Content creators to earn from licensed music on Facebook

The revenue sharing, which was rolled out Monday to video creators globally, will see creators who incorporate licensed music in their Facebook videos earning a 20% share of in-stream advertising income. The remaining 80% will be divided between music rightsholders and Meta, although the exact breakdown has not been revealed.

“This feature is the first of its kind within the music industry,” Meta said. “No other platform offers creators this type of revenue model at this scale.”

The revenue share applies whenever a creator uses licensed music in a Facebook video. The video must be at least 60 seconds long and there must be a visual component, as the licensed music itself cannot be its primary purpose.

The content must satisfy Facebook’s monetisation policies, community standards and music guidelines. Creators can monitor their progress on expected earnings from in-stream ads in Creator Studio.

Previously, Facebook’s licensing arrangement was based on lump-sum payments, which do not reflect consumption of individual videos and artists. This is what other platforms such as TikTok have been using.

According to Meta, video content comprises half of the time spent on Facebook. However, the model has not yet been extended to Meta’s other popular social media platform, Instagram.

For starters, eligible videos will begin earning from in-stream ads in the US, with expansion expected in the coming months to the rest of the world where music is available on Facebook.

More details and criteria for revenue sharing can be found on Meta’s Help Centre.