Twitch is giving gamers a new way to spice up their “let’s play” videos and live shows.
The popular video game streaming platform today announced it’s offering a library of free-to-use music to broadcasters. The new Twitch Music Library features more than 500 songs from labels like Dim Mak, Spinnin Records, OWSLA, Monstercat, and more.
All of the library’s songs are cleared to use for both live content and archived video, and they will not be flagged by the company’s audio recognition system, Twitch said. Implemented in August 2014, the automated system functions similarly to YouTube’s Content ID. It scans video on demand for copyrighted music, including in-game and ambient music, then flags and mutes any offenders.
The audio recognition system was widely criticized at the time, and Twitch itself even admitted it’s not 100% accurate. Not only can it miss copyrighted content, it can give false positives as well. Although it’s far from comprehensive, the new music library will now provide a viable, legal alternative, and Twitch promises to add to it in the future.
“Our community has been vocal about the importance of music for their broadcasts and their love of music in general,” said Twitch’s chief strategy officer, Colin Carrier. “By working with both established and upcoming record labels, we are now able to offer music for them to use that is cleared for live broadcasts and archiving.”
Twitch also announced it’s adding a new category to its platform dedicated to original music and radio-style shows. The new Music category, now in beta, allows certain established labels and artists to broadcast large events like music festivals with Twitch’s approval, the company said.
Twitch has experimented with live music in the past. OWSLA held a holiday party last year featuring both gameplay and live performances from artists under the label, while Monstercat currently broadcasts a 24-hour music channel called Monstercat FM.
Los Angeles-based producer/DJ Steve Aoki broadcasted a live concert to promote the launch of his Twitch channel. The stream had more than 400,000 total views, according to Twitch, and it was responsible for almost half the clicks on the pre-order link to Aoki’s Neon Future album.
“When I performed the live concert on Twitch, the positive response paved the way for more music on the platform,” said Aoki. “Since then, the Twitch community has continued to be supportive of my channel, so providing them with content from Dim Mak is our way of giving a little back.”