Licensing
Licensing Information
Last updated — May 12, 2026
A clear breakdown of what each license tier permits, what no license permits, and how to handle a dispute if one arises.
Free or low cost
Permitted
- Personal projects with no monetisation
- Student films and academic work
- Private events not broadcast publicly
- Non-commercial social media posts
Not permitted
- Any project that generates revenue, directly or indirectly
- Client work — even if the client does not pay for the audio separately
Paid — set by creator
Permitted
- Client work and agency projects
- YouTube and social media with monetisation enabled
- Advertisements and promotional content
- Podcasts and online courses
Not permitted
- Reselling or sub-licensing the audio file itself
- Claiming authorship of the original composition
Premium — set by creator
Permitted
- Everything permitted under Commercial Use
- Worldwide distribution across all platforms and territories
- Major theatrical releases and global broadcast
- Complete exclusivity — the creator will not sell this audio to anyone else after your purchase
Not permitted
- Reselling or sub-licensing the audio file itself
- Claiming copyright ownership of the underlying composition
What a License Actually Is
When you purchase audio on Auditor, you are not buying the music. You are buying permission to use it — under specific conditions, for a specific type of project.
The creator retains full copyright ownership of their work at all times. A license is a legal agreement between you (the buyer) and the creator (the rights holder), facilitated by Auditor.
Your license document — emailed to you on purchase and accessible from your account — is proof of that agreement. Keep it. If you are ever asked to demonstrate you have the right to use a piece of audio, that document is what you show.
Licenses on Auditor are perpetual. Once purchased, your right to use the audio under that license does not expire, even if the creator later removes the track from the platform or closes their account.
The Three License Tiers
Auditor uses three license tiers. Each tier defines what you can and cannot do with the audio. Read the relevant tier carefully before purchasing — the wrong license for your project can create legal problems after the fact, and we cannot retroactively upgrade a license without a new purchase.
The three tiers are Personal Use, Commercial Use, and Exclusive Use. They are described in detail in the sections below.
When in doubt, go one tier higher than you think you need. The difference in cost is almost always smaller than the legal risk of using audio outside your license terms.
Personal Use License
The Personal Use license covers non-commercial, private projects only.
The defining question is: does this project generate revenue or advance a commercial interest? If the answer is yes — in any way, directly or indirectly — Personal Use is the wrong license.
Common misconceptions:
"My YouTube video is not monetised yet" — if you intend to enable monetisation, you need Commercial Use from the start.
"It is just for a school project" — personal and academic use is fine under this tier, provided the project is not submitted for paid work or used commercially afterwards.
"I am doing it for free for a friend" — if the project serves a business purpose (a brand, a product, a service), it is commercial regardless of whether money changes hands.
Personal Use licenses are typically available on free tracks. Some creators offer low-cost personal licenses on paid tracks.
Commercial Use License
The Commercial Use license is the standard tier for professional and revenue-generating projects.
This covers the vast majority of real-world use cases — client work, branded content, YouTube, podcasts, apps, advertising campaigns, regional film and broadcast, and anything else where the audio supports a commercial outcome.
The license is non-exclusive. The creator can sell the same track to multiple buyers under Commercial Use. If you need exclusivity, you need an Exclusive Use license.
Territory and distribution: Commercial Use covers worldwide distribution for most projects. The exception is projects with major theatrical release or global broadcast across multiple countries simultaneously — contact the creator directly to discuss terms, or purchase an Exclusive Use license.
Attribution: Commercial Use licenses on Auditor do not require you to credit the creator in your final project. However, crediting the creator is good practice and builds trust within the community.
Exclusive Use License
The Exclusive Use license gives you the broadest rights available on the platform — and comes with one critical guarantee: once you purchase it, the creator agrees not to sell that audio to any other buyer.
What exclusive means in practice:
The creator will remove the track from the platform (or mark it as sold) after your purchase.
No other buyer can license the same track after your purchase date.
Buyers who licensed the track before your exclusive purchase retain their previously issued licenses — exclusivity is not retroactive.
Exclusive licenses are permanent and non-transferable. You cannot sell or assign your exclusive license to another party.
Because of the nature of the exclusive arrangement, these licenses are significantly more expensive than commercial licenses. If a creator's listed price does not match your budget, you can contact them directly to negotiate — Auditor does not set exclusive prices.
If you purchase an exclusive license and later discover the creator sold the same track to another buyer after your purchase date, contact legal@auditor.com immediately.
What No License Permits
Regardless of which license tier you purchase, the following are never permitted:
Reselling the audio file itself. You cannot distribute, sell or sub-license the raw audio to another party. Your license is for use in a project — not for redistribution of the file.
Claiming authorship or copyright. You do not own the composition or the master recording. Do not register the music with a PRO, collection society or copyright office under your name.
Removing or obscuring metadata. The audio's original metadata — creator name, track title, licensing information — must not be altered or removed from the file.
Using audio in projects that promote illegal activity. No license covers use of audio in content that is unlawful, defamatory, harmful or in violation of applicable law.
Uploading licensed audio to AI training datasets. Auditor audio may not be used to train machine learning models regardless of license tier.
Synchronisation Licensing
Synchronisation (sync) refers to the use of music in timed relation to moving images — film, television, advertising, games, online video.
All three license tiers on Auditor include sync rights for the scope of their respective tier:
Personal Use: sync for non-commercial, non-broadcast video only.
Commercial Use: sync for commercial video, advertising, YouTube, social media, regional broadcast and regional film distribution.
Exclusive Use: sync for all of the above, plus major theatrical release and worldwide broadcast.
If your project involves worldwide theatrical distribution or a major broadcast deal covering multiple territories simultaneously, purchase an Exclusive Use license or contact the creator directly to arrange custom terms.
Auditor is not a music publisher and does not collect sync licensing fees on behalf of creators beyond what is processed at point of sale. If you need a separate sync license document in addition to the standard license, contact the creator directly.
Your License Document
Every purchase on Auditor generates a license document. It is emailed to your registered address immediately on purchase and is permanently accessible from your account under Downloads.
The document includes:
Your name and email address
The creator's name
The track title and Auditor track ID
The license tier purchased
The purchase date
The permitted uses under that tier
The restrictions that apply
This document is your legal proof of rights. Store it with your project files. If you are working for a client, provide them with a copy — they may need it if the project is ever audited.
If you lose access to your license document, log in to your account and download it from Downloads → License. If your account has been deleted, contact billing@auditor.com with your purchase receipt and we will re-issue the document.
License Disputes
If a third party claims you are using audio without a valid license — a copyright strike on YouTube, a cease and desist letter, or a platform takedown — here is how to respond:
Step 1 — Locate your license document. It should be in your Auditor account under Downloads. This is the document that proves your right to use the audio.
Step 2 — Submit the license document to the disputing party. Most copyright claims on platforms like YouTube can be resolved by submitting the license document through their dispute process.
Step 3 — If the dispute persists, contact legal@auditor.com. Provide your license document, the nature of the dispute and the contact details of the disputing party. We will assist where we are able.
If you believe a creator on Auditor has issued a license they did not have the rights to issue — for example, they uploaded audio containing uncleared third-party material — contact legal@auditor.com immediately. We take these situations seriously and will investigate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes — a Commercial Use license covers YouTube, including monetised channels. A Personal Use license only covers non-monetised content with no commercial intent.
No — Auditor licenses do not require attribution. Crediting the creator is appreciated but optional.
Yes — your license covers use of that track in any project that falls within the permitted uses for your tier. There is no per-project restriction.
Purchase a Commercial Use license for the same track. The additional purchase upgrades your rights. Keep both license documents.
No — licenses are issued to the purchasing account and are non-transferable. Each end user should purchase their own license.
Yes. Licenses are perpetual. A creator removing their track or deleting their account does not affect previously issued licenses.
You can use licensed Auditor audio as the soundtrack for a video that was created using AI tools, provided the project itself falls within the permitted uses of your license tier. You cannot use Auditor audio to train an AI model.
Questions
If you have a licensing question not covered here:
hello@auditor.com — general licensing questions legal@auditor.com — disputes, copyright claims, and formal licensing enquiries
We aim to respond within one business day.
Last updated May 12, 2026. Licensing questions? hello@auditor.com