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Hear it now
Press play.
This is BALIMORE — written, produced and mixed by Steven Ran Cohen. Full tracks, no sign-up, no download. Four minutes is enough to know whether this is your sound.
- Platforms
- Scan automatically
- “Royalty free”
- Does not mean free
- What you need
- A license
- Risk
- VOD muted or claimed
General information about how music rights work on streaming platforms, not legal advice. Terms differ per track, per platform and per territory — always read the actual license for the specific music you are using.
What actually happens when you stream music
Twitch and YouTube run automated audio fingerprinting against a database of recordings. A match is not a judgment about fairness, it is a pattern hit — which is why a thirty-second clip under your own commentary still triggers it. The outcomes range from the VOD being muted, to the video being claimed and monetized by someone else, to a strike on the channel.
Three things that do not protect you: crediting the artist, saying “no copyright intended”, and the clip being short. None of them are legal mechanisms. The only thing that protects you is having the right to use the recording.
What the words mean
Royalty free does not mean free of charge. It means you pay once and owe no ongoing per-play royalty. Plenty of royalty-free music costs money.
Copyright free is almost always a misnomer. Someone owns the copyright; what you are being offered is a license to use it. Genuinely copyright-free means public domain, which for recordings is rare.
Creative Commons is a family of licenses with very different terms. CC0 is close to no conditions; CC BY requires attribution; anything with NC forbids commercial use, which includes a monetized channel. Read which one.
Two separate rights. A song has a composition and a recording, and they can be owned by different people. A license to one is not a license to the other — which is how people get claimed on music they thought they had cleared.
What to actually do
Use music from a source that gives you a written license naming the platforms you stream on, keep a copy of that license, and — for YouTube — check the claim status on a private upload before you publish. For music you want to use that is not in a library, ask the rights holder directly. Independent artists are generally far more approachable than catalogs, and a short, specific email gets answered more often than people expect.
Using BALIMORE music
BALIMORE is one person — Steven Ran Cohen writes, produces, mixes and owns the recordings, which means there is no label or publisher to clear and one person to ask. If you want to use a track in a stream, a video, a game, a class or anything else, write to booking@bali-more.com with what you are making and where it will run, and you will get a straight answer. Nothing on this page is itself a license or a grant of permission — ask first, and get it in writing.
Hear it, then decide
The player at the top of this page is BALIMORE — written, produced and mixed by Steven Ran Cohen. Free, no sign-up, and the sets run long enough to be a real test of anything written above.
BALIMORE sets
Continuous 20–80 minute mixes, written, produced and mixed by Steven Ran Cohen.
- Best Hits Psytrance 2027 — The Last Light1:20 · psytrance
- No Borders After Darkafro & latin
- Techno House Best Mix 2026 — Project Xpeak time
- Tech House Mix — Time To Shine Againtech house
- YouTubeplaylist
Questions people actually ask
Why do my Twitch VODs get muted?
Twitch runs automated audio fingerprinting against a database of recordings. A match mutes the affected section of the VOD. Crediting the artist, saying 'no copyright intended' and using only a short clip are not legal defenses and do not prevent it.
Does 'royalty free' mean the music is free?
No. It means you pay once and owe no ongoing per-play royalty. Much royalty-free music still costs money, and it still comes with license terms you have to follow.
What is the difference between copyright free and public domain?
'Copyright free' is usually a marketing phrase for music that is licensed to you — someone still owns it. Public domain means copyright has genuinely expired or been waived, which is rare for sound recordings.
Can I use music if I credit the artist?
Not on its own. Attribution satisfies some licenses, such as CC BY, but it is not a substitute for having a license. Check which license applies and whether it permits commercial use.
Can I use BALIMORE music in a video or stream?
Ask first. Steven Ran Cohen owns the recordings outright, so there is no label or publisher involved — email booking@bali-more.com describing the project and where it will run. This page is information, not a license.