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I'm looking for SoundCloud users here. I've got kind of a "silly" question. I know it's a place you can upload/post ORIGINAL songs for your peers to hear. However, I want to post a couple of cover tunes, NOT to sell, but as demos of my skill set so I can sell MIDI sequences, and maybe karaoke tracks to clients.
Any Ideas?
KC
i7-12650H CPU, 32Gig RAM/Win 11 Pro. PreSonus 1824C, Native Instr S88 Mk1, ATOM SQ, PreSonus Sphere, Sonar Platinum, SampleTank4, BIAB 2023.
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The user showcase is not the best forum here for this topic. Soundcloud is clear that they expect you to own the rights to the songs you post. That means a song you own, have licensed the song or the song is clearly in the public domain. Like at youtube folks often ignore the rules. In most cases there is a warning before being banned. And it will likely not be an issue unless the owner of the song raises it. And some artists are vigilant about it while others are lax. If you want demos to show what you might want to sell I'd suggest getting a digital license from Harry Fox or Limelight -- they aren't that expensive. Paying artists for their intellectual work is always the right thing to do -- IMO.
Last edited by Janice & Bud; 03/11/14 09:15 AM.
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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KC, it's been years since I read their rules but I BELIEVE that Motagator does indeed pay all royalties on cover songs posted there. Paul Asher, the owner, is a BIAB owner/user and will answer conclusively in a rare form of English.
It's also a great site to post your tunes.
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perhaps a bigger issue than posting covers is that of selling karaoke tracks. You may be opening up a bigger can o' worms there than you can eat at one sitting.
I don't know what the legality of the disclaimers we all agree to when we click that little ol' "I AGREE" button every time we join one of those streaming sites... but basically they all protect the site from legal responsibility for the posting of copyrighted material. So, when you click "I AGREE" you are basically saying that you accept responsibility for your own interpretation of copyright law.
I have to think these agreements were drafted by lawyers, and would stand up in court, if it came to that.
The million dollar question is whether a small fish without deep pockets would be worth suing. Your call.
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KC, if your MIDI sequences are not song specific and they do not contain any melody lines then you can set up your own web site to sell them. By not song specific I mean they do not contain riffs that can be easily recognized as part of a song, say like the intro to Susy Q or Satisfaction etc. If you check out BiaB’s styles you will see there are a couple of song recommendations the styles can be used with but the styles are not song specific.
If you sequence a song to sell them you must obtain the rights to do so.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
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Anything you post for the public to hear, or attempt to sell in any form does require that you purchase the proper license to do so legally, IF the song is covered by a copyright. Original songs and public domain are excluded from that requirement.
Harry Fox Agency is the place to start as they handle the licensing for the majority of the commercial music available and can either issue you the proper license or point you to who can.
Do not attempt to sell anything covered by someone else's copyright without the proper license and permission forms in your hand. Doing so opens you to a slam dunk lawsuit and you're the one getting slammed and dunked.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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...NOT to sell, but as demos ... US Copyright law is plain, whether you sell it or not does not come into play, if you don't pay the proper licensing for use and publish it anywhere for any stated reason, it can be a copyright violation. There is a way to do it properly, though, via one of the various licensing agencies. Start at the source and do your homework: http://www.copyright.gov/ They have a FAQ there, read it. --Mac
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Harry Fox agency doesn't license karaoke, however HFA FAQ (see FAQ # 18) For that you need to deal directly thru ASCAP, BMI and/or SESAC (links to those places are in the Harry Fox Agency FAQ)
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I didn't bring up Harry and his Fox, did I?
Ya gotta do your homework in these endeavors.
It STARTS with the us gov copyright page.
In this day and age, though, finding out where to go and what to do is a matter of maybe a few hours on the internet now, not days waiting for snail mail to find out these things.
--Mac
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I see stuff on SoundCloud like people recording guitar to a karaoke track and haven't seen it banned or pulled from the site.
 Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics.
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I see stuff on SoundCloud like people recording guitar to a karaoke track and haven't seen it banned or pulled from the site. Yeah, that's the cheese in the mousetrap. You see abuse of the copyright law EVERYWHERE... but just because everybody on the interstate is speeding doesn't mean the state trooper won't pull you over. What's the likelihood of getting nailed? probably very small. What's the degree of liability if you DO get singled out as an example? You would certainly lose the lawsuit. Bear in mind that in order to join ANY of these sites, you had to click "I AGREE", and that's legally binding. On the other side of the coin: there are plenty of laws on the books that are never enforced. Your call.
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I see stuff on SoundCloud like people recording guitar to a karaoke track and haven't seen it banned or pulled from the site. My paranoia on this topic is as follows: 1) there have been news blurbs about more and more crackdowns on small-time offenders (restaurants that host live music, but didn't pay ASCAP or BMI). Success makes sharks bolder 2) it has always been the conventional wisdom that a little guy without deep pockets is not worth the trouble of a lawsuit. But the web may have changed that. All they'd have to do is subpoena all the music sites to obtain those sign-up agreements, then initiate a class action lawsuit. Getting a little bit of money from a lot of people is almost as good as getting a lot of money from one offender. I expect to see this eventually, because: 1) the records are in place 2) the technology exists to get them easily 3) and there's money to be made if they do
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"Seeing people posting cover tunes"
"Demos intended to advertise sale of karaoke tracks"
Gee, which one is likely to get the attention of the Cease and Desist attorney letter first?
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what you should do instead of using songs currently under copyright, create midi tracks of public domain songs, it will still show your skill at midi sequencing. You can then create your own website and put the link on your soundcloud account for the tracks you create. Karoke is no different from a full version song, it will still be copyright infringement to use the melody of a song; so unless you purchase the license you can not sell them. You could however offer to turn peoples original songs to a backing track and still make money if that is your goal, and by showing your backing track creation skills you may grow a client pool. People do post cover songs, a site will generally not buck unless you are selling the copyrighted tracks, unless someone associated with the artist protest. Then you will be given a warning to remove the track immediately or risk prosecution.
My TunesPsalm 57:7 My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
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