It happens to the best of us. You’re ready to post that perfect transition or a quick vlog of your morning coffee, but when you go to add that trending SZA track or a classic throwback, it’s gone. Instead, you're greeted by a library of generic, elevator-music-adjacent tracks labeled "Commercial Sounds." It’s frustrating. You feel like you've been put in TikTok jail for a crime you didn't commit.
Most people think it’s a glitch. It isn't. Usually, it's just a setting you toggled months ago and forgot about, or perhaps you made the jump to a "Business Account" because you wanted to see those juicy analytics. Either way, figuring out how to turn off commercial sounds on TikTok is mostly about understanding why the app thinks you’re a brand in the first place.
TikTok is a legal minefield. Labels like Universal Music Group and Sony have massive deals with the platform, but those deals specifically cover "personal use." As soon as a video is used to sell a product or represent a company, that "personal" license evaporates. To protect themselves (and you) from getting sued into oblivion, TikTok forces professional accounts into the Commercial Audio Library.
The Main Reason You See Only Commercial Sounds
If you’re seeing nothing but royalty-free jingles, 99% of the time it’s because you have a Business Account. TikTok treats Business Accounts differently because, well, they are for businesses. When you’re a business, using a Drake song to promote your handmade candles is a copyright violation unless you’ve paid Drake’s label thousands of dollars for a commercial sync license.
To fix this, you have to revert to a Personal Account.
Open your profile. Hit those three lines in the top right corner. Tap "Settings and privacy," then "Account." You’ll see an option that says "Switch to Personal Account."
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Once you tap that, TikTok will give you a little warning. They’ll tell you that you’re going to lose your business analytics and the link in your bio if you don't have 1,000 followers yet. If you're okay with that, confirm the switch. Restart the app. Suddenly, the entire world of trending pop music should reappear in your library. It's almost like magic, but it's really just licensing law.
Why does TikTok even have a Commercial Audio Library?
Think of the Commercial Audio Library (CAL) as a safe zone. It contains over a million tracks that are pre-cleared for brand use. If you’re a social media manager for a local gym, you have to use these. If you use a trending sound from the regular library on a business account, the video will likely be muted, or worse, the account could face a strike.
Sometimes, even on a personal account, you might accidentally tap into the "Commercial" tab within the "Add Sound" menu. Look at the top of the sound picker. There’s usually a toggle or a dropdown. Make sure it doesn’t say "Commercial Sounds." If it does, just switch it back to "All sounds."
Dealing With Muted Videos and Copyright Strikes
It’s the nightmare scenario: you spend three hours editing a video to a specific beat, you post it, and ten minutes later, it’s silent. A gray bar at the bottom says "Sound removed due to copyright restrictions."
This often happens because a song that was cleared for personal use suddenly had its licensing agreement change. Or, more commonly, you used a sound that was uploaded by a random user that contained copyrighted music. TikTok’s AI is incredibly fast at scanning for those waveforms.
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If you’re trying to turn off commercial sounds on TikTok because you want to use a specific song for a brand deal, honestly? Don’t. It’s a trap. Even if you "bypass" it by recording the audio externally, the algorithm will eventually catch it. If you’re a creator working with a brand, the brand should be providing you with a "Commercial Use" code or you should stick to the CAL to keep your account safe.
The "Personal Account" Trade-off
Switching back to a personal account isn't all sunshine and rainbows. You lose the "Business Suite." You lose the ability to schedule posts from your desktop. You lose the deep-dive analytics that tell you exactly what second people stopped watching your video.
For most people, that’s a fair trade for being able to use the actual songs that make TikTok fun. But if you’re trying to build a brand, you have to get creative. You have to find those rare royalty-free tracks that actually sound good. They do exist! Producers like Kevin MacLeod (the guy behind almost all early YouTube music) have spiritual successors on TikTok who make bangers specifically for the Commercial Library.
When the Settings Switch Doesn't Work
Sometimes, technology is just stubborn. You’ve switched to a Personal Account, you’ve cleared your cache, and you’re still seeing that "This sound is not licensed for commercial use" error.
First, try the "nuclear option." Log out of your account completely. Delete the TikTok app. Reinstall it. This clears out any lingering "business" metadata that might be stuck in the app’s local storage. When you log back in, the app should fetch your new account status from TikTok’s servers fresh.
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Another weird quirk? Check your region. Some countries have much stricter music licensing laws than others. If you’re using a VPN and it’s set to a country with limited music rights, your library will reflect that, regardless of your account type. Turn off the VPN and see if your music comes back.
The Mystery of the "Check for Copyright" Toggle
Before you post a video, there’s an "Advanced settings" section. There’s a toggle there called "Check for copyright."
Always turn this on.
It won't turn off commercial sounds, but it will tell you before you post if your chosen song is going to get you in trouble. It takes about a minute for TikTok to run its scan. If it flags the audio, you can swap it out then and there instead of having a dead video on your profile that gets zero views because it’s muted.
Summary of Actionable Steps
If you are tired of the generic music and need the trending hits back, follow this specific path:
- Verify your account status: Go to Settings > Account. If it says "Switch to Business Account," you are already on a Personal Account. If it says "Switch to Personal Account," tap it immediately.
- Refresh the app ecosystem: Close TikTok, swipe it away from your background apps, and relaunch. This forces a refresh of the library permissions.
- Audit your Sound Picker: When you go to "Add Sound," look at the header. If you see "Commercial Audio Library," look for an "X" or a back arrow to return to the general library.
- Check for "Original Sounds": If a song is missing, search for the official artist's page. Sometimes the "trending" version of a song is an unofficial upload that gets flagged, while the official version remains available for personal accounts.
- Clear your Cache: Go to "Settings and privacy," scroll down to "Free up space," and clear your cache. This won't delete your drafts, but it will clear out old data that might be keeping you stuck in the commercial view.
The reality of TikTok in 2026 is that the line between "creator" and "business" is thinner than ever. TikTok’s default stance is to be cautious. If you want the freedom to use the world's biggest hits, you have to stay in the "Personal" lane. It’s a simple toggle, but it’s the difference between a video that catches a trend and one that feels like a local furniture store commercial.