Could Facebook Gaming have made a very shrewd move in terms of the streaming and mobile gaming and esports industry? That looks to be the case with the news that the company has partnered with some of the biggest names in the music industry to allow streamers to legally stream background music alongside their gaming video.
The legality of musical rights is a hugely complex issue that has been brought into sharp focus as streamers use music online. Many streamers are often unaware that broadcasting a stream that contains music could be in breach of these rights.
Multiple Key Partners in the Music Industry
In whats is a very shrewd move by Facebook Gaming, the company has partnered with multiple key partners from within the music industry to ensure that when a player on Facebook Gaming plays music while live-streaming a game, that it is done so legally and is covered by this new partnership agreement.
The list of companies that have signed up to the deal with Facebook Gaming is expansive and includes some of the biggest music companies in the world today including Sony Music Entertainment, Kobalt Music Group, BMG Publishing, Merlin, Warner Music Group, and the Universal Music Group amongst others.
The upshot of this is that streamers with Facebook Gaming will be able to play their games, stream their content and also stream music alongside that content, without falling foul of musical rights laws.
How will the system work?
Given that musical rights are complex and can differ from place to place, the system will work by identifying songs that are either covered by the agreement or not. While a great number of songs will be covered, those that are not will be muted or blocked by the provider, with notifications given to the streamer on what they can do to avoid further interruptions.
While the change has been implemented first with partners creators on Facebook Gaming, it is being rolled out to more users, but in the meantime, those without access to the wider musical library are being asked to use the royalty-free Sound Collection available on the service.
Game Changer?
The issue of what music you can play when live streaming has become a thorny and potentially expensive one, especially for key content creators and streamers and that is why this move from Facebook Gaming is a very shrewd one. By opening up many music markets for their creators, Facebook now gives them the chance to use familiar musical tracks when they stream without fear of being forced to mute the sound or take down the video.
The move comes just a short time after Facebook released an app designed to allow users to create and watch live gameplay on their mobile device.
With the closure of Mixer earlier this year, Facebook Gaming has seen a steady stream of content creators move to its new platform and this new deal will only reinforce the belief that they have made the right move, despite it still lagging behind Twitch and YouTube in terms of hours watched on each service.
The fact that Facebook Gaming does seem to be targeted more to mobile esports and gaming, particularly in regions where Twitch hasn’t yet dominated the market, is another positive for the service.
Featured Image Credits: Facebook Gaming
