Composer & producer Moby (Richard Melville Hall) has relaunched mobygratis, his site for sharing music free instrumental music for creators.
The tracks are licensed so that they can be used by all types of creators, including filmmakers, musicians, choreographers and remixers. The tracks are licensed for free non-commercial use, or where the use generates so little revenue as to be considered “commercially insignificant.”
With the update, Moby has added more than 500 tracks, with formats including stereo mp3, stereo wav, and multitrack wav files.
If you wish to use Moby’s music for any purpose that is clearly commercial, you must apply for a separate commercial license.
Details are available at the site.
I don’t see why anyone would take a risk with this since “commercially insignificant” is so vague – “a commercial license is required for any monetized or commercial uses” which could be literally anything at this point including a Youtube video with basic ads.
Also, “The music provided on the platform cannot be used to promote: Right-wing politics or causes. Animal products” which is vague as well which can allow him to shut down any use of it for even the smallest perceived links.
Don’t touch it, plenty of actual free music out there. And besides, we have AI now to generate filler background music, so even less a reason to use this.
“You may use previously unreleased tracks on a de minimus (i.e., very limited) basis where you may be streaming to very small audiences or generating very small amounts of revenue, but if this use grows (exceeds 10,000 audio streams or 50,000 views on Youtube/Tik Tok/IG etc.) you must let us know and apply for a commercial license.”
99,999% of all music is “commercially insignificant. ” The vast majority of musicians and producers are hobbyists and go through their entire lives without making a single dime. In the very unlikely event that something becomes commercially successful, the involved parties usually reach an industry-standard agreement. There’s nothing to be afraid of.
Back when I used to listen to Moby I spotted some dj sampling where I knew the songs Moby sampled.
I knew it because I owned both a tones in tail cd and a twin peaks cd.
So mobys club track go! Consists of a shout out from tones on tail, go!
And parts of Angelo badalamenti playing on twin peaks soundtrack. Think big heavenly chords. Maybe a dx7 and reverb?
I dropped off as mobys religious views were getting more and more fundamental..some were like being a vegan but then feeding your dog vegan meals, which under nourish an animal.
After seeing some.e about animal rights and skinny puppies I decided to cut Moby out of my diet.
Fast forward to the 2000s and one of the people I saw craft work with was talking about going to see Moby. I asked how it was, was told Moby went all “evangelical revival”
So all white robes, praising god.. white light. Not as bad as spaceman 3. Spiritualized at least stopped at calling it a light. Go towards the light!
But yes. About the new Moby stems.
Did Moby ever use a wavestation
I might be interested in wavestation format.
I already sample tones on tail especiallu lions and rain and rain. Those two songs are so f****** pretty up there with Apex Twin blue calyx
I already have a copy of a DX7 and a few Twin Peaks soundtracks I can put through Reverb and delay thanks though Moby. I guess. Please feed your animals
No one likes a hungry puppy.
Where is this free music as a music partner says there’s none & he is an internet browser
who finds all ?
He is esp looking for FREE 80’s music to make vapourware with
This is really weird. He says again and again that there are no restrictions or bait & switch and “do whatever you want” and if you have any questions, the answer is probably “yes” but that is not actually the case at all if you check out the FAQ or the TOS.
Example:
Q: Can I use mobygratis music for commercial purposes?
A: Yes, but you must apply for and receive a commercial license before using the tracks in monetized or commercial projects.
I see what you did there, Moby!
Side-note: these off-angle jump-cuts between cameras have been cringey for years. For the sake of the children and kittens everywhere, please hire someone with some. practical experience or some film-school under their belt. To be fair, this isn’t a Moby thing, it’s all over the place in the synthiverse.
On the surface, maybe this is a genuine thing he’s trying, but you either give it away or not, you don’t lawyer-up for a TOS and then hope to collect on commercial license fees. That’s slimy and gross — a different kind of bait-and-switch.
“you either give it away or not, you don’t lawyer-up”
Free for non-commercial use is a standard approach for sharing music, software and many other types of creative work.
There’s nothing ‘slimy’ or ‘bait and switch’ about it. You’re using software licensed like this every day. It’s part of all modern computer operating systems.
There’s also a pretty long tradition of musicians using this approach.
Remember Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts I-IV? They gave away several albums of music as free downloads and licensed it as free to use for non-commercial purposes. But you couldn’t package their music up and sell it without paying them, which is entirely reasonable.
Moby’s doing the same thing. The only difference I see is that NIN went with Creative Commons licensing, which has become a defacto standard, and Moby’s using a custom license that excludes his music from being used in advertising for right-wing politicians and meat products. Entirely reasonable, unless you think musicians should not have any control over how their music is used.
NIN didn’t say ever say up front, “you can do whatever you want” in the first place. That’s the difference.
Went to the website to check it out, this pop up appeared when I clicked on the music saying this:
Accept the licence terms
There are only 2 things you can’t do with the music here; use it to advertise right wing politics or causes, or use it to promote meat, dairy, or other animal products.
I don’t see how this is any different from, say, the end user licensing of Reaper, where one has to consider if the ‘Personal’ or ‘Professional’ license is more appropriate to one’s situation. (And I call ‘bullshit’ on this, as it’s the same product either way.)