Licensing Basics
Can I Release a Licensed Song on Spotify?
By the Starchild Music team · September 8, 2026 · 4 min read
The short answer
Yes. Releasing your recorded version on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube is exactly what a Starchild license is for — any base tier from $30 covers it. Credit the original songwriters (as shown on your license certificate) as writers when you distribute; you own your recording.
Short answer: yes. Releasing your recorded version on streaming platforms is the core use case of a Starchild license — it's what the license exists for. Here's how it works end to end.
The flow
License the song (any base tier from $30 works for release). Record your version — from scratch, over the licensed instrumental, or starting from a personalized production. Distribute it through whoever you normally use: DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, a label. Your recording is yours; you're its master owner.
Credits: the part people get wrong
The composition isn't yours — you licensed it. So when your distributor asks for songwriter credits, enter the actual writers, exactly as they appear on your license certificate. You're the performing artist; they're the writers. Getting this right is what keeps royalties flowing to the right people and your release clean if anyone ever checks.
If a distributor or platform questions your right to the song, that's what the certificate is for: download it from your Library and reply with it. It names you, the song, the writers and publishers, the package, and the order reference — signed and verifiable.
One honest boundary
Your license covers your version. It doesn't transfer composition ownership, and it doesn't stop other artists from licensing the same song non-exclusively — if that matters for your release plan, that's what an exclusive term is for.