Twitch is getting into music, and it has some free songs for you

Twitch broadcasters now have a library of free-to-use songs cleared for streaming and archived videos, the company announced today.

The Twitch Music Library launched with more than 500 songs from several record labels, with more of both on the way.

"Our community has been vocal about the importance of music for their broadcasts and their love of music in general," said chief strategy officer Colin Carrier. "By working with both established and upcoming record labels, we are now able to offer music for them to use that is cleared for live broadcasts and archiving."

Twitch also launched a Music category where musicians can play songs instead of games. With Twitch's approval, "certain established labels and artists" will also be able to host radio-like shows and broadcast events like music festivals.

"With our new Music category, artists are able to create and perform music on Twitch, bridging these closely linked entertainment mediums," Carrier said. "Because the response to our previous music experiments resonated with our community, it's clear that artists and labels now have a new outlet to successfully reach their fans."

Last August, Twitch began scanning pre-recorded videos to find unauthorized use of copyrighted audio. Sections of videos flagged as infringing are now muted. The company said it was "voluntarily undertaking this effort to help protect both our broadcasters and copyright owners."

Amazon announced its intention to purchase Twitch for $970 million last August as well.