Six months music challenge, part 9: A whole bunch of stuff

Music for free

First, let me point to Oprah’s favorite things/songs CD free download. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to download it anymore. This was available in at the end of November and only for 48 hours. I’m actually quite excited about this offering. For one, it caters to a different demographis than the nerdcore music I’ve been talking about here frequently. Just at the line-up of songs from that free download:

1. Faith Hill, “Joy to the World” from the album Joy to the World
2. Tony Bennett: “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” from the album A Swingin’ Christmas
3. Il Divo: “O Holy Night” from the album The Christmas Collection
4. Josh Groban: “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” from the album Noel
5. Brian McKnight: “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” from the album I’ll Be Home for Christmas
6. Amy Grant :”O Come All Ye Faithful” from the album The Christmas Collection
7. Harry Connick Jr : “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” from the album What a Night! A Christmas Album
8. Aretha Franklin, “Silent Night” from the album This Christmas

I’m excited by the fact this is supported by Oprah. The mediatic and social weight this business (I would call her a woman, but I think she has transcended the human genre. Oprah is not only a person, it’s a TV show, a website(s?), a series of periodicals, self-help books, a production company,… Oprah Winfrey may well be a person, but Oprah is a business) carries is simply huge and that company’s offerings definitely cater to a different demographics than me. Hopefully, this will push people to ponder over questions of free music. Should music be free? Is there a reason why I have to pay the same price for a digital download than for a CD? Is it beneficial to artists to distribute their music for free? Can it be beneficial to all artists?

Music for others

Until december 30, if you donate 50$ or more to the creative commons foundation, you get a 1GB usb stick pre-loaded with non-drm music by Jonathan Coulton. Not only do you get the music, you also get the individual tracks so you can play with it and integrate it in your work. All of that is, obviously, licensed under a CC license which allows you to remix the music in your own creations.

Another nerdcore compilation, this time for 10$. All proceeds go to the child’s play charity.