When you submit a release for distribution through InterSpace, your audio is automatically run through an advanced audio fingerprint scan before it is sent to stores. This scan compares your recording against a global database of registered tracks and compositions to detect samples, interpolations, loops, acapellas, or any portion of another copyrighted recording.
If that scan finds a sample, an unlicensed sample, or a remix built on someone else's recording, the release will be delivered to normal streaming and download stores but will not be delivered to user-generated content (UGC) platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat (Sound). This is the most common reason a release goes live everywhere except those few platforms.
Why UGC platforms are treated differently
TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat are UGC platforms: your music can be added by millions of people to their own videos, reels, and stories. Because the audio is re-used by the public, these platforms apply a far stricter copyright standard than a normal streaming store.
A UGC platform will not accept a recording that contains material it cannot verify you are allowed to license out to its users. If it delivered a track with an uncleared sample, every video made with that track would also be infringing. To avoid this, releases flagged for samples or remix content are withheld from those platforms.
"But I supplied a license"
This is the most important point to understand:
- A license that covers distribution to streaming stores does not automatically cover UGC use. UGC rights — the right for the public to reuse your audio in their own content — are a separate, higher tier of clearance and are very often excluded from sample and remix licenses.
- Many original rights holders do not grant UGC rights at all, regardless of fee.
- For this reason, in most cases a release that contains a sample or remix will remain ineligible for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat even after a license is provided, and it will not be delivered to those platforms.
This is not a decision InterSpace makes arbitrarily. It reflects the licensing terms attached to the original material and the UGC platforms' own content policies — the platforms retain final say.
How you'll be notified
You do not have to guess. When our fingerprint system flags a release during distribution, a notification is posted to your dashboard after you submit, letting you know that the release has been flagged and which delivery (the UGC platforms) is affected. Your release continues on to all other stores in the meantime.
My release is already live but missing from Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram or TikTok
If your release is live on most stores but missing only from those platforms, this is almost always the same thing: the fingerprint scanner flagged it for an unlicensed sample, remix, or other third-party material, and the UGC platforms were excluded from delivery for that reason. It is intentional, not an error or a delay — and as explained above, supplying a license usually does not change it.
What still gets delivered
A flag for samples or remix content only affects the UGC platforms. Your release will still be delivered to and remain available on all standard streaming and download stores (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube Music, Deezer, Tidal, and the rest).
What you can do
- If you believe the flag is wrong (for example, the audio is 100% original or uses only royalty-free/cleared material), open a support ticket with your release title and UPC and our team will request a manual review of the scan result.
- If a sample or remix is present and you hold a license, submit your documentation to our team. We will assess it, but the license must explicitly grant UGC / social-platform rights for delivery to those platforms to be possible — and even then the platforms have the final say.
- To make a release fully UGC-eligible, the simplest path is to re-upload a version with the sampled or remixed material removed or replaced with original / fully-cleared audio.
In short
Releases containing a sample, an unlicensed sample, or a remix are detected by our advanced fingerprint system at submission and are not delivered to UGC platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. In most cases this remains true even when a license is supplied, because UGC rights are a separate clearance the platforms rarely accept. You'll be notified in your dashboard after submitting, and the release stays live on all standard stores.
If you have questions about a specific release, please open a support ticket with your release title and UPC and our team will look into it.