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Lofi for Twitch: music that won't get your VODs muted

By Suman Kumar · October 29, 2026

A desk with a laptop and a warm lamp in a dark high-rise room, a rainy city at night outside

Twitch scans VODs for copyrighted music and mutes what it finds. What that means for background lofi, which music is actually safe to play, an OBS setting that keeps music off your VODs, and how to credit it on stream.

On Twitch, you can only play music you have the rights to: your own, music licensed for streaming, or music whose owner lets you use it, like ours with a credit line. A Spotify or Apple Music subscription doesn't count. Twitch scans VODs for copyrighted music and mutes the parts it recognises, and repeated music takedowns can get a channel suspended. Below: what's safe, how to keep music off your VODs entirely, and how to use our lofi on stream.

How Twitch handles music

  • VODs are scanned. Twitch works with a service called Audible Magic to detect copyrighted music in VODs. When it finds some, it mutes that section.
  • Takedowns are separate. A rights holder can also send a DMCA notice about a stream, clip or VOD. Channels that collect several music-related penalties can be terminated.
  • Your subscription isn't a license. Paying for a streaming service lets you listen, not broadcast.

The details are in Twitch's DMCA guidelines.

What's safe to play

  1. Music you made.
  2. Music licensed for streaming, from libraries or services that explicitly cover Twitch.
  3. Music whose owner gives permission for streams, with whatever conditions they set.

Our whole catalog falls in the third group: every track is free on Twitch and YouTube streams with the credit line Music: Neural Rhythms · neuralrhythms.io. The terms are on the free music page. If a stream or VOD with our music ever gets flagged, tell us and we'll help you sort it out.

Keep music off your VODs with OBS

If you want music live but not in your saved VODs, OBS can send different audio to each:

  1. In OBS, open Settings, Output and switch the output mode to Advanced.
  2. Under Streaming, turn on the Twitch VOD Track and choose an audio track number for it, for example track 2.
  3. Open Advanced Audio Properties and untick that track for your music source, while keeping your microphone and game on it.

Live viewers hear everything; the VOD gets your voice and game without the music. It's a good habit even with music you're allowed to use.

Getting the mix right

  • Music under your voice. Aim for music around 15 to 20 dB below your mic. Viewers leave streams they can't hear.
  • Pick steady tracks. Lofi works because it doesn't compete with you. Drops and vocals do.
  • Credit it where people look. A panel under the stream, plus a chat command like !song or !music. More credit formats.

Rooms that suit streaming

Play the coding room

Written by Suman Kumar with AI help and checked before publishing. Numbers about our own music come from our Spotify for Artists and DistroKid exports; other sources are linked in the post.

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