Changes to TikTok’s Music Terms of Service Just Made It Nearly Impossible for DJs to Stream Live
During the pandemic, the TikTok LIVE platform became a hub for bedroom DJ sets and spontaneous music discovery livestreams. But recent changes to TikTok's Music Terms of Service are now forcing many DJs to find a new streaming home.
Effective July 2025, the updated rules prohibit users from altering copyrighted music or using standalone audio in livestreams. According to the terms, streamers must now "own all rights and permissions" to the music they feature on LIVE, a near-impossible standard for DJs working with samples, edits, flips or remixes.
For a platform that built much of its early identity on music, the move feels like a sharp detour, limiting the spontaneity and creativity that livestreams once allowed.
The ToS page reads: "If you're a Commercial User and you upload an Original Sound to your video, you confirm that (i) you own all the rights to the music included in the video; or (ii) the music is otherwise permitted by law; or (iii) you have permission from all necessary rights holders to use the Original Sound on the Platform."
It's important to note these terms don't equate to an outright ban. But the impact is rippling through the electronic music community as scores of DJs take to TikTok to warn that streaming altered tracks could lead to permabans. Many are now migrating to platforms like Twitch, which has a more robust music licensing infrastructure.
TikTok has not publicly addressed the matter at the time of this writing.
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