when you pay nothing to Meta to show them. Paying to boost the post makes it advertising, which sits a further step up again.

What happens if a business uses unlicensed music?

Meta's Music Guidelines say content using music without authorisation may be blocked, muted or removed. If the rights holder reports it, the post can be taken down, and Instagram's repeat infringer policy says accounts that keep posting infringing content may be disabled or have posting and other features limited.

The most common outcome is quieter: the audio is muted and the post stays up without its soundtrack. We explain why that happens in why your Instagram Reel was muted. Removal and account restrictions are less frequent but more serious for a business that relies on its page. And platform enforcement is separate from the rights holder's legal rights, which they can pursue directly.

What does Australian copyright law say?

Under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), the song and the recording are separate copyright works, and putting them in a video generally needs permission from their owners unless an exception applies. Australia has fair dealing for specific purposes, not a general fair use exception, so promoting a business with a song rarely fits.

Fair dealing covers defined purposes such as research or study, criticism or review, parody or satire, and reporting news. The Australian Law Reform Commission recommended adding a broader fair use exception in 2013, but it has not been enacted, so fair dealing is still the rule. Copyright exceptions differ by country, so if you post from elsewhere, check the rules where you are. This is general information, not advice on your specific post.

What do you need for each kind of post?

It depends on who is posting and whether money is spent to show it. A personal account sharing everyday content can usually rely on the in-app library. A business posting organically needs Sound Collection or a commercial licence. Any paid placement needs rights that specifically cover advertising.

How do you license a real song for business posts?

Go to whoever controls the song and the recording. That can mean approaching a publisher and a label separately, or using a sync licensing platform that represents independent artists who control both. Either way, you get a written licence naming the song, the use and the term.

On cadential., each song is priced individually per use type, in AUD, and the price is on the track page before checkout. For an emerging independent artist, a social media licence is typically roughly A$37 to A$67, and a Brand / ad licence roughly A$415 to A$1,660. Prices vary by song and artist. The full process is on how it works.

• Organic posts: the social media licence covers organic posts on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X. It does not cover paid promotion.
• Boosted posts and ads: a Brand / ad licence covers one campaign across digital and paid social for the stated term. Broadcast TV is not included. Our guide to music licensing for brand and ad campaigns goes into more detail.
• Proof: every licence is a PDF contract with a licence number anyone can check at usecadential.com/license. If a licensed post is flagged, email the licence number to hello@usecadential.com and we send proof of licence to the platform and help resolve it. No one can stop an automated system from flagging a match in the first place.

cadential. is pre-launch: artists are being onboarded and the catalogue is not open yet. If your business posts across platforms, these guides cover the rest:

• Do I need a music licence for TikTok?
• Why was my Instagram Reel muted?
• Music licensing for brand and ad campaigns in Australia

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own project, talk to a lawyer. Licence details on cadential. are set out in the licence terms.