Why musicians can not live stream or post music videos on facebook
Your facebook page will get banned and deleted unless you start using this work around.
It’s happening again.
I’m sorry to say that if you were solely dependent on facebook to promote your music or creative projects, this news is going to hurt.
If you’re a DJ or cover artist, solely relying on facebook, this is going to be devastating.
I’m so blown away at how unfair facebook has treated it’s page members but at the same time I do understand the concerns around performing music that isn’t yours.
Artists have always covered songs as a way to put their own spin on music they love, but facebook has decided to no longer support it.
In previous updates, they pushed for musicians to create more video and do more live streaming so seeing this kind of dramatic change in direction just drives a further divide in the music community.
But Take heart..
I do have several work around strategies listed for you at the end of my report today.
Listen to this on Podcast:
Jacqueline Jax Journalist and AVA Live Radio host gives you an update on the latest press release that has gone viral on google search. Why Musicians can not live stream or post music videos on Facebook has now become part of a larger discussion plaguing indie artists online who look to find a home for their music and live streams.
The Facts..
Facebook is once again reminding us that we are not in charge of our social media pages. They have just announced that even more restrictions are coming.
This time, the latest facebook update is slamming down hard on music video and live streaming music performance containing any kind of music.
If you use facebook to post musical experiences to your following, you will need to change your strategy as of Oct 1st, 2020.
As noted on Loudwire:
Effective October 1, Facebook is taking steps to limit the ability of bands to promote videos that will "create a music listening experience for yourself or for others."
This also extends to Facebook Live, which has been an especially popular avenue for livestreamed concerts in the pandemic era.
The language is quite ambiguous as to what constitutes a "listening experience for yourself or for others" in relation to videos, likely encompassing a large swath of music entertainment posts. The rule claims this is done because "we want you to be able to enjoy videos posted by family and friends" as the social media platform places increasing emphasis on these values.
LATEST FACEBOOK UPDATE:
As stated on the facebook update:
You may not use videos on our Products to create a music listening experience.
We want you to be able to enjoy videos posted by family and friends.
However, if you use videos on our Products to create a music listening experience for yourself or for others, your videos will be blocked and your page, profile or group may be deleted. This includes Live.
I have to admit, I’ve never promoted that musicians put all their eggs into any one social media basket. This news drives my point home with a clear reminder that we do not own our social media pages.
They can and will eventually take our social media pages away from us either through post reach restrictions, banning pages or by deleting you page with no dispute option.
Here’s what we have already seen on facebook this past few years:
- Restricted access to our followers by showing our posts to only 1% of our most active followers.
- Ban on posts with too much text on the image.
- Blocking posts that use any words that solicit or imply a call to action such as Here, click, listen, watch.
- Ban on all posts that include descriptions using sales directives such as : Cost, sale, discount, special.
- Blocking the use of the share tool when you share one post too many times.
- Banning pages that have a banner loaded with too much text.
- Limiting reach on posts that direct people off the facebook site.
I could go on with more for this list, but I know you get the picture.
What are we going to loose?
Last year a video post strategy made sense. We saw a 549% rise in engagement and post reach with a video post as compared to a linked post.
As of September 2020, the same kind of video posts are down by 31%. That’s a negative result as compared to previous video posts from months before this announcement.
To sum up the losses, we are going to loose the ability to reach an audience with music.
You will still be able to talk to an audience but with no copywriten music involved which presents a level of difficulty for musicians.
- NOTE:
- Facebook hasn’t put this in writing yet but I have heard if the artist owns 100% of the music and can prove it, they might be able to post videos and live stream it. But if the algorithm blocks them, it might still hurt the bands page and you would have to file a claim proving the content is yours with no guarantee that they will approve and unblock the page quickly.
- I have found this happens if the band page is not exactly the same name as the copy-write name on the song.
- I have also found that if you sample someones beat or use anything anyone else has created, this will be an issue for you. Posting this music to your facebook page will violate their rules and they may delete your page.
9.15.2020: Latest Update form Facebook here
In-Product Video Notifications ( from their website)
We know it can be frustrating to have a stream interrupted or to have parts of your video muted because it includes music. To minimize these interruptions and to prevent confusion around audio use, we’re also improving our in-product notifications. These notifications are intended to alert you when our systems detect that your broadcast or uploaded video may include music in a way that doesn’t adhere to our licensing agreements.
Updates include making notifications clearer and surfacing notifications earlier to live broadcasters. This will give people time to adjust their streams and avoid interruptions if we detect they may be approaching our limitations. And if your video is muted or blocked, we’ll make it clear what actions you can take to stop the interruption.
The Plan…
So how do we work around this latest Facebook update for September October 2020?
Here’s my strategy for Sept 2020:
- Go to email: I’ve always developed email.. But I’m focused on moving all my relationships to a space that I can count on. I suggest you do the same. Use the time we have left before October 1st to move as many of your followers and clients to email lists. Each email list will focus on delivering more of what that facebook page served that audience.
2. Offer and Incentive: Explain why you decided to make a shift and offer some kind of unique benefit to the people who want to signup for the list. In my case, I’m focused on serving my audience more efficiently through a combination of blog posts and emails keeping people connected to them.
- Example 1: Musicians interested in learning more about Music promotions should sign up here: Gain insights into the current music culture of our time and social media updates.
- Example 2: Never miss another article from me, sign up for my Jax Daily Newsletter and find me in your inbox every morning with words of inspiration, success stories and interesting reads : Sign up here:
3. Start loading all video to youtube and embed those videos on my own website , newsletter and on the AVA Live Radio website that doesn’t restrict music video and has plenty of traffic.
Something we already do but will be even more focused on from this point.
4. Submit articles and interview to additional press sites that I have trusted relationships with such as:
- American Pride Magazine - Indie music Spin - The 6ix Magazine - British Invasion Magazine - Medium AVA Live Radio
5. Submit articles to Music blogs I’ve worked with in the past. (See this post below)
In my experience, blog articles and feature stories with solid SEO gain more traffic long term from google search when posted to qualified website and blogs. This strategy seems less interactive but long term this is how I am able to drive those large traffic numbers.
Written by Jacqueline Jax
Journalist, Publicist and Radio host