SoundzAbound - Royalty Free Music Library For Schools

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When crediting Soundzabound on your presentations or posting our link to your website, please show as "ROYALTY FREE MUSIC by Soundzabound".

Q: Can I legally use 30 seconds of copyrighted music in my project or presentation?

A: You may use 10% of a copyrighted piece of music for face-to-face instruction directly related to your course content. You may not safely use in a video, pod-cast, broadcast, powerpoint or synchronize with any other form of multimedia without written permission from the copyright holder. You also may not post to website or record in any format. The U.S. Copyright Office also states: "The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines or notes that may be safely taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission."

Q: How does Soundzabound license the music?

A: By individual school site. Blanket licenses are available for districts, regions, and consortiums; however, sites must be accounted for in the purchase. Bulk pricing is available by calling Toll Free at 1-888-834-1792. Soundzabound is the only royalty free music for education which meets all licensing requirements for grades K-12 and universities.

Q: I purchased a song legally from i-tunes. Can I not use it in my video at school? A: No. You purchased the song for home and personal use, not for public or educational use. You do not own the rights to the music; the copyright holder(s) own the rights to the material. And, you do not have synchronization rights to mechanically use the music.

Q: What about for educational use?

A: The Fair Use Guidelines for Education were written in 1997 and have become antiquated by the digital age. Technology is moving too quickly, and the guidelines have not been re-visited in all these years. Besides, these are "guidelines", and the copyright holder(s) control the rights to their music. If they want to press charges because you did not get permission, they can file a lawsuit. It is best that 10% of the material used is for related course content, and conducted face-to-face in a classroom setting. By synchronizing with video, PowerPoint, pod-casting, broadcasting, or putting on a website, you are subjecting yourself to a lawsuit.

Q: Don't you think this legal aspect is too strict for educators, and that we are not able to take an advantage of our educational rights within the guidelines?

A: Better safe than sorry. Technology is moving way too quickly for educators to act safely within the laws. This is the safe approach. Besides, copyright holders, labels, producers, artists and everyone involved in the record industry are hungry regardless of how much money they make. Even though you may not be making a profit, if they think they can get some money out of a school or district, they will certainly try.

Q: How do I demonstrate ethical practices to my teachers, students and administrators?

A: By being a leader and doing it yourself. Regarding ethics, we can not be hypocritical. No drugs at school means don't bring drugs to school. Obeying the laws on plagiarism means we do not plagiarize. In that case, we can no longer turn a blind eye or ear to the music copyright laws. The law is the law, and so long as it is, we obey it. Be a leader, act ethically, and your people will follow.

Q: How do I teach ownership, especially to a student?

A: That is best demonstrated by our current artists and developers at Soundzabound. Many are in their early 20's, and only a short time ago were coming up through our local schools. Guess what? Now that they are creating and developing, they want to get paid for their works! Though your students may not understand ownership right now, in just a few short years, they will. How can they if you don't lead the way?

Q: But, many artists give away their music in order to further promote themselves...

A: That's great if they want to do that. But, let that be their decision, NOT YOURS. You don't own the music to decide how it gets promoted. Let that be the decision of the copyright holder(s), and be careful, as not many artists own all the rights to their music. There may be 20 hands in the pie when it comes to copyright ownership. In order to obtain permission, you have to get written permission from all. In summary, obeying the copyright laws for music is much like the current seatbelt law. In the past, nobody wore seatbelts. Over the years, people get hurt, liability becomes an issue, and it becomes the law. Now, if you get in a car and don't buckle up, people look at you strangely. Obeying music copyright law has become much the same in the last several years. Due to liability, educators are buckling up. If you think other people are doing it (they are), but a growing majority are seeing the danger as technology evolves in education, and are thinking wisely so as not to bring infringment upon their site, sytem or network. Be a forward thinker. Get some royalty free music, and...buckle up.

Q: How do I use royalty free music by Soundzabound in Apple’s Garageband

A:

1. 1. Open your GarageBand song and open Soundzabound's site and log-in
    
2. 2. Select MP3 for download
    
3. 3. Download MP3 from website - Save to Desktop
    
4. 4. Now you must create a track in GarageBand to play your MP3
   •     A)   On the GarageBand main menu bar select TRACK, under track select NEW TRACK. GarageBand will create a new track and prompt you to select what type of track you want. Select REAL INSTRUMENT. This will allow garage to play the audio from the MP3.
      
   •     B)   (In the track info window, select "Basic Track". This will ensure no strange effects are added.) TRACK> NEW TRACK> REAL INSTRUMENT> ( Track info window BASIC TRACK> NO EFFECTS)
      
5. 5. Drag MP3 from desktop and drop onto the track you just created. Now Garage should show the audio file and let you playback or edit as you desire.
    

In LOGIC, the steps are the same, you just need to be sure to create or assign your target track as an AUDIO track ( not an instrument) and drag and drop. TRACK> CREATE> AUDIO> AUDIO TRACK> ASSIGN TRACK NUMBER> Drag and Drop NOTE: Anytime the file can't be heard, it usually means you need to assign the track to be an audio track and not an audio instrument track, which is a track that plays back MIDI and not audio.

Q: Is there a printable tutorial available for accessing and downloading royalty free music from Soundzabound?

A: Absolutely, you may download our tutorial directly from our website and print it at your leisure. Soundzabound Printable Tutorial - Click here!