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Sound Recordings

Sound Recording Rule of Thumb:
There are NO sound recordings in the Public Domain in the USA.

Records, cassettes, CD's, and other music recordings come under a general category called Sound Recordings or Phonorecords.  The publication of Sheet Music placed a song or musical work under copyright protection.  Sound recordings, however, were protected by a hodge-podge tangle of state laws, but were not covered under Federal copyright law.  It was even determined that there was no federal criteria to actually "publish" a sound recording.  This was fixed with the 1972 US copyright act which officially "published" all sound recordings in existence on February 15, 1972, and 75 years of copyright protection was enacted for essentially every sound recording created in 1972 or earlier.  (1972 + 75 years = 2047).  The Sony Bono Act of 1998 extended all copyright protection an additional 20 years.  Therefore, the earliest that copyright protection will expire for any sounding recording in the USA is 2067 (2047 + 20 years = 2067).

It is important that you understand the difference between a "musical work" and a "sound recording".  A musical work and a sound recording of a musical work have separate copyright protection.  The children's song, "Three Blind Mice" is absolutely in the public domain worldwide.  You may publish it, record it,  sing it, use it in your movie, or do anything else with "Three Blind Mice" that you can ever imagine.  However, no sound recordings of "Three Blind Mice" are in the public domain.  If you want to use any sound recording - even a sound recording of a public domain song - you must either license a recording or create your own recording.

Several different copyright attorneys have given us quite complicated explanations regarding copyright protection for sound recordings, but all agree that all essentially ALL sound recordings are under copyright protection in the USA until the year 2067.  There are, of course, exceptions to everything, and we suspect that there really are some PD sound recordings.  However, the federal and state laws are so tangled and complicated, it is virtually impossible to do confident sound recording PD research.   There are several U.S. web sites claiming that sound recordings made in the United States prior to February 15, 1972, are in the public domain, and there are links to U.S. Copyright Office publications stating: "Sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, are not eligible for Federal copyright protection."  It is quite true that pre-1972 sound recordings had no Federal copyright protection, but they are still well protected under state law.  We have had this reviewed independently by several copyright attorneys across the U.S.  Each has confidently and independently told us that between federal and state copyright protection, virtually every sound recording in the USA is protected until the year 2067.

Royalty Free Music Recordings
There are music recordings and MIDI files available which can easily be licensed as "royalty free music".   Mainly used by radio, TV, film, and video professionals, a one time license fee is paid and the music can be used repeatedly without further charge.  A few royalty free public domain songs can be found, but most royalty free music is original and has been composed for use as background music.  License fees can be as high as $150 or more for a 74 minute CD.  Licensing terms vary, but once you purchase a license you can usually use the music as many times as you like for any film, video, voice-over, or multimedia project without paying any royalties.  Do read all the fine print for there are some very expensive music libraries with an annual fee plus an additional charge for each music use.  We offer a large selection of Royalty Free Music Recordings on CD/DVD and Royalty Free Music Recordings for Immediate Download.   To find other royalty free recordings,  see our Links Page or go to your favorite search engine and search "royalty free music".

Record It Yourself
Professional recordings are extremely expensive to make.  It can take 40 hours or more to record, mix, and master just one or two songs.  You must pay musicians, a producer, a sound engineer, and the studio.  Unless you have a big budget and real experience, you will have to find a sound recording to license if you must have a truly professional sound.

However, "good" music recordings can now be made at reasonable prices.   There are many small studios which charge $25 to $50 per hour.  Many individuals have personal analog or digital multi-track systems and know how to use them.  These recordings should be good enough for school projects, local cable TV, and other local or non-professional needs.  Probably the best way to find out about inexpensive recording is to talk with the musicians at your church or go to a club where local rock bands perform.  Teenage bands usually know all the "good and cheap" places to record, and local bands often will make made excellent low cost home or studio recordings.

"Good" recordings can also be made using sequencers and synthesizers or samplers.  If you hang-out a while in the keyboard section of your local music store (like Guitar Center), you can probably meet a number of musicians with home MIDI studios.  Many of these guys are willing to work for quite reasonable prices.

Before you make any agreements, be sure to listen to work previously done by both the musicians and the studio.   Generally a good musician and good sound engineer are more important than fancy equipment.  We frequently hear recordings done with a midi-keyboard and 2 track digital recorder that are incredibly good, but you must use your judgment on this.  Also have "For Hire" contracts signed BEFORE any recording is done.  Young musicians frequently do wonderful work, but if any of the musicians are under legal age, make sure you have a parental release.

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