• Wondering which camera, gear, computer, or software to buy? Ask in our Gear Guide.

public domain songs?

WhiteOpus

WhiteOpus

Hey there,

does anybody have a LEGITIMATE list of songs that can be legally used for free in a film? It seems like anything recorded after 1923 is screwed...copyrights keep getting renewed (up to 95 years now???).

I'm looking for a vaudeville style song in public domain. Please, ANYBODY with info, reply! This is infuriating. I'd selected the current song I'm using because it was listed as public domain by the website, but upon further inspection (conveniently right after I finished the final edit), it turned out it's still under copyright.

AAAAAGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG this is seriously so frustrating. I have a feeling that there is literally NO music which isn't under some kind of copyright, because of its needing to be translated into digital form and a company had to be there to do that (and likely renewed the copyright in the process).

HELP!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
There are several reliable sources. I know you WO, you used a search
engine. So you must be looking for something other then the sites
listed on Google.

What, exactly, are you looking for? While there are thousands of songs
in the public domain I take it you're looking for a downloadable, recording
that is in the public domain. Am I right? So not only does the song need
to be in the PD but the recording of the song needs to be in the PD.

I'm sure you checked pdinfo.com and pdmusic.org because those pop
up in a Google search. Nothing there?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
directorik said:
There are several reliable sources. I know you WO, you used a search
engine. So you must be looking for something other then the sites
listed on Google.
Click to expand...
Aren't there really only two basic ways of getting information on the internet? Search engines and asking on forums? I don't mean to sound needy, I just think that the forum is a great tool to use. I always try to do as much research and problem solving before coming to IT as my "last chance" resource.

I did see the resources you posted, thanks for that. Unfortunately, these don't go into whether the actual recording is in the public domain like you said. In order for anything to be in the public domain then, wouldn't it have to be on actual Vinyl, recorded AND printed in 1922? It seems like in reality, nothing that is on the internet is public domain, unless the original vinyl has been translated into digital form by someone who doesn't claim a copyright on it.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
WhiteOpus said:
Aren't there really only two basic ways of getting information on the internet? Search engines and asking on forums? I don't mean to sound needy, I just think that the forum is a great tool to use. I always try to do as much research and problem solving before coming to IT as my "last chance" resource.
Click to expand...
I know you do which is why I asked my question.

I apologize.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I'm guessing that you don't have a specific song in mind, only a specific style.

WhiteOpus said:
I'm looking for a vaudeville style song
Click to expand...

Why don't you ask one of the many composers here on IT to write you something? Or even adapt a public domain song. When you mix you can futz the quality of the track to your hearts content from band-in-a-hall to old-time radio to dirty, cracked vinyl.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Alcove Audio said:
I'm guessing that you don't have a specific song in mind, only a specific style.



Why don't you ask one of the many composers here on IT to write you something? Or even adapt a public domain song. When you mix you can futz the quality of the track to your hearts content from band-in-a-hall to old-time radio to dirty, cracked vinyl.
Click to expand...

Well, the song I was originally using was "I'm Following You" by The Duncan Sisters (recorded in 1929).

I didn't ask anyone here to compose the song because I needed it to have that vaudeville female voice sound, wanted as much authenticity as possible, AND I have zero budget OR time to get the song made.

I'm submitting to festival on March 15th. If anyone can compose a similar track (with vocals) by then, I promise to do some video-related work in return. Anybody?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Did you post an ad anywhere? I'm sure there's someone out there who can do it. Being able to produce something "quickly" - five (5) weeks is a long time - is practically sine qua non for composers/songwriters; just as it is for the rest of us.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
WhiteOpus said:
In order for anything to be in the public domain then, wouldn't it have to be on actual Vinyl, recorded AND printed in 1922?
Click to expand...

What you're suggesting would be a physical impossibility, as vinyl recording was not invented until the early 1930's and didn't become a consumer format until after WWII. In the early 1920's there were a variety of competing formats available; wax cylinders and disks, celluloid coated media and shellac based media. All these types of media are relatively unstable and there are probably very few original recordings from that period in existence which are actually playable. Bare in mind that analogue sound recording was not invented until the mid 1920's so any prior recordings would have to have been very carefully restored and re-mastered, a difficult task which even when done by an expert provided relatively poor results and simply wasn't worth the effort for all but a few recordings.

Alcove's advice is probably your only practical solution.

G
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
directorik said:
Not generally. They are quite accurate. Remember in most cases
the song is PD but not every recording of the song is.
Click to expand...
Is there a way to tell if a specific recording of a song is PD? It seems like it's nearly impossible to find the actual recording information for these songs - and because of what APE said, it seems like NOTHING recorded before 1923 is even in existence anymore (meaning the wax cylinders or whatnot).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mlesemann said:
Maybe I'm missing something, but if you found a PD song that you like, why not get a local band to record it in exchange for some free publicity and a credit?
Click to expand...
I could always try to do that; I just figured it's a thousand times easier to download something from youtube that isn't still under copyright. I'm under the impression now, doing that is essentially impossible.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
rayw said:
Why is this such a difficult thing to google and record straight from the internet?

http://www.pdmusic.org/
http://publicdomain4u.com/
https://musopen.org/about/
Click to expand...
It's not difficult to download music from the internet. I want to submit to festival. Are you saying that nobody's even going to notice if I just use some of the music I posted earlier? I'm just saying I don't want to download the "public domain" music, spend ~$75 submitting to festival only to have it rejected because of copyrighted music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sUe28J921U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ao63TvxvPk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWvFUQCiYhI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOobf6z4b14
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top