Can I use whatever music I want in YouTube shorts under 60 seconds?

archar

Newbie

Jun 19, 2026

32

12

• Jun 19, 2026

• #21

The plain truth about it: The absolute truth: You will be able to use the song without any problems only when adding it from the Add Soun library of YouTube. If you edit the song within your video editor software (like CapCut or Premiere), then the copyright detection syst will immediately blacklist your channel or steal money from you for that little 5-second-long song=

 

Falerb Gocala

Newbie

Feb 25, 2026

17

0

• Jun 19, 2026

• #22

I also tried it for a while and found no problems.

 

proxygo

Elite Member

Executive VIP

Jr. VIP

Nov 2, 2008

59,225

25,790

• Jun 19, 2026

• #23

using some one elses muic without permission is a nono

 

bodex

BANNED

Jul 6, 2021

24

2

• Jun 19, 2026

• #24

stick with licensed music on your Shorts

 

rex49

BANNED

Jun 23, 2021

19

1

• Jun 19, 2026

• #25

Use licensed music or YouTube's music; don't go for TikTok.

 

LUMA_PROMO

Registered Member

Mar 8, 2026

79

29

• Tuesday at 2:45 PM

• #26

Kopas said:

Some say that you can use whatever music u want in YouTube shorts under 60 seconds no matter the copyrights?

when asking gemini and chatgpt they say otherwise

what is the truth?

Click to expand...

I don’t think the 60-second rule is a thing. Using copyrighted music can still lead to a claim even if the short is under a minute. If you use music from youtube’s own shorts library, that’s a different case because those tracks are licensed for shorts

 

software_ninja

Junior Member

Jr. VIP

Feb 13, 2025

100

36

• Tuesday at 4:12 PM

• #27

I used once but got copyright claim. It is not safe to use existing library songs from YouTube. Some of the music tells you that you can use 30 but they capped within 15sec.

 

L

livik

Registered Member

Jul 29, 2026

72

6

• Tuesday at 4:37 PM

• #28

Its true that you cannot use any music in videos for youtube neither for short nor for long videos because it is against the youtube policy. If you use others or any music you can get copywrite strike and your video can also be blocked. I suggest you to choose a legal way for this, always use youtube music library. Youtube provides you a copywrite free music for your videos for free. You can add any music from that library in your videos.