FAQ

Usage of my music will be handled on a case-by-case basis, and there may be instances where I am more lenient or strict on enforcing guidelines. I reserve the right to protect the rights to my work if I deem it necessary, even if all guidelines are followed. Companies, corporations, groups, agencies, or commercial entities, and their associates, are not permitted to use my work in any way, shape, or form, unless given explicit license by me.

  • Yes, but only as long as these conditions are met:

    1. Only upload and/or perform your cover on YouTube¹

    2. Do not monetize or commercialize your cover

    3. Do not use or perform your cover in a setting, event, video, or stream that is commercial or monetized²

    4. Allow your cover to be claimed by me on YouTube³

    5. Clearly state in your upload title and description that it is a cover⁴

    6. Do not use any of the original song's art or video assets⁵

    7. Do not offer downloads of any kind of your cover⁶

    8. Credit me in the upload title, description, and video of your cover

    9. Credit all performers and arrangers applicable to the original instrumental in the upload description and video of your cover

    10. Provide a link to the original song's YouTube music video in your cover's upload description⁷

    11. Do not deconstruct or extract stems from my music using any type of software or technology, A.I. or otherwise

    12. Do not use A.I. to reconstruct or remake my music

    13. Maintain the integrity of the original song

    (1) I currently have no way of being remunerated for covers or performances of my music outside of YouTube and would prefer that you ONLY use YouTube for covers and performances.

    (2) Some examples of this include (but are not limited to): archived or unarchived karaoke performances; live, in-person or online, concert events; pre-recorded performances played at an event; etc.

    (3) Covers and performances will be claimed by "Audiam", who claim and collect royalties from covers and performances of my music on my behalf. Contact me at "contact@cepheid.net" if you think your cover has been claimed incorrectly.

    (4) Here are some title formatting examples if you're not sure how to format them:

    • Cepheid - [SONG] (Cover by [YOU])

    • (Cover) [YOU] - [SONG] (Original by Cepheid)

    (5) This includes but is not limited to: The cover video, thumbnail, social media promotional post, etc.

    (6) This includes but is not limited to: Cover, cover snippets, or acapella recordings provided on a free file hosting service and/or premium service such as Patreon, SubscribeStar, YouTube Memberships, Ko-fi, etc.

    (7) If the original song you wish to cover does not have an official YouTube music video upload, you may substitute the link with the song's official Bandcamp or Spotify link.

  • Unfortunately, no. I do not give out instrumentals for songs that don't have their instrumentals publicly available. You can still cover the song, but you'll have to recreate the instrumental from scratch.

  • No, stems for my music are not publicly available.

  • You can use my music in your Twitch/YouTube streams provided that it is used as background music and not the focal point of the stream. I’d highly recommend using PretzelRocks to use my music on stream as it will directly support me monetarily if you do.

  • I do not take music commissions.

  • I only do audio work for professional and large commercial projects. I do not take commissions for hobbyist projects.