Public Domain Music?

thartley

thartley

Veteran
Does anyone have a link to free music they could post? (or reference other sources I could check out?) I have done a search on the forum, but nada. I need something instrumental circa 1934 or earlier that would have been appropriate for background music in a bar, just after Prohibition.

Much thanks...
 
Re: Public Domain Music?

Thanks for that link! :) Not sure that I will find what I need for this particular project, but that is a great site and it had not turned up on any of my searches for public domain.

Alot of you may know this, but what I have learned is that music from the early 1920's and before are actually public domain at this time. Laws can vary from country to country, but for the U.S., works registered/published prior to 1922 are public domain. But nothing else will become PD until 2019.

Here's the link that explained it to me:

http://www.pdinfo.com/copyrt.htm

Of course, there is other free music out there, like the link from Glassblower, thank goodness... :)
 
Re: Public Domain Music?

I believe certain people can hold onto rights to music if they're descendants of the original creators of the music. They have to apply to the government and such in order to keep the copyright, doesn't happen often I'll bet, but there's still the chance...
 
Re: Public Domain Music?

The length of copyright extensions seems to grow every time one of Disney's protected works comes close to the public domain date.

I believe the onus is on the copyright holders and legitimate heirs to maintain the copyright and renew it when allowed...this means that some items fall into public domain from legal confusion and neglect while others stay protected until the last second of their extensions.

I also have no idea how it works in other countries, so I imagine it could get complicated.

You guys might want to check into Creative Commons, as more and more independently minded folks are releasing their material under the semi-reserved rights structure. Of course, that doesn't help the original question probably.
 
Re: Public Domain Music?

If you're looking for a big band of the era Tommy Dorsey would be a good choice.

There is music on some of the AF Band websites -- www.usafband.com the performance is free (American's have already paid for that) so if anything you see if PD grab it!

CaptM

I used to work there... this site is clean. We paid BMI and ASCAP for "broadcast" rights... but now the new copyright laws might say any mp3 on the web is actually a mechanical replication! Yikes. So... here's another site:

http://www.af.mil/band/listen.asp

Enjoy.

CaptM
 
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