could I use Miles Davis, or a Zappa instrumental, for the background music? I can find a few that don’t have ASCAP on them. I remember last year them talking about somthing with the lyrics being copywritted.
I would always ask to use some ones music. The only artist that I know of that ever released their music into the public domain was the Grateful Dead, and they were specific that you could not profit from it.
Asking is the easy part. Explain about FIRST and your team and how cool it’ll be to associate with the program. Tell them how you will use the music and for how long you will use it.
Make sure to acknowledge them on your website.
BUT…
Check your download times. Music can really slow down a site. It is best to code for dial-up.
Have some way for your users to turn off the music if they want to.
Personally, I surf with the sound off.
$0.02
Did the Dead officially do that? My source (http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/faq.html) seems to say that they still own the copyrights to the songs–they just were very loose with taping shows.
And be really really careful with the ASCAP stuff and everything. Someday I’ll figure out why you need two licenses to play a song recording.
As best I can tell this is the latest statement on it from the Dead.
http://www.dead.net/hotline_info/NEW_DOCUMENTS/mp3.html
My read of it is that they allow recordings made by tapers to be exchanged and used as long as no commercial gain is realized. However, recordings that were sold by their record companies, as I presume that includes the few on Round Records, are not free to share.
Strangers stopping strangers just to shake their hands
thats too much work, im lazy and a musician, so ill just make my own song.