Dig.ccMixter for Royalty-Free Tunes
April 22, 2020
Here is a resource that makers (and aspiring makers) of video content and games will want to bookmark. CCMixter is an online community where musicians share their work through creative commons licenses. Dig.ccMixter is our search portal into that content, free to download and use even for commercial purposes. Scrolling down reveals three categories: instrumental music for film & video; free music for commercial projects; and music for video games. Clicking the “Dig!” button leads to a keyword search page, where you can search by attributes like genre, mood, and instruments. The site’s About page, titled Yea, But Is It Legal? explains:
“This is a community music remixing site featuring remixes and samples licensed under Creative Commons licenses. Music on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons license. You are free to download and sample from music on this site and share the results with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Some songs might have certain restrictions, depending on their specific licenses. Each submission is marked clearly with the license that applies to it.”
So there you have it—a free source of music for your projects, even ones you intend to profit from. All you have to do is give credit where credit is due.
Interestingly, developers can also access the site’s ccHost Query API. We’re told:
“The ccHost Query API is an open, publicly available interface that is available for public use, especially by 3rd party websites, mobile applications, smart TV appliances and any other network connected device. We here at ccMixter use it to help expose the artists that upload their Creative Commons licensed music to audiences that otherwise would not have access to. The API and software implementation is owned by ArtIsTech Media under a license agreement with Creative Commons. The music itself is owned by the individual artists that uploaded it to the site and agree, through the Creative Commons licenses to share the music through this mechanism.”
Bing, Google, and Yandex are not suited for some types of music search. Enter Dig.cc Mixter. Applause, please.
Cynthia Murrell, April 22, 2020