Originally Posted by Jim Fogle
Originally Posted by Yendog
I constantly am astonished that there is not a vibrant forum for trading BIAB files SOMEWHERE. It's SO weird. The yahoo groups above are dead.
Basically:

"Send me the track you want reproduced in BIAB and i'll create it and send you the .sgu or .mgu"

I guarantee folks would pay for that.. but i've never seen it (ps.. I don't want this job) :-)

The internet use to have many websites filled with midi song interpretations. Those interpretations were deemed to be infringing on copyrights and sites were told to pay royalties, close or be sued out of existence.

Distribution of MGU or SGU song files face the same issue. It's just not worth the hassle. The websites that offer midi files pay royalties or risk being sued out of existence. Evidently there is not enough demand for Band-in-a-Box MGU or SGU song files to make creating and offering them for sale profitable.


My understanding is that selling or giving away the .mgu of a copyrighted song without paying royalties is a violation of copyright law.
The sgu (the changes with no melody) of a song lies in a little more murky waters. People seem to be willing to let that go.
I don't care much for most of the free stuff that's out there
Entering the changes and building the arrangement of any cover tune in BIAB is an integral part of my workflow.
It gives me time to see how I want the song to evolve.
I'm not a "just like on the record" kind of arranger- good thing as that approach is not always easy with BIAB.
I do change key, styles, intros ,choruses, etc.
Sometimes my harmonies are different, very often the groove (style) is different.
I'm not after arrhythmic dissonance on a Beatles ballad, I just want to provide something a little interesting. Something folks will remember. People know what song it is, perhaps they are just hearing it a new way...

My experience is that often the "free" versions of BIAB tunes available on the internet are pretty bad. They are often more work to correct than if you built them yourself.

Some of the pay sources are good. Some less so....

But that's just me

biab2023(Mac)
Logic Pro X