Music for Brands gives marketing teams and creative agencies lifetime-licensed, copyright-safe music from real independent artists – the same tracks already resonating with 1M+ creators.
A wave of high-profile copyright lawsuits has put brand marketing teams on notice: the music that works for individual creators is not automatically cleared for commercial use. Thematic, the music platform for independent creators, today announced the launch of Music for Brands, giving companies a direct and legally sound path to culturally relevant music for brand video content across social platforms.
The problem: what teams don’t know is costing brands
Recent copyright lawsuits involving brands including Quince, USC, Crumbl Cookies, DSW, Marriott Hotels, and Gymshark have drawn widespread attention to a gap in how brand content teams approach music licensing. In most cases, the issue is not intentional infringement – it is a common and costly misconception. Personal-use licenses, free streaming rights, and the trending audio features built into platforms like TikTok and Instagram do not extend to commercial brand use. The moment a brand posts video content using unlicensed music to its owned channels, it is exposed – regardless of where the audio came from or how widely it is used by individual creators.
The solution: music licensed for how brands actually create
Music for Brands gives marketing teams and agencies access to Thematic’s catalog of trending tracks from real independent artists, with lifetime licenses that activate at the moment of download. Licenses cover content across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other social platforms, with no annual renewals, no per-use fees, and no legal review required before publishing.
The brands already using the platform span a wide range of industries – from sports organizations and wellness educators to beauty brands, real estate agencies, and educational institutions. Among the more recognizable names: IPSY, the beauty subscription platform; blogilates, the fitness brand founded by creator Cassey Ho; and Squat University, the physical therapy and strength training brand behind two Wall Street Journal bestsellers.
On Thematic, the distinction between creator and brand is often a matter of timing rather than category. Many of the companies now using Music for Brands started as individual creator channels that grew into full businesses with teams, products, and marketing budgets. Thematic sits at that intersection by design. Its catalog has been shaped by 1M+ creators who know what sounds right for video, and Music for Brands makes that same library available to the companies those creators are building, or the brands trying to reach their audiences.
TikTok Commercial Music Library partnership
Thematic also gives brands access to emerging artist music through its partnership with TikTok’s Commercial Music Library – a program that allows select Thematic artists to opt their songs into TikTok’s official commercial licensing system. Brands running paid campaigns or organic brand content on TikTok can access these tracks legally and without risk, drawing from music that is already trending with creators and resonating with audiences organically. The result is brand content that sounds current without requiring a sync deal or a licensing negotiation.
“For the artists in our community, a placement with a brand like the NFL or Charlotte Tilbury isn’t just a streaming number, it’s a signal. We’ve seen artists light up when they see these placements. The reach these brands bring drives real fan growth, and artists are telling us it adds a layer of validation that’s hard to get any other way – the kind of thing that belongs front and center on a press kit.”
Stephanie Leyva, Director of Partnerships, Thematic
Brands that have tapped Thematic’s catalog through this partnership include the NFL, MLB, Charlotte Tilbury, FashionNova, PacSun, Primark, Mountain Dew Australia, and USC Athletics – spanning professional sports leagues, global fashion retail, and prestige beauty, all drawing from the same emerging artist catalog that Thematic’s 1M+ creators use every day.
“Brand content teams are working faster than ever, and music is often the last thing on the checklist. The lawsuits we’ve been seeing aren’t happening because brands don’t care about licensing. They’re happening because the tools brands have been given were built for a different era of content creation. Music for Brands is built for how teams actually work today: fast, visual, social, and at scale.” Marc Schrobilgen, Co-Founder and CEO, Thematic
About Thematic
Thematic is a music platform for independent creators, connecting a community of 1M+ content creators with 10,000+ independent music artists. Since launching, the platform has facilitated 5M+ song placements across 2M+ videos, driven 95M+ new fans for independent music artists, and generated more than $127 million in earned media value. Thematic is co-founded by Michelle Phan, Marc Schrobilgen, and Audrey Marshall and is based in Culver City, CA.
