Music in trade fair videos: licences, GEMA, social media libraries

Why music works differently from pictures

When you book a photographer or videographer, the usage rights to the photos and footage of your stand come with the job. Music is different. A song belongs neither to you nor to the film crew, but to people and companies that have nothing to do with your show. Putting it into a video needs their permission.

A released song usually carries two sets of rights:

• The composition and lyrics, held by the songwriters and usually a music publisher.
• The recording, held by the record label or the performing artists.

Combining music with moving images needs what the industry calls a synchronisation (sync) licence, for both sets of rights. For a promotional or corporate video, registering with a collecting society is generally not enough; publisher and label have to agree. With well-known tracks this is expensive and slow, and rarely possible for a show video that should be online within 24 hours of the show closing.

This guide is practical guidance, not legal advice. For binding answers, ask your legal team or a media lawyer.

GEMA in plain words: what it covers and what it does not

GEMA is the German collecting society for composers, lyricists and music publishers, comparable to PRS in the UK, SACEM in France or ASCAP and BMI in the US. Through sister societies abroad it also represents much of the international repertoire, so a chart song from the US or Korea is generally covered as soon as it is played in Germany.

Two situations matter for exhibitors:

Music in your video

A known track under your show film needs publisher and label approval, as described above. A GEMA licence on its own does not cover combining a song with a promotional video.

Music on your stand

Music played on your stand, whether as background, during an activation or as the soundtrack of a video looping on a screen, counts as public performance. In Germany this generally requires a GEMA licence, which the exhibitor applies for. How registration works at your fair is often explained in the organiser's exhibitor manual. Check it before the show, not on the build-up day.

One German particularity is worth knowing: GEMA generally assumes that music played in public belongs to its repertoire. If you use GEMA-free music, be ready to prove it, for example with a written confirmation from the music library and a track list.

Royalty-free music libraries: the usual route

Music for trade fair videos usually comes from production music libraries. Royalty-free means neither free of charge nor free of rights. It means you pay for a licence once, per track or through a subscription, and then pay no further fees per view or broadcast.

Read the licence terms before the edit starts. These points decide:

If your company already licenses music at home, for example a campaign track, check whether that licence covers a show video, the territory and your channels. For the structure of a short clip, see our guide to the 30-second highlight video.

Music from Instagram, TikTok and other apps

Inside the platforms' apps, a current song goes under a clip in a few taps. Convenient, but limited:

• The licence stays inside the platform. An app's music library is licensed for posts in that app. If you download the video and put it on your website, on YouTube or on the stand screen, the licence does not travel with it.
• Business accounts often see a restricted selection. On several platforms, business accounts only get a library of commercially cleared music, and songs trending on personal accounts are missing. Terms change, so check the current rules in each app.
• Paid ads are regulated separately again. An organic post with in-app music cannot simply be boosted as an ad.

For vertical clips, a practical approach: deliver the clip without music or with licensed library music, and let whoever posts it add a sound from the app's commercial library if wanted. The master file stays usable everywhere.

Background music: hall, neighbouring stand, live stream

At a trade fair there is almost always music somewhere: on the neighbouring stand, on a stage, from a hall speaker. It ends up in your footage. A track heard faintly in the background is a different matter from a recognisable song under your promotional video. Still:

1. In the recap video, the original hall sound is usually replaced by the chosen music or turned well down.
2. For interviews, ask for the music on your own stand (booth) to be turned down or off while recording. It helps legally and in the edit, because music under a voice jumps audibly at every cut. More in our guide to on-stand interviews.
3. In a live stream, background music is transmitted publicly. Platforms often detect known songs automatically and mute the sound or interrupt the stream. See live streaming from the stand.

The safest option is a video that also works without music, with original sound, subtitles and clear pictures. Our guide to trade fair video without language shows how.

Checklist: clearing music for your show video

1. Before the show: decide whether your video needs music. If there is a brand sound or campaign track, check whether its licence covers show videos.
2. Check the exhibitor manual: rules and registration for music on the stand, volume, demonstrations.
3. In the briefing: tell the videographer where the video will run, including paid ads, the stand screen and markets abroad. The right licence depends on it.
4. During the edit: document track, library and proof of licence.
5. After publishing: answer claims from YouTube or Instagram with the proof of licence rather than ignoring them.
6. In the archive: store the licence with the video.

When we edit a show video at Pixer, we agree the music with you beforehand: a track from a licensed library, your own licensed brand sound or deliberately no music at all. This text does not replace legal advice; for campaigns with wide reach or well-known songs, ask a media lawyer.

The short version

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