A Simple Licensing Guide to Using Music in Your Meditations, Classes and Courses
If you're a meditation teacher, hypnotherapist, yoga instructor or healing practitioner creating recorded content, you've probably asked yourself at least once: Can I actually use this music?
It's one of those questions that feels like it should have a simple answer, but the deeper you dig, the more confusing it gets. "Royalty-free" doesn't always mean what you think it means. "Free" doesn't always mean legal. And "for commercial use" can mean different things depending on where you found the music.
The stakes aren't trivial. Using unlicensed music in your guided meditations, online courses or YouTube videos can result in copyright claims, lost revenue, content takedowns and in some cases legal action. Many practitioners discover this the hard way—after they've already sold hundreds of downloads, built a following on YouTube or launched a membership site, only to receive a cease-and-desist notice or watch their videos get demonetised because the background music wasn't properly licensed.
But navigating music licensing doesn't have to feel like decoding a legal contract. This guide breaks down what you actually need to know: what royalty-free really means, where you can legally use music, what the common licensing traps are, and how to protect yourself so you can focus on serving your clients instead of worrying about copyright bureaucracy.
If you prefer to see how all of this plays out on a single platform, the YouTube case study on publishing meditation and therapy content without constant copyright claims walks through the most common real‑world snags practitioners hit once they start uploading regularly.
What "Royalty-Free" Actually Means (And What It Doesn't)
The term "royalty-free" is one of the most misunderstood phrases in creative licensing. Many practitioners assume it means "free to use however I want," but that's not what it means at all.
Royalty-free means you pay a one-time fee to license the music, and you don't owe ongoing royalties (recurring payments) every time you use it or every time someone streams, downloads or views your content. It does not mean the music is free of copyright, and it doesn't automatically mean you're allowed to use it for commercial purposes.
Think of it this way: when you buy a royalty-free music track, you're purchasing permission to use that music under specific conditions. You're not buying the music itself, and you're not buying the copyright. The composer still owns the copyright to the original recording. What you're getting is a licence—a legal agreement that says "you can use this music in these ways, for these purposes, under these conditions."
This is why it's critical to actually read the licence terms that come with any music you purchase or download. Two tracks might both be labelled "royalty-free," but one might allow commercial use in guided meditations while the other restricts you to personal, non-commercial projects only. The label "royalty-free" tells you about the payment structure—it doesn't tell you what you're allowed to do with the music.
The Difference Between Personal Use and Commercial Use
This is the distinction that trips up more practitioners than any other. Personal use means you're using the music for your own private enjoyment or practice—listening at home, creating a meditation recording just for yourself, playing background music during your own yoga practice. Commercial use means you're using the music in any context where money changes hands, where you're building a professional offering, or where the music becomes part of a product or service you're providing to others.
Here's where it gets tricky: many practitioners assume that if they're giving something away for free, it counts as "personal use." But legally, that's not how it works. If you're recording a guided meditation and offering it as a free download on your website to attract clients to your paid services, that's commercial use—because it's part of your professional practice and it's being distributed publicly, even if no one is paying for that specific recording.
Similarly, if you're a yoga teacher playing background music during a class that students pay to attend, that's commercial use. If you're a Reiki practitioner playing music during client sessions, that's commercial use. If you're posting guided meditations on YouTube with ads enabled, that's commercial use.
The general rule: if the music is part of your professional work in any way—whether you're earning money directly from that specific piece of content or not—you need a commercial-use licence. Personal-use licences are for hobbyists, not practitioners building professional offerings.
Where You Can (and Can't) Use Licensed Music
Even when you have a proper commercial-use licence, there are usually some restrictions on how and where you can use the music. Understanding these boundaries is essential to staying compliant and avoiding problems down the road.
What Most Commercial Licences Do Allow
Guided meditations, hypnosis recordings and affirmations where your voice is the primary content and the music is a supportive background element. This is the core use case for most meditation and healing practitioners, and it's explicitly permitted under most wellness-focused commercial licences.
Live sessions, classes and workshops, whether in-person or online via Zoom, Teams or other platforms. Playing licensed music during a yoga class, breathwork session, Reiki treatment or therapy appointment is typically allowed, as long as the music is functioning as background ambience and not being recorded or broadcast to a wider audience.
Online courses, membership sites and digital programs where the music is embedded into your teaching content. If you're creating a meditation course, a healing program or a membership library and the music is part of the audio experience you're delivering, most commercial licences cover this.
YouTube, podcasts and social media content where the music sits under your voice or instruction. Many practitioners worry about YouTube Content ID claims, but if you have a proper commercial licence and can prove it (via a licence certificate and purchase receipt), you can dispute any automated claims that come through.
Client resources and therapeutic recordings that you're distributing as part of your professional services—whether that's a personalised hypnosis recording for a client, a guided visualisation you're sending to therapy patients, or a sound healing track for course participants.
Insight Timer has its own quirks too, so if that’s a core channel for you, it’s worth reading this Insight Timer‑specific licensing breakdown so you’re not surprised by platform‑specific rules later.
What Most Commercial Licences Don’t Allow
Reselling or redistributing the raw music files. You can't take the music you've licensed and sell it to someone else as a "music library" or "sound pack," give it away as a standalone download, or include it in a product where the music itself is the main offering. The licence is for using the music in your own content, not for passing it on to others to use in theirs.
Uploading music-only versions to streaming platforms. You can't take a licensed track and upload it to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music or other streaming services as if it were your own original music. Your final product must include your voice, guidance or other significant audio content—the music has to be a background element, not the primary content.
Claiming ownership via Content ID or similar systems. Some creators try to register their meditation recordings with YouTube's Content ID system, which then allows them to claim ad revenue on anyone else's videos that use the same background music. This is prohibited under most licences because it involves claiming ownership of the music itself, which you don't have—you only have permission to use it.
Sub-licensing or white-labelling. You can't license music and then give someone else permission to use it in their own projects. Each practitioner needs their own licence. If you're creating content for a client or as a contractor, make sure the licensing agreement clarifies who holds the licence and who's responsible for proving legal use.
The Most Common Licensing Traps for Wellness Practitioners
Even well-intentioned practitioners can find themselves in legal grey zones or outright violations if they're not careful. Here are the most common traps.
Trap #1: Using "free" music from YouTube or streaming playlists
YouTube and Spotify are full of beautiful meditation music, often labelled "royalty-free" or "no copyright." But most of this music is not licensed for you to download and use in your own recordings. It's meant for listening, not for redistribution. If you download a track from YouTube, layer your voice over it and upload your guided meditation, you're likely violating the creator's copyright—even if the original video said "free to use."
The only exception is music explicitly released under a Creative Commons licence that permits commercial use and derivative works (CC BY or CC BY-SA). But even then, you need to provide proper attribution, and many Creative Commons tracks come with conditions that make them impractical for professional wellness content.
Trap #2: Assuming "free for personal use" means you can use it professionally
Many stock music sites offer free downloads with a "personal use" licence. This is fine if you're making a meditation recording just for yourself. But the moment you share that recording with a client, post it on your website, include it in a course or use it in a session someone is paying for, you've crossed into commercial use and you're no longer covered by the personal-use licence.
This is one of the most common violations, and it usually happens because practitioners don't realise there's a legal distinction between "I'm not charging money for this specific recording" and "I'm using this music as part of my professional practice."
Trap #3: Using music in online content without understanding platform rules
Each platform has its own copyright policies, and they don't always align with your licence terms. YouTube's Content ID system, for example, will sometimes flag or mute audio even if you have a legitimate licence, simply because the system doesn't recognise your proof of licensing. Spotify and Apple Music have strict rules about what counts as "music" versus "spoken word with music," and if your meditation recording is categorised as music, you may need different licensing than if it's categorised as a podcast or audiobook.
The key is to understand both your licence terms and the platform's terms of service, and to keep documentation (licence certificates, receipts) readily available in case you need to dispute a claim or prove your right to use the music.
Trap #4: Not checking whether your licence covers all your use cases
Maybe you licensed a track for guided meditations, and that's going great. But then you decide to start offering live breathwork sessions using the same music, or you want to include it in a paid online course, or you want to play it during in-person client sessions. Does your original licence cover all of those uses?
Many practitioners assume that once they've purchased a track, they can use it however they want forever. But some licences are use-specific or platform-specific. Always read the terms carefully, and if you're unsure, reach out to the licensor to clarify. It's much easier to ask upfront than to deal with a violation notice later.
How to Prove You Have the Right to Use Music
Having a licence is one thing. Being able to prove you have a licence when someone questions your use is another. Whether it's a YouTube Content ID dispute, a client asking about copyright compliance, or a platform requiring documentation before approving your content, you need to be able to show clear proof that you're legally covered.
Here's what you should have on file for every track you use professionally:
A licence certificate or terms document that explicitly states what you're allowed to do with the music. At Melobleep, every purchase includes a downloadable Commercial Use Licence Certificate that outlines your permissions in plain language.
A purchase receipt or invoice showing that you paid for the licence and when. This proves that you didn't just download the music from a random website—you have a transaction record showing you obtained it legally.
The original audio files with proper metadata (title, composer, licensing info). This can help you prove that the music in your recording is the same music covered by your licence.
A backup of the licence terms as they existed when you purchased the music. Licensing terms can change over time, and you want to be able to show what the agreement was at the time you licensed the track, not what it might say years later if the terms are updated.
Keep all of this in a folder (physical or digital) that you can access quickly. If YouTube flags one of your videos or a client asks about copyright compliance, you'll be able to respond immediately with documentation instead of scrambling to find proof or hoping you can remember where you downloaded the music three years ago.
What to Look for in a Practitioner-Friendly Music Licence
Not all royalty-free licences are created equal, and not all are designed with wellness practitioners in mind. If you're building a professional practice around recorded meditations, online courses or healing audio, here's what to look for in a music licence:
Explicit commercial-use permission that covers guided meditations, hypnosis recordings, online courses, live sessions and client resources. The licence should spell this out clearly, not bury it in legal jargon.
No ongoing royalties or per-use fees. You should pay once and then be able to use the music as many times as you want across as many projects as you need, without worrying about recurring payments or per-client fees.
Platform coverage that includes YouTube, podcasts, membership sites, apps and other common distribution channels for wellness content. If the licence restricts certain platforms, you need to know that upfront.
Clear restrictions so you know exactly what you can't do (usually: reselling the music, uploading music-only versions to streaming platforms, claiming ownership via Content ID). Vague or overly complicated terms are a red flag.
Proof of licence in a downloadable format (PDF certificate, licence agreement) that you can present if questioned. A good licensor makes it easy for you to prove your rights.
Practitioner-focused support. If you have questions about whether a specific use case is covered, or you're unsure how the licence applies to a new project, you should be able to get a clear answer from the licensor. Music libraries built for wellness practitioners understand your needs and can help you navigate edge cases.
At Melobleep, every track comes with a straightforward Commercial Use Licence Certificate that covers all of this. You get clear permissions for live sessions, recordings, online programs and most common platforms, along with a downloadable certificate you can present whenever needed.
What Happens If You Use Unlicensed Music
It's worth understanding the actual risks of using music you don't have proper rights to, because the consequences aren't just theoretical—they happen to wellness practitioners every day.
YouTube Content ID claims and demonetisation. If you upload a guided meditation with unlicensed music, YouTube's automated Content ID system may detect it and either mute the audio, place ads on your video (with revenue going to the music's copyright holder instead of you), or take the video down entirely. Even if you dispute the claim, you'll need to prove your right to use the music, and if you can't, the claim stands.
Copyright infringement notices and takedown requests. If a copyright holder discovers you're using their music without permission—whether on YouTube, your website, Spotify, or anywhere else—they can issue a DMCA takedown notice that forces the platform to remove your content. In some cases, repeated violations can result in your entire account being suspended.
Legal action and financial liability. In more serious cases, copyright holders can pursue legal action for unauthorised use, which can result in statutory damages even if you weren't directly profiting from the music. This is rare for individual practitioners, but it does happen, especially if you're using high-value commercial music or distributing widely.
Damage to your professional reputation. Beyond the legal and financial risks, getting caught using unlicensed music can harm your credibility. Clients, students and peers may question your professionalism and ethics if they discover you've been building your practice on content you didn't have the right to use.
The good news is that all of this is completely avoidable. When you invest in properly licensed music from the start, you eliminate these risks entirely and can build your practice with confidence.
How Melobleep Makes Licensing Simple for Practitioners
Most stock music libraries weren't built with wellness practitioners in mind. They're designed for video editors, content creators and filmmakers, which means the licensing terms often don't clearly address the specific use cases practitioners need—guided meditations, hypnosis recordings, live healing sessions, membership sites, therapeutic audio.
At Melobleep, every track is designed specifically for practitioners who guide people with their voice, and the licensing reflects that. When you purchase a track, you get:
A clear Commercial Use Licence that explicitly covers guided meditations, hypnosis recordings, live sessions (in-person and online), online courses, podcasts, YouTube, client resources and most common wellness platforms.
No ongoing royalties. You pay once, use the music as many times as you need across as many projects as you want.
A downloadable Licence Certificate you can present if you receive a copyright query on YouTube or anywhere else.
Music designed for voice-led work, so you're not just getting legally compliant audio—you're getting tracks that actually sound good under spoken guidance and support the states you're trying to create.
You can explore the full library of royalty-free music for practitioners here, organised by modality so you can quickly find what you need for guided meditations, breathwork, Reiki, hypnosis or frequency-based work.
FAQ: Music Licensing for Meditation and Healing Work
What does "royalty-free" actually mean?
Royalty-free means you pay once and don't owe ongoing royalties per use. It does not mean the music is free of copyright or automatically allowed for commercial use. Always check the licence terms.
Can I use "free" music from YouTube in my guided meditations?
Usually no. Most YouTube music is for listening, not for downloading and redistributing. Even if it says "royalty-free" or "no copyright," that doesn't mean you're allowed to use it in your own recordings unless it's explicitly released under a commercial-use Creative Commons licence.
Do I need a commercial licence if I'm giving my meditations away for free?
Yes. If the meditation is part of your professional practice—even if you're not charging for that specific recording—it's commercial use. Personal-use licences only cover private, non-distributed content.
Can I use licensed music in my YouTube videos?
Yes, if your licence explicitly allows it. You may still receive Content ID claims from YouTube's automated system, but if you have a valid commercial licence and can provide documentation (licence certificate + purchase receipt), you can dispute the claim.
What happens if I use music without a proper licence?
You risk Content ID claims, demonetisation, content takedowns, copyright infringement notices, and in serious cases, legal action and financial damages. It's also ethically problematic and can harm your professional reputation.
Can I use the same music track in multiple projects?
Yes, as long as your licence covers multiple uses. Most commercial licences allow you to use a track across as many projects as you want. Check your specific licence terms to be sure.
Do I need separate licences for live sessions vs. recorded content?
Not usually. Most practitioner-focused commercial licences cover both live sessions (in-person and online) and recorded content. Melobleep's licence covers both.
