What fingerprinting rights management does for you, what it does not do, and which content is allowed
When someone else uses your music in a video on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or SoundCloud, you want to know about it and, where possible, earn from it. That is what Content ID (CID) is for. This article explains what CID is, which services we deliver to, what content is allowed, and what CID can and cannot do for you.
Content ID is not a monetisation tool CID is a rights management tool. It makes sure that other people's use of your audio or video is identified, monitored and, if the platform supports it, monetised on your behalf. It is not a way to generate income or royalties from your own uploads. Creating your own clips to earn money through CID is misuse, especially when you hide your music in unrelated popular content. The platforms see this as a way around their protection against monetisation abuse. It leads to takedowns of your content and termination of your account with us. YouTube may also lock you out of your own channel. |
What is Content ID?
Content ID is the name of YouTube's system for recognising copyrighted music and video. Other platforms have similar systems under different names. In our Digital Distribution service, Content ID (CID) stands for all of these services together: every rights management system that uses digital fingerprinting to find your music in videos uploaded by others.
We deliver your music to these services:
Service | Platforms |
YouTube Content ID | YouTube |
Meta Rights Manager | Facebook and Instagram |
TikTok MediaMatch | TikTok |
SoundCloud Rights Management | SoundCloud |
Other services | Further video and social media platforms that offer fingerprint matching |
You cannot use these systems yourself. Platforms only give access to partners who manage a large catalogue of music, such as labels and distributors. We do this for you.
How it works
Figure 1. How a match turns into a claim.
- We deliver your track to the CID services as a reference.
- Each platform turns the reference into a digital fingerprint and stores it in its reference database.
- Every new video uploaded to the platform is fingerprinted too and compared with the database.
- If your music is recognised, the video is claimed on your behalf.
- A policy is then applied to the video. On YouTube the standard policy is to monetise: the video stays online and we collect the income it earns for you. Other options are to only track the video's viewing figures, or to block it. What is possible differs per platform.
Behind the scenes: digital fingerprints
A fingerprint is not a copy of your track. It is a compact summary of its most distinctive features. The system turns the audio into a kind of map of frequencies over time, picks out the strongest points and turns their pattern into short codes. Comparing these codes is fast, even across millions of tracks.
Figure 2. From audio to fingerprint.
Because the fingerprint only looks at the strongest points, it still works when the audio is compressed or has background noise. If two recordings sound the same to the human ear, their fingerprints match. That is also why CID cannot tell apart recordings that sound almost identical, and why some content is not allowed (see below).
What can be delivered to CID?
To deliver to CID services, you must own 100% exclusive rights to your content in all territories that you are delivering it to. This is the most important rule. If someone else also holds rights to the same recording, or if you license it to others, the fingerprint will claim videos that you may have no right to claim. Your content must also comply with the rest of our Content Policy.
The following content is not allowed for CID:
- Tracks that are in the public domain anywhere in the world.
- Content for which you do not have 100% exclusive rights.
- Full album sound recordings (one file containing a whole album).
- Compilations.
- Live recordings, unless they sound clearly different from the original studio recording.
- Non-musical audio: generic sounds, sound effects, speech, ambient noise or meditation sounds without any music.
- Production music, samples, loops, beats or other recordings you do not own exclusively because you sell or license them (or plan to) to third parties.
YouTube's own rules are similar. It also excludes, among other things, Creative Commons content, karaoke recordings, sound-alike recordings, continuous DJ mixes and mashups.
What CID can and cannot do
Figure 3. What Content ID is, and what it is not.
Your own videos are claimed too
CID also recognises your music in the videos on your own channel or account, and claims them for you. If you do not want this, for example because you do not want ads on your videos, we can add your channel to an allowlist or release the claims on individual videos. Email us at support (support@the-source.eu) with links to your channel or videos.
If CID misses a video, we cannot claim it manually
CID processes are fully automated. Therefore, if a platform does not recognise your music in a video, for example because the audio has been sped up, pitched or buried under other sounds, there will be no claim. Unfortunately there is nothing further that can be done about this and we cannot claim videos manually at your request.
Figure 4. Recognised videos are claimed. Missed videos cannot be claimed by hand.
The only option left is to file a copyright claim (a removal request) on the platform. Be aware that this usually means the video is taken down, so you will not earn anything from it.
Revenue
The income from claimed videos is paid at a different share than the revenue share for digital distribution, because CID requires manual work from us.
Although CID is not intended to monetise and even with the lower share, CID usually earns you more than not using it at all. More importantly, it establishes and protects your rights worldwide on every platform we deliver to.
More information