Who checks audio-only files
Not every file is headed for a video platform. People run audio through a copyright checker when they're about to publish something where a song can't be quietly replaced later:
- Podcasters checking an intro, an outro or a segment where music played in the background of an interview.
- DJs and mix makers listing what's in a mix before uploading it.
- Producers checking a beat that started from a sample, before they release it or sell it.
- Video editors checking a music bed on its own, before it goes under a whole project.
- Anyone who found a file with no name and wants to know what it is before using it.
Two copyrights in every song
A released song usually carries two separate copyrights. The U.S. Copyright Office describes them as the musical work, meaning the composition and lyrics, and the sound recording, meaning that particular recorded performance. They're often owned by different companies: a publisher for the song, a label for the recording.
That matters for what an audio checker can tell you. Fingerprinting identifies a sound recording. If your file contains a copy of a released recording, we can usually say which one and who released it. If you re-recorded the song yourself, played the melody on a piano, or sang the lyrics, the recording is new and won't match, but the composition is still someone else's.
What the audio checker reports
Upload the file. For the free check, your browser cuts a 12-second clip, from the point you choose or the middle of the file, and we identify it. For a whole episode or mix, a full scan checks every 12-second segment and returns:
- the title, artist and album of each recording it finds
- the label or rights holder, and the ISRC when there is one
- the timestamps where each recording plays
- a risk level: High risk for commercially released recordings, Check license for production-library music, No match when nothing in our catalogue of more than 150 million tracks lined up
A full scan uses 1 credit per 12 seconds of audio, so a 30-minute episode uses 150 credits.
How to check an MP3 for copyright
An MP3 is checked the same way as any other audio file. Nothing about the format changes the result, because the checker listens to the decoded sound, not the file's tags or name.
- Drop the MP3 into the checker at the top of this page, or on the home page.
- Pick the moment you want checked, or leave it and we take the middle of the file. Your browser cuts a 12-second clip and only that clip is uploaded.
- Read the result. A match names the recording, the artist and the label or rights holder. Signed-in users see the full rights details.
- Scan the whole file if the MP3 is a mix, a podcast or anything longer than one song. A full scan checks every 12-second segment and shows where each recording starts and stops.
ID3 tags (the title and artist saved inside an MP3) aren't used. A file named "royalty-free-track.mp3" can still be a commercial release, and a correctly tagged file can be a re-upload of something else, so we only trust the audio.
Audio formats you can check
The checker decodes files in your browser, so it accepts whatever your browser can play:
- MP3: the most common format, works everywhere.
- WAV: uncompressed exports from a DAW or recorder.
- M4A and AAC: iPhone voice memos, GarageBand and most phone recordings.
- FLAC and OGG: usually fine in Chrome and Firefox. If your browser can't open one, export it as MP3 or WAV first.
- Video files such as MP4 and MOV: the video copyright checker reads the soundtrack the same way.
Files can be up to 200 MB. You don't need a high-bitrate copy: the audio is mixed down to mono before matching, and fingerprinting relies on the overall shape of the sound rather than fine detail.
Limits worth knowing before you trust a clean result
We use audio fingerprinting through ACRCloud. It's very good at recognising a released recording, even under talking, and it has blind spots:
- Samples and loops. A long, unaltered sample can match the source track. A short, chopped, filtered or re-pitched one usually won't. Clearing a sample is a licensing job, not a scan.
- Interpolations and covers. Replaying or re-singing a song creates a new recording, so there's nothing to match. The composition is still protected.
- Unreleased and very new music. If it isn't in the catalogue, there's nothing to compare against.
- Heavy processing. Big tempo or pitch changes can stop a match.
- Similar-sounding music. We don't compare melodies or judge whether one song copies another.
So a No match means "this isn't a recording we know", not "this is free to use". How to tell if a song is copyrighted covers public domain, Creative Commons and royalty-free licences, and the accuracy page shows how the checker performed in our own test.
When the audio goes on a platform
If the file ends up on YouTube, even as a static-image upload or a podcast video, Content ID can match it against recordings that rights holders have registered. The YouTube copyright checker explains what a claim does. For music under a video edit, use the video copyright checker on the exported file instead, so you check exactly what will be uploaded.
Not sure what a track is at all? The song finder for videos works on audio files too. And if you want to know whether a track was made with Suno, Udio or another generator, try the AI music detector.
This page is general information, not legal advice.