Musopen

If you love music or even better, free music, I have a wonderful link for you today. As we know, in recent years, a lot of controversy has been created due to music sharing. Most of the artists are against this and the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has created quite a ruckus by prosecuting people who are downloading music illegally from the Internet and sharing it with others. In such times, it seems impossible to think that someone could be sharing free music online in a legal way, right? Well, today it is possible. Musopen is one Web site to thank for that. The goal of the Web site is to share the music that is available to the public, free of cost.

So, how are these people able to share music for free? It's quite simple really. They share music that has no copyrights or music that is freely available in the public domain. Now, don’t expect to find your favorite Garth Brooks song there, because the kind of music they have uploaded on Musopen is mainly in the classical genre. Think more Beethoven than Britney Spears. Since the music is so old and no one holds the copyrights anymore, it's yours for the taking.

The interface is rather simple. You can either browse the entire collection to see if your favorite pieces of music are there or if you are new to classical music, you can click on "Random music" to do some browsing. The music is categorized according to composer, style, period, instrument and performer.

Another favorite thing of mine on this site is the Musopen radio. It’s just perfect if you don’t want to download the music, but just want to listen to it. The speed of the buffering is rather fast and the quality is pleasant. If you are new to classical music, I suggest you go through the learning pages first, which will tell you a lot about classical music and its glorious past.

There are virtually no limitations to what you can do with the music you find here, but for ethical purposes, they request that you do not sell the music. If you do use it commercially, you should at least mention Musopen.com in the credits.

You can also contribute back to the project by providing them with any copyright free recordings that you might have in your possession. If you have any songs of your own, you can offer them as well, but do remember, once you provide Musopen with your songs, they do become public property.

This should be exciting for many people, especially those of you who just love classical music. The quality of the music is satisfactory and there’s no guilt involved in downloading this free music. So, what are you waiting for? Head on over to www.musopen.com and browse their music collection today. Enjoy!

~ Yogesh Bakshi