Open Music Archive Projects - User contributions [en]

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2006-04-04T23:37:35Z

86.129.122.242:

'''[http://www.openmusicarchive.org Open Music Archive]''' initiated by artists Eileen Simpson & Ben White, is a collaborative project to source, digitise, and distribute out of copyright music recordings.

'''Open Music Archive Projects''' is a forum for projects using material from the archive. Use this wiki to [[Feedback%2C_suggestions_and_project_ideas | post feedback, suggestions or project ideas]].

==Dragline @ Swiss Institute NY==

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[[Image:Dragline.jpg|left|300px]]

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Preview of new film Dragline made in collaboration with [http://www.chanceprojects.com Chance Projects] showing at:

[http://www.swissinstitute.net Swiss Institute] 495 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10012

Thursday March 23, 7pm

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==Open Music Archive presents an Evening of Free Music and Films==

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[[Image:Mygoodniss exterior.jpg|left|300px]]

Thanks to everyone who came down! It was great.
Archive playlist and remixes will appear here soon.

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[[Image:Flyer stamp.jpg|left|450px]]

[[My_Goodniss|Archive playlists, remix samples, and photos]]

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==British Art Show 6, Manchester (28th Jan -2nd April 2006) ==

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[[Image:BALTIC_03.jpg|left|150px]]
[[Image:Britishartshow.png|left|150px]]
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We were invited by artists [http://www.chanceprojects.com Neil Cummings & Marysia Lewandowska] to collaborate on Screen Tests for the British Art Show 6 in Manchester. Screen Tests is a film composed entirely of material found and released from the North West Film Archive. The ten minute film is accompanied by a sound track made from out-of-copyright recordings. These source recordings are available in the Open Music Archive to download:

[http://www.openmusicarchive.org/audio/Grandmas_Ball.mp3]
[http://www.openmusicarchive.org/audio/Intro_And_Tarantelle.mp3]
[http://www.openmusicarchive.org/audio/O_Patria_Mia_From_Aida.mp3]
[http://www.openmusicarchive.org/audio/Oi_ya_nestchastay.mp3]
[http://www.openmusicarchive.org/audio/Umbrellas_To_Mend.mp3]

Screen Tests is now showing at [http://www.urbis.org.uk Urbis]

On 18th February (6-8pm) at [http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk The Whitworth Art Gallery] a DJ remix of Screen Tests was performed live by Ben White.

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==OMA @ Open Congress, Tate Britain==

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[[Image:OCslideshow_48.jpg|left|300px]]

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Open Music Archive presented at Open Congress (Tate Britain 7th-8th October 2005)

[http://opencongress.omweb.org Open Congress] was Inspired by Free Software: software that challenges conventional practices of authorship, ownership and distribution. The innovative congress explored these implications for art, visual culture and cultural production in general.

For Open Congress, Open Music Archive presented a DJ set of music made entirely of samples of out-of-copyright music recordings, mainly sourced from 1920s 78rpm records. An accompanying [[Open Congress slideshow images | slideshow]] uncovered the process of tracking this material.

[[Open Congress performance images]]

[http://www.tate.org.uk/onlineevents/archive/open_congress/sound.htm Tate Online Events Archive (video of the performance)]

Listen to an excerpt of the live performance: [http://www.openmusicarchive.org/projects/audio/Open_Congress_excerpt.mp3 MP3 (5.3MB)] | [http://www.openmusicarchive.org/projects/audio/Open_Congress_excerpt.ogg Ogg Vorbis (3.7MB)]

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==DJ Performance of Screen Tests, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art==

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[[Image:BALTIC_02.jpg|left|300px]]

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Ben performed a live remixed version of Screen Tests at the launch of British Art Show 6 (September 2005) at BALTIC, Newcastle.

[[BALTIC_images | Photos of the performance]]

Further live performances are scheduled for Manchester, Notingham and Bristol

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==Future Projects==

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[[Image:MyGoodniss_7.jpg|left|300px]]

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[[Future Projects | Future collaborations and distributive projects.]]

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Futuresonic 2006

2006-04-04T16:41:52Z

86.129.122.242: /* Open Music Archive presents Leverage */

==Open Music Archive presents Leverage==

[[Image:Open.jpg|500px]]

4th April 2006

Dear Drew/Futuresonic,

It was great to finally meet up and talk in Manchester at our event [[My_Goodniss|Open Music Archive Presents an Evening of Free Music and Films]] . We are looking forward to participating in [http://10.futuresonic.com Futuresonic 2006] and we’re enthusiastic about contributing to the festival’s theme of collaborative culture and independence movements in music, art and technology.

As you know, our project [http://www.openmusicarchive.org Open Music Archive] is a collaborative initiative to source, digitise and distribute out-of-copyright sound recordings. We are independent artists and see our project as a response to the closing down of creativity that is imposed by copyright.

Everything generated by the Open Music Archive is available to be shared and built on and with this in mind, for Futuresonic 2006, we have decided to pay particular attention to distribution of out-of-copyright/copyleft material, through the creation of tools for future production.

'''This is what we propose:'''

It was always our intention for the Open Music Archive to provide a resource of recordings to be shared and sampled in a space outside of a royalty-generating economy. We recently created [[My_Goodniss|new electronic music]] using sounds and samples from the ‘source tracks’

Our new project ''Leverage'' proposed for Futuresonic 2006 centres around the creation of a copyleft licensed 12 inch vinyl record containing a range of samples, beats and extracts from the archive in a format referencing scratch tools, breaks compilations and battle-records. A live event held during the festival will feature DJs performing short scratch sets using multiple copies of the vinyl tool.

As I’m sure you are aware, battle records are explicitly designed as tools for DJs. Often the breaks, beats and samples collected on these records are created from tracks that are not officially licensed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_records]. In contrast, ''Leverage'' will feature rare recordings and new remix tracks, short vocal snippets, percussive noises, sounds, samples, breaks and beats – all in the public domain or copyleft licensed and available via the Open Music Archive website.

For reference - here’s some records:

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=40795 Q-Bert - Breaktionary (Dirtstyles)]

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=36350 DJ Swamp - Never Ending Drum & Bass Loops (Decadent)]

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=35831 Five Deez - Table Noise Vol 3 (Traffic)]

We also intend to include some full tracks – both original source material and new remixes. Our context for this approach includes the short tracks of [http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=41599 J Dilla AKA Jay Dee - Donuts (Stones Throw)] and [http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=16523 Strictly Breaks]

The ''Leverage'' event will feature original music from the archive and showcase short sets from local DJs – each commissioned to create a short scratch set of around 10 minutes using the Open Music Archive vinyl tool. All DJ performances will be licensed under Creative Commons ShareAlike and all future derivative works will be licensed in the same way. The performances at the event would be recorded and archived at www.openmusicarchive.org/futuresonic and the vinyl tool available to buy or as a free download.

It is intended that the vinyl tool, once distributed to a network of producers, will enable future production that exists outside of the usual commercial and bootleg economies. We aim to insert ''Leverage'' into this existing network of commercial production to prise open new possibilities.

We’re currently putting together a budget and timescale. To make this happen we would need to:

1. Partner with Futuresonic to apply to funders to create copies of the record (dub-pressings and vinyl manufacture).

2. Work with Futuresonic to identify DJs for the project and advertise for participation via existing networks.

3. Work with organizations to ensure wider participation including: [http://www.dj-academy.com] [http://www.s-s-r.com/custom.asp] and URBIS Education.

4. Identify a date/venue for the event.

5. Source equipment (PA system, turntables, etc).

6. Secure a pocket of funding to commission DJs to create/perform 10 minute sets (5 DJs at £150 each).

[[Talk:Futuresonic_2006|We look forward to hearing your comments]]

Eileen and Ben

Futuresonic 2006

2006-04-04T16:12:56Z

86.129.122.242: /* Open Music Archive presents Leverage */

==Open Music Archive presents Leverage==

[[Image:Open.jpg|500px]]

4th April 2006

Dear Drew/Futuresonic,

It was great to finally meet up and talk in Manchester at our event [[My_Goodniss|Open Music Archive Presents an Evening of Free Music and Films]] . We are looking forward to participating in [http://10.futuresonic.com Futuresonic 2006] and we’re enthusiastic about contributing to the festival’s theme of collaborative culture and independence movements in music, art and technology.

As you know, our project [http://www.openmusicarchive.org Open Music Archive] is a collaborative initiative to source, digitise and distribute out-of-copyright sound recordings. We are independent artists and see our project as a response to the closing down of creativity that is imposed by copyright.

Everything generated by the Open Music Archive is available to be shared and built on and with this in mind, for Futuresonic 2006, we have decided to pay particular attention to distribution of out-of-copyright/copyleft material, through the creation of tools for future production.

'''This is what we propose:'''

It was always our intention for the Open Music Archive to provide a resource of recordings to be shared and sampled in a space outside of a royalty-generating economy. We recently created [[My_Goodniss|new electronic music]] using sounds and samples from the ‘source tracks’

Our new project ''Leverage'' proposed for Futuresonic 2006 centres around the creation of a copyleft licensed 12 inch vinyl record containing a range of samples, beats and extracts from the archive in a format referencing scratch tools, breaks compilations and battle-records. A live event held during the festival will feature DJs performing short scratch sets using multiple copies of the vinyl tool.

As I’m sure you are aware, battle records are explicitly designed as tools for DJs. Often the breaks, beats and samples collected on these records are created from tracks that are not officially licensed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_records]. In contrast, ''Leverage'' will feature rare recordings and new remix tracks, short vocal snippets, percussive noises, sounds, samples, breaks and beats – all in the public domain or copyleft licensed and available via the Open Music Archive website.

For reference - here’s some records:

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=40795 Q-Bert - Breaktionary (Dirtstyles)]

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=36350 DJ Swamp - Never Ending Drum & Bass Loops (Decadent)]

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=35831 Five Deez - Table Noise Vol 3 (Traffic)]

We also intend to include some full tracks – both original source material and new remixes. Our context for this approach includes the short tracks of [http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=41599 J Dilla AKA Jay Dee - Donuts (Stones Throw)] and [http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=16523 Strictly Breaks]

The ''Leverage'' event will feature original music from the archive and showcase short sets from local DJs – each commissioned to create a short scratch set of around 10 minutes using the Open Music Archive vinyl tool. All DJ performances will be licensed under Creative Commons ShareAlike and all future derivative works will be licensed in the same way. The performances at the event would be recorded and archived at www.openmusicarchive.org/futuresonic and the vinyl tool available to buy or as a free download.

It is intended that the vinyl tool, once distributed to a network of producers, will enable future production that exists outside of commercial and bootleg economies. We aim to insert ''Leverage'' into this existing network of commercial production to prise open new possibilities.

We’re currently putting together a budget and timescale. To make this happen we would need to:

1. Partner with Futuresonic to apply to funders to create copies of the record (dub-pressings and vinyl manufacture).

2. Work with Futuresonic to identify DJs for the project and advertise for participation via existing networks.

3. Work with organizations to ensure wider participation including: [http://www.dj-academy.com] [http://www.s-s-r.com/custom.asp] and URBIS Education.

4. Identify a date/venue for the event.

5. Source equipment (PA system, turntables, etc).

6. Secure a pocket of funding to commission DJs to create/perform 10 minute sets (5 DJs at £150 each).

[[Talk:Futuresonic_2006|We look forward to hearing your comments]]

Eileen and Ben

Futuresonic 2006

2006-04-04T16:12:21Z

86.129.122.242: /* Open Music Archive presents Leverage */

==Open Music Archive presents Leverage==

[[Image:Open.jpg|500px]]

Dear Drew/Futuresonic,

It was great to finally meet up and talk in Manchester at our event [[My_Goodniss|Open Music Archive Presents an Evening of Free Music and Films]] . We are looking forward to participating in [http://10.futuresonic.com Futuresonic 2006] and we’re enthusiastic about contributing to the festival’s theme of collaborative culture and independence movements in music, art and technology.

As you know, our project [http://www.openmusicarchive.org Open Music Archive] is a collaborative initiative to source, digitise and distribute out-of-copyright sound recordings. We are independent artists and see our project as a response to the closing down of creativity that is imposed by copyright.

Everything generated by the Open Music Archive is available to be shared and built on and with this in mind, for Futuresonic 2006, we have decided to pay particular attention to distribution of out-of-copyright/copyleft material, through the creation of tools for future production.

'''This is what we propose:'''

It was always our intention for the Open Music Archive to provide a resource of recordings to be shared and sampled in a space outside of a royalty-generating economy. We recently created [[My_Goodniss|new electronic music]] using sounds and samples from the ‘source tracks’

Our new project ''Leverage'' proposed for Futuresonic 2006 centres around the creation of a copyleft licensed 12 inch vinyl record containing a range of samples, beats and extracts from the archive in a format referencing scratch tools, breaks compilations and battle-records. A live event held during the festival will feature DJs performing short scratch sets using multiple copies of the vinyl tool.

As I’m sure you are aware, battle records are explicitly designed as tools for DJs. Often the breaks, beats and samples collected on these records are created from tracks that are not officially licensed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_records]. In contrast, ''Leverage'' will feature rare recordings and new remix tracks, short vocal snippets, percussive noises, sounds, samples, breaks and beats – all in the public domain or copyleft licensed and available via the Open Music Archive website.

For reference - here’s some records:

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=40795 Q-Bert - Breaktionary (Dirtstyles)]

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=36350 DJ Swamp - Never Ending Drum & Bass Loops (Decadent)]

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=35831 Five Deez - Table Noise Vol 3 (Traffic)]

We also intend to include some full tracks – both original source material and new remixes. Our context for this approach includes the short tracks of [http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=41599 J Dilla AKA Jay Dee - Donuts (Stones Throw)] and [http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=16523 Strictly Breaks]

The ''Leverage'' event will feature original music from the archive and showcase short sets from local DJs – each commissioned to create a short scratch set of around 10 minutes using the Open Music Archive vinyl tool. All DJ performances will be licensed under Creative Commons ShareAlike and all future derivative works will be licensed in the same way. The performances at the event would be recorded and archived at www.openmusicarchive.org/futuresonic and the vinyl tool available to buy or as a free download.

It is intended that the vinyl tool, once distributed to a network of producers, will enable future production that exists outside of commercial and bootleg economies. We aim to insert ''Leverage'' into this existing network of commercial production to prise open new possibilities.

We’re currently putting together a budget and timescale. To make this happen we would need to:

1. Partner with Futuresonic to apply to funders to create copies of the record (dub-pressings and vinyl manufacture).

2. Work with Futuresonic to identify DJs for the project and advertise for participation via existing networks.

3. Work with organizations to ensure wider participation including: [http://www.dj-academy.com] [http://www.s-s-r.com/custom.asp] and URBIS Education.

4. Identify a date/venue for the event.

5. Source equipment (PA system, turntables, etc).

6. Secure a pocket of funding to commission DJs to create/perform 10 minute sets (5 DJs at £150 each).

[[Talk:Futuresonic_2006|We look forward to hearing your comments]]

Eileen and Ben

Futuresonic 2006

2006-04-04T16:06:31Z

86.129.122.242: /* Open Music Archive presents Leverage */

==Open Music Archive presents Leverage==

[[Image:Open.jpg|500px]]

Dear Drew/Futuresonic,

It was great to finally meet up and talk in Manchester at our event [[My_Goodniss|Open Music Archive Presents an Evening of Free Music and Films]] . We are looking forward to participating in [http://10.futuresonic.com Futuresonic 2006] and we’re enthusiastic about contributing to the festival’s theme of collaborative culture and independence movements in music, art and technology.

As you know, our project [http://www.openmusicarchive.org Open Music Archive] is a collaborative initiative to source, digitise and distribute out-of-copyright sound recordings. We are independent artists and see our project as a response to the closing down of creativity that is imposed by copyright.

Everything generated by the Open Music Archive is available to be shared and built on and with this in mind, for Futuresonic 2006, we have decided to pay particular attention to distribution of out-of-copyright/copyleft material, through the creation of tools for future production.

'''This is what we propose:'''

It was always our intention for the Open Music Archive to provide a resource of recordings to be shared and sampled in a space outside of a royalty-generating economy. We recently created [[My_Goodniss|new electronic music]] using sounds and samples from the ‘source tracks’

Our new project ''Leverage'' proposed for Futuresonic 2006 centres around the creation of a copyleft licensed 12 inch vinyl record containing a range of samples, beats and extracts from the archive in a format referencing scratch tools, breaks compilations and battle-records. A live event held during the festival will feature DJs performing short scratch sets using multiple copies of the vinyl tool.

As I’m sure you are aware, battle records are explicitly designed as tools for DJs. Often the breaks, beats and samples collected on these records are created from tracks that are not officially licensed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_records]. In contrast, ''Leverage'' will feature rare recordings and new remix tracks, short vocal snippets, percussive noises, sounds, samples, breaks and beats – all in the public domain or copyleft licensed and available via the Open Music Archive website.

For reference - here’s some records:

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=40795 Q-Bert - Breaktionary (Dirtstyles)]

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=36350 DJ Swamp - Never Ending Drum & Bass Loops (Decadent)]

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=35831 Five Deez - Table Noise Vol 3 (Traffic)]

We also intend to include some full tracks – both original source material and new remixes. Our context for this approach includes the short tracks of [http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=41599 J Dilla AKA Jay Dee - Donuts (Stones Throw)] and [http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=16523 Strictly Breaks]

The ''Leverage'' event will feature original music from the archive and showcase short sets from local DJs – each commissioned to create a short scratch set of around 10 minutes using the Open Music Archive vinyl tool. All DJ performances will be licensed under Creative Commons ShareAlike and all future derivative works will be licensed in the same way. The performances at the event would be recorded and archived at www.openmusicarchive.org/futuresonic and the vinyl tool available to buy or as a free download.

It is intended that the vinyl tool, once distributed to a network of producers, will enable future production that exists outside of commercial and bootleg economies. We aim to insert ''Leverage'' into this existing network of commercial production to prise open new possibilities.

We’re currently putting together a budget and timescale. To make this happen we would need to:

1. Partner with Futuresonic to apply to funders to create copies of the record (dub-pressings and vinyl manufacture).

2. Work with Futuresonic to identify DJs for the project and advertise for participation via existing networks.

3. Work with organizations to ensure wider participation including: [http://www.dj-academy.com] [http://www.s-s-r.com/custom.asp] and URBIS Education.

4. Identify a date/venue for the event.

5. Source equipment (PA system, turntables, etc).

6. Secure a pocket of funding to commission DJs to create/perform 10 minute sets (5 DJs at £150 each).

We look forward to hearing your comments.

Eileen and Ben

Futuresonic 2006

2006-04-04T15:50:20Z

86.129.122.242:

==Open Music Archive presents Leverage==

Dear Drew/Futuresonic,

It was great to finally meet up and talk in Manchester at our event [[My_Goodniss|Open Music Archive Presents an Evening of Free Music and Films]] . We are looking forward to participating in [http://10.futuresonic.com Futuresonic 2006] and we’re enthusiastic about contributing to the festival’s theme of collaborative culture and independence movements in music, art and technology.

As you know, our project [http://www.openmusicarchive.org Open Music Archive] is a collaborative initiative to source, digitise and distribute out-of-copyright sound recordings. We are independent artists and see our project as a response to the closing down of creativity that is imposed by copyright.

Everything generated by the Open Music Archive is available to be shared and built on and with this in mind, for Futuresonic 2006, we have decided to pay particular attention to distribution of out-of-copyright/copyleft material, through the creation of tools for future production.

'''This is what we propose:'''

It was always our intention for the Open Music Archive to provide a resource of recordings to be shared and sampled in a space outside of a royalty-generating economy. We recently created [[My_Goodniss|new electronic music]] using sounds and samples from the ‘source tracks’

Our new project ''Leverage'' proposed for Futuresonic 2006 centres around the creation of a copyleft licensed 12 inch vinyl record containing a range of samples, beats and extracts from the archive in a format referencing scratch tools, breaks compilations and battle-records. A live event held during the festival will feature DJs performing short scratch sets using multiple copies of the vinyl tool.

As I’m sure you are aware, battle records are explicitly designed as tools for DJs. Often the breaks, beats and samples collected on these records are created from tracks that are not officially licensed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_records]. In contrast, ''Leverage'' will feature rare recordings and new remix tracks, short vocal snippets, percussive noises, sounds, samples, breaks and beats – all in the public domain or copyleft licensed and available via the Open Music Archive website.

For reference - here’s some records:

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=40795 Q-Bert - Breaktionary (Dirtstyles)]

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=36350 DJ Swamp - Never Ending Drum & Bass Loops (Decadent)]

[http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=35831 Five Deez - Table Noise Vol 3 (Traffic)]

We also intend to include some full tracks – both original source material and new remixes. Our context for this approach includes the short tracks of [http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=41599 J Dilla AKA Jay Dee - Donuts (Stones Throw)] and [http://www.smallfish.co.uk/default.asp?release=16523 Strictly Breaks]

The ''Leverage'' event will feature original music from the archive and showcase short sets from local DJs – each commissioned to create a short scratch set of around 10 minutes using the Open Music Archive vinyl tool. All DJ performances will be licensed under Creative Commons ShareAlike and all future derivative works will be licensed in the same way. The performances at the event would be recorded and archived at www.openmusicarchive.org/futuresonic and the vinyl tool available to buy or as a free download.

It is intended that the vinyl tool, once distributed to a network of producers, will enable future production that exists outside of commercial and bootleg economies. We aim to insert ''Leverage'' into this existing network of commercial production to prise open new possibilities.

We’re currently putting together a budget and timescale. To make this happen we would need to:

1. Partner with Futuresonic to apply to funders to create copies of the record (dub-pressings and vinyl manufacture).

2. Work with Futuresonic to identify DJs for the project and advertise for participation via existing networks.

3. Work with organizations to ensure wider participation including: [http://www.dj-academy.com] [http://www.s-s-r.com/custom.asp] and URBIS Education.

4. Identify a date/venue for the event.

5. Source equipment (PA system, turntables, etc).

6. Secure a pocket of funding to commission DJs to create/perform 10 minute sets (5 DJs at £150 each).

We look forward to hearing your comments.

Eileen and Ben

Future Projects

2006-04-04T15:21:25Z

86.129.122.242: /* Futuresonic 2006 */

==Futuresonic 2006==
'''International festival of electronic music and media arts, Manchester'''

[[Futuresonic_2006|Open Music Archive will contribute to Futuresonic 2006 who will be celebrating 10 years of the festival.]]

The Futuresonic 2006 festival will explore the theme of Independence, looking at collaborative cultures and independence movements in art, technology and culture. Futuresonic was formed 10 years ago at a time when there was a emergent musical and digital culture that was outside the mainstream, collaborative and peer-to-peer. Today a centre of gravity has shifted towards the world of hackers, bloggers, free networks, open source, social software and civic technologies. What has remained constant has been the emphasis on social autonomy and independence of creative practice. Futuresonic 2006 will explore the state of independence today, and showcase independent music, arts and technologies that are open, emergent, collaborative and ad-hoc.

[http://www.futuresonic.com/ Futuresonic's website]

==Feedback==

The next issue of Feedback will focus on participatory projects. Open Music Archive are hoping to contribute to this issue.

[http://www.whitechapel.org/content.php?page_id=321 More information on Feedback]

Artists Eileen Simpson & Ben White have recently initiated the Open Music Archive project to source and distribute music that has fallen out of copyright. The Open Music Archive is situated within the current discourse surrounding notions of authorship, ownership and distribution, reanimated by a porting of Free/Libre and Open Source software models to wider creative contexts.

<gallery>
image:OCslideshow_30.jpg
image:OCslideshow_04.jpg
image:OCslideshow_63.jpg
image:OCslideshow_65.jpg
</gallery>

Property rights are founded on the principle of limitation and because copyright removes works from the public domain, they deny the legal possibility of free creative use by others. The Open Music Archive is concerned with the public domain and creative works whose proprietary interests have expired; music that is not owned by any one individual and is held in common by society as a whole.

Under copyright law, a music recording has two automatically assigned propety rights: A musical compositon has a property right and a recording has a separate and independent property right. These rights are limited by term. In the UK, the term of copyright in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work is limited to the life of the author plus 70 years, while the term of copyright in a sound recording is limited to 50 years from the date of recording.

We have painstakingly tracked down out-of-copyright 78rpm recordings, digitised them, and will distribute them via the Open Music Archive website. The full tracks will be available as source recordings for use and re-use as material for future creative exchanges (full site launch: 9th Jan 2006). The project aims to share this resource and to build a larger archive in open collaboration with others. The archive website will distribute this music freely, form a site of exchange of knowledge and material, and be a vehicle for future collaborations and distributed projects.

'''Audience Participation:'''

The next issue of Feedback will focus on participatory projects. Open Music Archive is built using an Open Source model. Users are able to interact with the archive by uploading and downloading recordings, and existing material can be tagged by any user, creating new ways to navigate and group material.

The projects area of the site uses a wiki engine. Unlike a standard wesite, a wiki allows any user to contribute, participate, and make changes to the content. Users can remix tracks from the archive, generate discussion, and post their new work to the website using Creative Commons licences.

Open Music Archive establishes a deterritorialised and autonomous zone constructed from material lying beyond the boundaries of property law. The archive does not attempt to interpret material in a fixed way but to make it available for participation and new possibilities. The archive can grow though open participation with no fixed boundaries or limits.

Capital looks for potential resource in everything. Open Music Archive, on the other hand, does not operate to harvest out-of-copyright recordings for money-profit, its motivation is enthusiasm for the enrichment of the public domain.

[http://www.openmusicarchive.org/preview.html Preview some of the archive recordings]

[http://www.openmusicarchive.org/projects See current projects]

==Open Music Archive presents Free Songs==
'''A Proposal'''

[[Image:Free_Songs.jpg|left|300px]]

Artists Eileen Simpson & Ben White have recently initiated the Open Music Archive project to source and distribute music that has fallen out of copyright. The Open Music Archive situates itself within the current discourse surrounding notions of authorship, ownership and distribution, reanimated by a porting of Free/Libre and Open Source software models to wider creative contexts.

Property rights are founded on a principle of limitation and because copyright removes works from the public domain, they deny the legal possibility of free creative use by others. The Open Music Archive concerns itself with the public domain and creative works that are not owned by any one individual and held in common by society as a whole. We have painstakingly tracked down original 78rpm recordings, digitised them, and placed them in a web-based archive. The full tracks are available as source recordings for use and re-use as material for future creative exchanges and is a vehicle for collaborations and distributed projects.

We propose to continue to reanimate the archive by inviting bands to respond to source recordings by performing cover versions of songs. The bands will select from a compilation of twenty source tracks from the Open Music Archive; mostly 1920s recordings of jazz, blues, and country songs (examples are included) The cover versions will be recorded and Creative Commons ShareAlike licences will be used to license the ‘new’ recordings so that their constituent parts become, in perpetuity, a legally protected creative resource.

'''Background'''

From early in the 20th Century it was common practice among record labels to have singers or musicians "cover" a record that was a significant commercial hit. They would then release the song on their own label in hopes of cashing in on the tune's success. Today, covers continue to win audiences who like to hear a familiar song. New artists are often introduced to the record buying public with performances of well-known, "safe" songs; the chance of commercial success can be increased and credibility gained by using a proven hit. Popular tunes are relentlessly revamped by boy bands, a Stars in their Eyes contender, or Brenda from X-Factor.

Through our project, the commercial device of the cover version is negated; the tracks are unlikely to be familiar to the audience and they don’t generate money through royalties because their property rights have expired.

‘Open Music Archive presents Free Songs’ seeks to deconstruct the cover version, disrupt authority in the archive, and deny the legal and commercial structures of the music industry. We aim to enrich rather than deplete the public domain and reclaim what is public in an age of relentless privatization.

'''Example source songs from the archive'''

[http://www.openmusicarchive.org/audio/Pinetops_Boogie_Woogie.mp3 Pinetop's Boogie Woogie by Clarence Smith]