Free BGM (royalty-free background music) no longer fits with the current era. The main reason is the widespread adoption of audio fingerprinting systems like YouTube Content ID and Facebook Fingerprinting. If even one user registers a free BGM track, the system automatically flags all other users of the same track, regardless of intent.
Relying on rules or requests like “please don’t register this music” is unrealistic. Human error, ignorance, or even malicious intent will always lead to someone registering the track or handing rights management over to a third party. Once that happens, everyone else is at risk of false copyright claims or monetization issues.
The core problem lies in the nature of free BGM: the same audio is used by many people. This makes it easy for one registration to impact everyone. In today’s environment of massive scale and automation, “please follow the rules” is no longer a sustainable system.
Going forward, using music with clear rights management or creating original tracks (perhaps even using AI) becomes much more important. The era when “free BGM = safe to use” is coming to an end.
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