TikTok trending sounds: how to find them and use them legally

You can also add or replace a sound on the editing screen by tapping Sound. TikTok warns that changing the music replaces all previous background music and voices.

1. In the TikTok app, tap the Add post + button at the bottom.
2. Tap Add sound at the top of the recording screen.
3. Tap a sound to preview it, choose one from the For You, Favorites or Recent tab, or tap Search to find one.
4. Tap Favorites to save the sound, or Edit to adjust the clip.
5. Tap anywhere on the video to add the sound.

Sources: TikTok Support: Sounds, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: Editing TikTok videos and photos, checked 14 October 2026

A sound that's trending in general may not be in the Commercial Music Library. If you post as a business, check there first and choose from what's cleared. Save sounds you might use to Favorites, so you can find them again when you film.

• The Add sound screen: the For You tab suggests sounds, and Search finds specific ones.
• TikTok Studio's Trending feed, which shows content filtered by region and topic.
• The Creative Hub in the Business Suite, for Verified Business Accounts.
• The Creative Center on TikTok's business site, which tracks trends by country.
• The Commercial Music Library itself, which you can filter by theme, genre, mood and length.

Sources: TikTok Support: Sounds, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: TikTok Studio, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: Account types on TikTok, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Creative Center: Trends, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Business Help Center: How to use the Commercial Music Library, checked 14 October 2026

Only from the Commercial Music Library (CML). TikTok's Business Help Center describes it as about 1 million songs, pre-cleared for commercial use and free for businesses, and says businesses cannot use the general music library for commercial purposes.

On a business account, Add sound only shows Commercial Sounds. On a personal account you see all sounds, but you can switch: tap Sounds and choose Commercial Sounds. TikTok recommends this for any post that promotes a brand, product or service, whatever the account type.

The library's browser lets you pick the region where your content will run and shows up to 10,000 Commercial Sounds at once.

Sources: TikTok Business Help Center: Commercial Music Library, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Business Help Center: How to use the Commercial Music Library, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: Commercial use of music on TikTok, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: Account types on TikTok, checked 14 October 2026

TikTok removes sounds that break copyright restrictions or its Community Guidelines, which leaves your video muted. Open the muted video and tap View details to see whether it was a copyright claim, a guidelines issue or both. To fix it, tap Change sound, choose a new one and tap Post.

This is one more reason to keep business videos inside the CML: a muted video loses the part that made it work.

For branded content, using music from outside the CML with the content disclosure setting on means agreeing to TikTok's Music Usage Confirmation: that there's no copyright-protected music in the post, or that you've obtained and paid for every licence.

Sources: TikTok Support: A sound was removed from my video, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: Commercial use of music on TikTok, checked 14 October 2026

Preview the post after trimming. The best part of a song is rarely the start, so it's worth lining the strongest moment up with your hook.

1. Select a sound to add to your post.
2. Tap Trim next to the sound.
3. Drag the slider to choose where the sound starts.
4. Tap the Confirm tick.

Source: TikTok Support: Sounds, checked 14 October 2026

If you use an effect template on a business account, TikTok also limits you to templates made with commercially licensed music.

• You are uploading a long video. TikTok hides sounds that aren't available for long videos; set the length to 15s or 60s on the recording page to use them.
• You switched to a business account, which only shows commercially cleared sounds.
• The sound was removed for copyright or guidelines reasons.
• The creator removed their original sound. TikTok lets creators do that, and it disappears from every video that used it.

Sources: TikTok Support: Sounds, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: Editing TikTok videos and photos, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: A sound was removed from my video, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: Remove original sounds, checked 14 October 2026

To add a voiceover, open the editing screen, tap Voice, then Record. Record your audio, tap Done, then Save. You can add a voice effect at the same point.

• Choose a sound for the feeling of the video, not just because it's popular.
• Your own voice counts. TikTok's Creator Academy says original audio you create can be the right sound for your story; use Voice, then Record, to add a voiceover.
• Keep music below speech so the message is clear.
• Remember people watch on mute, so the video should still make sense with on-screen text.

Sources: TikTok Creator Academy: Elements of a TikTok video, checked 14 October 2026; TikTok Support: Editing TikTok videos and photos, checked 14 October 2026

Zolyp, which publishes this guide, is an AI social media manager: it plans, writes, designs and schedules posts for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads, and you approve the week before anything goes out. Music rights apply to every TikTok video, whichever tool publishes it. For a business, music from TikTok's Commercial Music Library or audio you own outright is the safe choice.