Why licence music for video or social media?
Music licences help video creators, film makers and marketing teams publish and monetize content on social media and video streaming platforms without facing copyright claims.
Licencing options for video and social media
Today, film makers and creators can licence music for their videos and social media content in different ways, some of the most common being:
- A stock audio subscription that allows you to licence a set number of tracks per month
- A licence agreement signed through production libraries
- A licence agreement directly with the composer, performer and publisher
Licencing through stock audio and production libraries vs. a direct agreement
Finding songs that match your brand and bring your business to life isn’t easy. Among hundreds of thousands of tracks available on stock audio and production libraries, you might still not find a single song that suits. This is because the music available on stock audio and production libraries is written to appeal to the largest number of people. It is meant to blend in with your content, not make it stand out.
Many songs are written to match specific criteria, from a set length and BPM range, to a predictable hook and chorus combo that sells well across these platforms.
The same beats and samples are used again and again across different styles of music, like corporate, ambient, EDM and acoustic pop. In sharing the same base – the same tempo, instruments and patterns – these tracks can start to blur together. And when hundreds of tracks recycle a supposedly ‘winning formula’, that formula becomes overly familiar – the music: forgettable.
Or picture this: when you get music from a non-exclusive library, it can also be used by other companies. How would you feel if you saw your music used in commercials, on TV or streaming sites, by another business? Remember, you’re particularly unlucky, that business could even be your direct competitor.
So, if you want to avoid being number 200 to use the same successful track, and you want a distinctive sound, if you want music that feels more natural and authentic, then you can go for something different:
LIKE RAGTIME.
Ragtime – the value in being different
Instead of relying on popular classical pieces, EDM tracks of the latest musical fashion, you can choose a less-known genre like ragtime to give your video content a distinctive sound that stands out in a sea of production music used on social media platforms.
While it may seem safer and more comfortable to follow the crowd and chose what’s popular, tapping in on trends and riding the waves of social media fashion rarely lays a sustainable foundation for your business or personal project.
And ragtime, in particular, as the pre-cursor to many modern musical styles, is instantly recognisable, with its unique mix of tradition and novelty appealing to a large crowd of people.
With its syncopated melodies, ragtime makes your videos sound different – and each song has a different tempo, style and structure, so your content sounds unique to you.
What is ragtime?
Ragtime is a form of syncopated music that first spread across the United States in the late 19th century and continues to delight listeners around the world today.
With its march-like rhythms and lively syncopation, ragtime marked a shift from carefully curated, classical pieces towards catchy tunes that you could dance to in saloons and bars. These tunes brought swung rhythms and off-beat melodies into mainstream music, and would later pave the way for new styles like pop, rock, EDM, funk and soul.
In the 1970s, classic ragtime was revived through films like ‘The Sting’, featuring Scott Joplin’s ‘The Entertainer’. Since then, ragtime has frequently appeared in popular culture – from films and streaming to video games and social media.
And while a small, loyal fanbase keeps old ragtime records alive, dedicated musicians continue to write new soundtracks that feature prominently in video games, TV shows, and most recently, social media.
What types of videos does ragtime fit with?
Ragtime is a very versatile style of music that you can use in many different types of videos. From historic documentaries about life in the 1920s, to background music for video game streams and silent films, ragtime lends itself well to stand-out, danceable catchy melodies.
Our modern ragtime pieces are also great openers for your video and the catchy melodies work well as a channel theme song – for podcasts or intros.
Here are some examples of where ragtime music works well:
- Intro or closing music for your podcast: For podcast introductions, many creators want short snippets of 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds of music. Due to its clear structure, ragtime can easily be split into small melodic chunks that can be anywhere from 5 seconds to around 3-4 minutes in length. You can re-use similar motifs throughout the podcast to keep viewers engaged.
- Short vertical videos (e.g. TikTok or YouTube Shorts): Alongside the right content, catchy music can keep viewers watching a short – instead of swiping away.Ragtime tunes often have a natural flow to them that keeps people hooked – and stops them from passively scrolling.
- Background music for silent films and historic documentaries – historic scenes, take viewers back in time to previous decades, nostalgia, bring historic footage to life.
- Background music for tutorials and instruction videos
- Background music for video game streams – Many modern video games have ragtime-like music – but that music is often copyrighted. If you want to stream your video game play without risking copyright infringement, you can choose to licence a similar-sounding tune to keep earning streaming revenue.
Will ragtime fit my video or film?
It isn’t always easy to find music that matches the intended pace, style and feel of your video. Typically, music will work well with a video if it has:
- A steady beat that you can sync your images to
- A suitable pace and energy level (between 60 and 140 beats per minute is often ideal)
- A short, memorable motif or theme that repeats throughout the song
- Multiple sections that loop naturally or can be played on repeat
- Clear transitions between parts where cuts land cleanly
The ragtime pieces available for licencing for video and social media meet and sometimes even exceed these requirements:
- Our ragtime songs have a clear structure and a regular beat – so syncing audio to frame becomes seamless.
- Unedited, single take recordings capture the essence of the ragtime era and give you an authentic rendition of the music.
- All our ragtime pieces are performed on a high-end Blüthner digital piano that mimics the sound of a hand-crafted, world-renowned Blüthner concert grand.
- You get pristine, unedited audio (no EQ, filters, or special effects) that you can cut, loop and layer over other audio tracks (such as sound effects or voice-over) without artifacts or processing issues – giving you maximum freedom and flexibility when using our music.
What online video and podcasting platforms can music from Lion Ragtime be licenced for?
Our standard sync licences can cover one or multiple of the following social media, video and podcasting platforms:
- Video and streaming: YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Rumble, Vimeo, Dailymotion
- Social media: Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Snapchat, Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, Nostr,
- Podcasting: Spotify, Deezer, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Audible, Podimo
If you would like to licence our music for a platform not listed above, please contact us at support@lionragtime.com.
How can I licence music from Lion Ragtime?
To licence music from Lion Ragtime, send an email to support@lionragtime.com, and include your contact information, the names of the song(s) you would like to licence, and the type of licence you need. We will then get in touch with you to go through all the details and offer you the best possible licence for your needs.
Note: The more information you share, the easier it is for us to offer you the right licence. It helps if we know:
- If you need a personal, non-commercial or business licence
- What media or platforms your licence should cover (e.g. specific social media sites, video, streaming, TV, radio, broadcast, events, film, advertisements, internal company use, etc.)
- Whether you want an exclusive or non-exclusive licence
- What countries or regions the licence should apply to
- How long you want the licencing period to be (e.g. one-off, 1 year, or multi-year subscription)
Once you decide to licence one or more of our tracks, we will send you a licencing agreement and the licence becomes valid at the contractually agreed date (so long as we have received the licencing fee).