Music in a live broadcast is the most common cause of a stream being muted or removed. The reason is that a single recording carries several distinct rights owned by different parties.
A recording carries two separate rights at minimum
The composition is one work with its own owners, and the specific recording of it is another with different owners. Using a track engages both.
A licence covering one does not cover the other, which is why a broadcaster who has cleared a song may still receive a claim over the recording.
Performing the composition yourself avoids the recording right but not the composition right, which surprises broadcasters who assume playing it live resolves the issue.
Platform licences usually exclude broadcaster uploads
Streaming services negotiate licences covering their own use of music, such as content they produce or specific catalogues they offer for broadcasters.
These agreements generally do not extend to arbitrary recordings a broadcaster plays, because the platform cannot license what it has not negotiated for.
The broadcaster is therefore the party responsible, even though the platform is the one that receives the complaint and takes action.
Detection is automated and operates after the fact
Platforms match audio against databases of known recordings, and matches are found in stored recordings and highlights more reliably than in a live feed.
This is why a broadcast can proceed without incident and the archive of it disappears or loses its audio afterwards.
Automated matching also produces errors, identifying ambient similarity or short incidental passages, and disputing these takes time the broadcaster must spend.
Game audio is licensed separately again
Music within a game is licensed by the developer for use in the game, and that licence does not automatically permit broadcast.
Publishers increasingly address this by clearing broadcast rights in advance or by providing a mode that removes licensed tracks from the mix.
Where they have not, broadcasters encounter claims for playing a game normally, which is the most confusing form the problem takes.
Licensed libraries are the practical answer
Services that license music specifically for broadcast exist, and platforms often provide their own catalogues cleared for this use.
The selection is narrower and the terms vary, particularly regarding whether archives and clips are covered as well as the live broadcast.
Because rights and territories differ, a broadcaster's safest position is to use material cleared explicitly for the use they intend rather than assuming coverage carries across.