HOW TO FIND MUSIC FOR TIKTOK

When it comes to an app taking over the world in record time, look no further than TikTok. Launched in its current global-form in 2018, TikTok has raced to the top of the social-media ranks with astonishing speed. By early 2025 it had been downloaded over 5.3 billion times worldwide. Which naturally means it’s a huge challenge to make your content stand out from the crowd - especially since TikTok is all about short-form videos.

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How do you grow your audience and build a community as a brand on TikTok? The No. 1 best-performing content type on the platform is storytelling. And what adds to a great story? Music.  Music for social media has been an important element of online success for years, but music for TikTok? With TikTok users apparently eight times more likely to remember a brand for the unique sounds and songs it uses in its videos than other elements such as visual style, colour, slogans or logos, according to Shopify, music is particularly fundamental.

Understanding TikTok’s music-centric approach – and leveraging it – is crucial for brands and businesses. When a user uploads a video with a particular song, others can easily click on the song to create their videos – which sparks a chain reaction and a potential trend. Research by MRC Data and Flamingo flags that 68% of TikTok users prefer brand videos featuring popular or trending songs, while original brand content with unique sounds is favoured by 62% of TikTokers, so don’t underestimate the importance of innovative audio strategies in brand marketing. A growing trend is for brands commissioning their own TikTok-friendly hits to capitalise on music as a tool for engaging with TikTok’s audience.

TikTok can not only take your content viral, but it can also be the key to breaking an artist or a track into the global mainstream. Just look at Doja Cat’s ‘Mooo!’ and ‘Juicy’, or ‘Say So’, which blew up the internet when Hayley Sharpe created a cute dance routine to it. Or remember in 2019, when Lil Nas X dropped the iconic hip hop country track ‘Old Town Road’ onto his TikTok account first? Countless users hopped onto the #YeeHaw viral country music challenge. Olivia Rodrigo might’ve been a TV star fans knew from High School Musical, but when she teased the first recording of ‘Driver’s License’ on TikTok, she became an international music sensation.

What Music Can I Use for TikTok?

Whether you’re looking for music for TikTok dances or TikTok LIVE, “where can I get music for TikTok?” is still a pretty vital question. Not only do you need to find that perfect track, but you also need to make sure you’re not using copyrighted material without the correct licence or permissions.

TikTok, much like YouTube, has strict copyright rules around using music that isn’t your own or properly licensed. If you upload a video using copyrighted music that you don’t have rights to, TikTok may mute the audio, block the video, or remove it entirely - and repeat violations can lead to account restrictions or removal.

To stay compliant and avoid takedowns, strikes, or even legal action, these are your main options when choosing music for your TikTok content:

• If you’re an artist, you can use your own original music.
• Use public domain music - generally, copyright expires 70 years after the composer’s death (though this can vary by region).
• Creative Commons music - some artists release tracks under Creative Commons licences, which let you use their music legally (often with attribution). Always double-check the licence terms before posting.
• License music through Audio Network - offering pre-cleared, high-quality music for use across social platforms, including TikTok, with clear licensing to protect your content and brand.

How Do I Find the Right Music for TikTok?

Audio Network create original, high-quality music with straightforward licensing that covers you globally. And it’s incredibly easy to search our huge collection of tracks for the one that’s right for you. Jump into our playlist hub, where you’ll find hundreds of themed playlists hand-picked by our in-house experts. From capturing that festival feeling to fashion, via real life stories, and even the best seasonal specials, you’ll find a huge number of good songs for TikToks.

You can also search for the genre or mood you want – whether it’s hip hop or pop, classical or country, and from inspirational to zen, we make choosing music fast and straightforward. There are numerous versions and mixes available of your chosen track - some of them are just a few seconds long, making them ideal for TikTok.

Using Music on TikTok

Want trending music for a business account? Knowing where to find what music’s trending on TikTok can be a great shortcut to boosting your views and engagement when you’re looking to harness the power of sound to make your brand stand out.

For personal or creator accounts, you can still use TikTok’s search function - type “viral sounds” and head to the Sounds tab to see trending audio clips and how many videos they’ve been used in. You can also scroll your For You page to spot which tracks and sounds are starting to take off.

For business accounts, TikTok now offers more tailored tools:

• Visit the TikTok Creative Center and head to Music to see trending tracks by region, category or growth rate.
• Explore TikTok’s Commercial Music Library, which now features hundreds of thousands of pre-cleared tracks approved for business use - far beyond the small royalty-free catalogue it once had.

You can also find inspiration beyond TikTok itself. Spotify is still a great place to spot what’s hot - search “TikTok” and browse curated playlists, including TikTok’s own verified account featuring the latest viral hits.

And if you want ready-to-license trending tracks for your brand’s TikTok content, check out our #Trending playlist. It’s packed with fresh, high-quality music that’s pre-cleared for all platforms - making it simple to find the right sound and stay fully licensed while keeping your content current.

Social Media + Music

So, now you know why music is so important for TikTok, and how it can really propel your brand, if you want to find out more, read our deep dive on why sped-up sounds are so popular on the platform. Want to find music for Instagram as well as TikTok? We’ve got all the information on that too, plus everything you need to know about licensing music for YouTube.