In most UGC videos, the brand (or whoever publishes the video for marketing) is responsible for music licensing unless your contract clearly assigns that job to the creator.
Here’s the practical rule we use with Orlando and Florida businesses: if the video is used to promote your company (especially as a paid ad), treat music rights like any other marketing asset, you own the risk if it is not cleared. Platforms can mute audio, reject ads, or remove content, and rights holders can still pursue claims even when a sound is trending.
How responsibility usually breaks down
| Scenario | Who should handle licensing | What to do in real life | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand posts organic content on a business account | Brand | Use the platform’s commercial-safe music options, or supply a licensed track from your own library. | Using a popular sound that is fine for personal posts but not cleared for business use. |
| Brand runs the UGC as a paid ad | Brand | Only use pre-cleared commercial music (platform commercial libraries or a paid licensing provider) and document it. | Boosting an organic post later without re-checking music rights for ads. |
| Creator posts on their own channel as branded content | Shared (creator follows rules, brand verifies) | Require the creator to use approved music sources and send the audio choice for sign-off before posting. | Assuming “the creator posted it, so it’s on them” while the brand still benefits from and reuses the content. |
| Brand reuses creator content across platforms | Brand | Confirm the license allows cross-platform use, editing, and paid placements (not just a single TikTok post). | Thinking a platform library track automatically covers usage on every other platform. |
| Trending sounds or audio pulled from another user’s clip | Brand (with creator support if creator selected it) | Do not treat “available in-app” as permission for marketing use. Get a license, or swap to a commercial-safe track. | Building a whole ad concept around a trend and finding out it cannot run as an ad. |
If you want a simple workflow, we build it into the brief: we either (1) provide the approved audio, or (2) give the creator a short list of allowed sources, then we review the final edit before it goes live. That keeps approvals fast and avoids last-minute re-edits.
Platform libraries matter. TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook have music options that are meant for commercial use, but the safe choice depends on the account type and whether you’re running ads. The biggest tripwire is assuming a mainstream song or a trending clip is automatically cleared for business marketing just because it shows up in the app.
In your UGC agreement, spell out four things in plain English: who picks the music, what sources are allowed, who pays if a separate license is needed, and what happens if the platform flags the audio (for example, a required swap within 24 hours). If you are building a repeatable content pipeline, we usually handle this inside our UGC video production process so every deliverable ships with the right usage notes.
Two quick pointers that save headaches: (1) paid ads need stricter music clearance than casual organic posts, and (2) reuse rights are separate from music rights, so even if you have permission to use the creator’s footage, you still need permission for the track underneath it. If you are debating whether a trend is safe to use, our FAQ on including trending sounds in UGC helps you decide fast without guessing.
When UGC is part of an ad program, music problems often show up as disapprovals during launch week. If you want fewer rejected ads and less back-and-forth, pairing content production with social media management keeps posting rules, ad rules, and creative rules in one place, and our FAQ on UGC ad rejection rules is a good checklist for common platform blockers.
If you tell us where you plan to run the video (TikTok only, Meta only, YouTube, or multi-platform, plus paid vs organic), we can recommend a music approach that fits that exact distribution so you are not stuck re-editing after the video is already performing.
