To turn off commercial sounds on TikTok, switch your account from Business back to Personal in Settings and Privacy. It takes about a minute, and nothing happens to your videos, your followers, or your post history.
Before you switch, check which problem you actually have. TikTok has two separate settings with "commercial" in the name, and they do completely different things. One decides which music you can use. The other decides whether a "Paid Partnership" label shows up on your posts. Fixing the wrong one is the most common reason people follow a tutorial and end up right back where they started.
This guide sorts out which of the two you are dealing with, walks through the switch back to Personal, explains how you probably ended up on a Business account in the first place, and covers what to do if switching is not an option for you.
Music that doesn't sound like everyone else's.
Find commercial-cleared tracks beyond the CML.
Which "commercial" problem do you have?
Start here. The fix depends entirely on which of the two settings is causing the trouble, and they live in different parts of the app.
Your sounds are restricted (account type)
You tap Add Sound and the trending audio you were using last week is gone. What is left is a smaller catalog of tracks you do not recognize.
That is the Commercial Music Library, and it means your account is set to Business. There is no toggle for this. The music restriction is built into the account type, so the only way to lift it is to switch back to Personal. Skip to the six steps if that is you.
A "Paid Partnership" label is showing (ad disclosure)
Your music is fine, but a label you did not ask for is appearing on your posts.
That is a completely different setting. Go to Settings and Privacy, then Ad Settings, then Disclose commercial content, and turn the toggle off. The label disappears. Your account type does not change and neither does your music access.
If you have already turned that toggle off and your sounds are still restricted, you fixed the labeling and left the music alone. Keep reading.
How to switch back to a Personal account
Six steps, under a minute, same on iPhone and Android.
How to Turn Off Commercial Sounds on TikTok
- Open your profile
Tap the Profile icon at the bottom right of the TikTok app.
- Open the menu
Tap the three-line menu icon at the top right of your profile. On some Android versions this shows as three dots instead.
- Go to Settings and Privacy
Select Settings and Privacy from the menu that slides in.
- Tap Account
Select Account. Some app versions label this Manage Account. Both go to the same screen.
- Switch to Personal Account
Tap Switch to Personal Account. TikTok shows you a list of the Business features you are giving up.
- Confirm
Tap Switch Anyway. The change is instant. Open the video creation screen and tap Add Sound to confirm the full library is back.
If the full library does not appear right away, close the app completely and reopen it. The account change is immediate on TikTok's end, but the sound picker sometimes holds onto a cached view.
How you ended up on a Business account
Most people who hit this never chose a Business account on purpose. TikTok converts accounts automatically when you turn on certain features, and the notice is easy to miss.
The four most common triggers
- Turning on TikTok Shop. Setting up a storefront requires a Business account, so TikTok converts you as part of the flow.
- Connecting TikTok Ads Manager. Linking an ad account to run even one promoted post moves you over.
- Adding a business category or contact button. The email and website buttons on a profile are Business features. Adding one from Edit Profile converts the account, which is why a lot of people end up here without ever seeing a Business setup screen.
- Accepting a prompt during onboarding. TikTok surfaces Business setup during signup, and a lot of people tap through it without reading closely.
None of these announce that your music access is about to shrink. You find out the next time you go looking for a sound.
Check your account type before you troubleshoot anything else
Go to Settings and Privacy, then Account. Your current type is shown at the top of that screen. If it says Business, that is your answer, and the six steps above are the fix.
If it says Personal and your sounds are still restricted, try logging out, clearing the app cache, and logging back in. Restrictions sometimes stick around after a partial account change or an app update. Give it 24 hours before assuming something is broken.
What you give up by switching
Switching to Personal is not free. You lose access to:
- The TikTok Shop seller dashboard
- Advanced analytics on your posts and audience
- Ad management tools
- Profile contact buttons for email and website
What stays: every video you have posted, your follower count, your profile, your comments, and your post history. Nothing is deleted and nothing resets.
You can switch back whenever you want. Settings and Privacy, then Account, then Switch to Business Account. You will pick a business category on the way through, and the sound restriction comes back with it.
If switching is not an option
Plenty of people need the Business account. If you are running a shop or you depend on the analytics, giving those up to get trending sounds back is a bad trade.
Two things still work.
Record your own audio
The restriction only applies to music pulled from TikTok's own libraries. Anything you record yourself is fair game on a Business account. Voiceovers, a song you wrote, room tone you captured on your phone, all of it. If you have been building a sound identity for your brand anyway, this is the cleanest path.
Bring in music you have licensed
You can upload an outside track as original audio and use it in branded posts, TikTok Shop videos, and paid promotions without touching your account type. The catch is the license. It has to name social media, and it has to cover commercial use. A track labeled royalty-free is not automatically cleared for a brand post, and that gap is where people get caught. Our guide on royalty-free versus copyright-free music covers what the difference actually means.
Worth knowing before you pick either route: pre-cleared and copyright-free are not the same thing, and CML tracks stop working the moment your video leaves TikTok. Our guide to TikTok commercial sounds covers what the library actually licenses and how to source music outside it.
If you are staying on a Business account, you still need music that does not sound like everyone else's. Soundstripe's catalog of 116K tracks by real artists is licensed for commercial use on social, which covers branded posts, TikTok Shop videos, and paid promotions. Upload a track as original audio and keep your analytics, your shop, and your sound.
CML music stops when the video leaves TikTok.
Find tracks cleared for every platform you post.
Frequently Asked Questions
Go to Settings and Privacy, tap Account, select Switch to Personal Account, and confirm. The change is immediate and your videos, followers, and post history stay exactly as they are. Once you switch, the full sound library comes back for non-commercial content. The same six steps work on iPhone and Android.
Your account is set to Business, which limits you to the Commercial Music Library. The restriction covers every post from a Business account, including organic ones that have nothing to do with ads. Check Settings and Privacy, then Account, to confirm your current type. If it says Business, switching back to Personal restores the full library.
Something converted your account to Business mode, usually without a clear notice. The most common triggers are turning on TikTok Shop, connecting TikTok Ads Manager, adding a business category or profile contact button, or tapping through a Business setup prompt during onboarding. Check your account type in Settings and Privacy, then Account.
Commercial sounds is the music restriction that comes with a Business account. Commercial content is a separate toggle in Ad Settings that adds a "Paid Partnership" label to your posts. Turning off the disclosure toggle removes the label and does nothing to your music access. Switching your account type to Personal is what fixes the sounds.
No. Your followers, videos, comments, and post history all carry over untouched. What you lose is access to Business features like advanced analytics, the TikTok Shop seller dashboard, and ad tools. You can switch back at any time from the same Account screen.
You give up the TikTok Shop seller dashboard, advanced analytics, ad management tools, and the email and website contact buttons on your profile. For anyone running a storefront or relying on audience data, that trade is usually not worth trending sounds. In that case, original audio or a commercially licensed track lets you stay on Business.
Yes, from the same place. Settings and Privacy, then Account, then Switch to Business Account. You will pick a business category during the switch. Your analytics and TikTok Shop access come back, and so does the commercial sounds restriction.
Yes. The restriction only applies to music pulled from TikTok's own libraries. Anything you record yourself, whether that is a voiceover, a song you wrote, or ambient sound, can be used on a Business account. This works for audio recorded in the app and for original audio uploaded from outside it.
No. Trending audio from TikTok's main library is only available to Personal accounts. If a track in your Business account sound picker looks popular, it is a Commercial Music Library track doing well inside that library, not one from the main catalog.
