FREE!MUSIC

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FREE!MUSIC
Origin	Moscow, Russia
Years active	2004–present
Associated acts	EXIT project Black Obelisk Umka and Bronevik Olive Mess and many other artists...
Website	FREE!MUSIC web site
Members
EXIT project Black Obelisk Umka and Bronevik Olive Mess and many other artists...

FREE!MUSIC is a free music non-profit organization based in Russia since 2004 which's aim is "popularization and a direct embodiment of idea of free distribution of music in commercial and non-commercial purposes".^[1]

1 History
2 External Links
3 Notable members
4 References
5 Links

[edit] History

The idea to start the project came after a free music compilation called OpenMusic was released. It was an Ogg Vorbis-encoded compilation under a liberal license, distributed in a box with the ALT Linux Master 2.0. software. The compilation included compositions of such well-known Russian acts as Umka and Bronevik, Rada i Ternovnik, Maleriya, Jah Division, and others.

Though the founders of OpenMusic project separated their ways, OpenMusic continued its existence with the support of Henry Sheppard and Alyona Lazareva.

In 2004 after an internet discussion between Roman Smirnov and Valery Mifodovsky (members of EXIT project), Mikhail Bykov, and Alexander Prokudin with musicians and listeners on questions of free distribution of music, it was decided to start the FREE!MUSIC project.

In the beginning of December of 2005, in cooperation with the ALT Linux and 1C companies the first compilation of free music under the FREE!MUSIC declaration was released.

The FREE!MUSIC declaration is a declaration under which the artists agree that the music they give to the web-site could be used by anybody for any purpouse.

Since then, the project actively expands with many known and yet-known bands mainly from the CIS, but from other counties to, giving their music to the project. Famous bands giving material to the project include EXIT project, Black Obelisk, Umka and Bronevik and Olive Mess.