Lickd Launches Industry-First, Mainstream Music Licensing Platform

​Lickd, the leading provider of mainstream music licensing for content creators, has now launched a ground breaking platform that empowers brands to legally use chart-topping music at scale for organic social media content on TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and Snapchat. For the first time, this innovation addresses the single largest issue facing brands on social media: the inability to legally and easily incorporate mainstream music into their campaigns.

With catalogue from Universal Music and BMG already available on the ‘Lickd for Brands’ platform, alongside the world’s biggest publishers, there is real major music industry buy-in to solving this problem, at scale.

The platform’s debut comes amid a wave of high-profile copyright infringement lawsuits that have plagued brands. The industry has seen major labels and publishers take legal action against a litany of brands in recent months and years, including Crumbl, DSW, Gymshark, Bang Energy, Marriott Hotels, multiple NBA teams and many others. With more lawsuits inevitable and imminent, Lickd’s platform offers an immediate and effective solution to prevent these costly disputes.

The viral, short form series ‘Life on Film’ recently used Lickd’s platform to incorporate Tondo by Disclosure, owned by Universal Music Group (UMG), into a branded episode for their client, L’Oréal. The seamless licensing process enabled Life on Film to legally secure a major track for social content, ensuring their work was both legally sound and creatively excellent.

The producers behind the show, Christian Baiocco and Grant Weintrob commented, “We couldn’t believe how simple and fast it was to use Lickd’s platform. We’ve shied away from licensing mainstream music for branded social content before because we know how painful, slow and frustrating the process is. This tool cut through all of that, letting us focus on the creative work, confident we had full rights clearance in place. The use of mainstream music like Disclosure’s Tondo elevated our content and made for a very happy brand partner in L’Oréal. It’s a total game-changer.”

Studies show that social media content featuring high-quality, recognisable music sees significantly increased engagement. TikTok, for example, reports that 73% of users are more likely to stop and watch content that uses popular songs. By making these tracks accessible and legal for use, Lickd empowers brands to maximise their reach and impact while avoiding legal pitfalls.

Paul Sampson, CEO of Lickd, commented, “For too long, brands have had to choose between producing mediocre content with generic music or risking costly lawsuits by using tracks without permission. Our platform eliminates this dilemma. By collaborating with the biggest names in the music industry, we’re enabling brands to create standout social content with complete peace of mind.”

As social media continues to dominate digital marketing, the ability to legally integrate mainstream music at scale gives brands a significant competitive edge. This platform not only safeguards brands from legal risks but also fosters a mutually beneficial relationship between marketers and the music industry, setting a new standard for collaboration.

Learn more about Lickd’s Music Licensing for Brands Platform by visiting Lickd’s licensing page here.