Are DJ Mixes commercial use?

[djinthemakin]

I'm a beginner in the DJing world and I post my mixes online at soundcloud and mixcloud. I don't make the mixes available for download (should I?) and I don't make profit of my DJ mixes. Are they considered commercial use?

The reason why I'm asking is because some of the sites I use to get my music (legally) says that the songs available on the site are not for commercial use.

[Sigma]

Commercial use usually means making money out of the tunes.

That said, unless you have the permission of the rights holders of the tracks, in most countries it's illegal to post mixes online, even if they're streaming-only and you're not charging anything.

DJs pretty much have to break these laws and terms and conditions though. It's extremely rare that a label will take action against a DJ, other than maybe asking for a mix to be taken down cos it contains a particular track (I see that happen on YouTube occasionally). Tons of people on here post mixes online without permission of the rights holders and there are loads that DJ for money using tunes that were bought for non-commercial use only.

[TrickTheDJ]

You can sell mixes if you pay royalties or have the rights signed over to you by the artist

[mantis]

I personally wouldnt ever pay for a mix, unless its some rare mix done by a superstar dj i really like. But with so many good mixes out there from non famous artists/djs, i think there are more than enough free stuff for me not to ever buy a mix. just come to djf battle forum and listen to some of the quality stuff on here.

[Wakka]

Usually the big names give their mixes away for free... so im not so inclined to buy any because someone i like is giving theirs away for free.

[BuddyUK]

I posted an all Si Begg mix on Soundcloud and asked and was given permission by the man himself :tup:

[CC Ricers]

They're a gray area, though. Sometimes a mix that gets posted on SoundCloud by the people that performed gets a re-post on YouTube and it stays there no problem. Then the YT mix gets taken down because of a record label's copyright claim to one of the songs.