[HN Gopher] Mobygratis - Free Moby music to empower your creativ...
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Mobygratis - Free Moby music to empower your creative projects
Author : thm
Score : 158 points
Date : 2025-04-26 01:38 UTC (21 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (mobygratis.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (mobygratis.com)
| rkagerer wrote:
| All I wanted to do was play a sample of one randomly selected
| track.
|
| Clicking the play button doesn't do that, it brings up a somewhat
| eccentric 2-line license agreement.
|
| Clicking the checkmark to agree then prompts for your email
| address and to create an account.
|
| These are dark UI patterns, and it's a shame a website purporting
| to be about generously sharing free content uses them. A button
| should do what it advertises.
|
| Here's a snippet from the full license text if anyone's curious:
|
| _Moby does not permit his Tracks to be used to advertise right-
| wing politics or causes, or to be used to promote meat, dairy, or
| other animal products. People may disagree about when these lines
| have been crossed--which is why Moby retains the right to
| terminate the license to any Track completely at his sole and
| absolute discretion, at any time._
|
| Also note you're contracting with a corporation, and the
| agreement includes a clause about you indemnifying them.
| nialse wrote:
| Just a quick note: pressing the 'Browse Anonymously' button
| located just above the email field will allow you to do exactly
| that.
| rkagerer wrote:
| Thanks, I missed that extra step.
| HowTheStoryEnds wrote:
| Yeah it's the Stalinistic version of freedom.
| autobodie wrote:
| More like the libertarian version of freedom, but not much
| more.
| 00deadbeef wrote:
| I found it simple enough. There's a "browse anonymously" button
| after the eccentric terms.
| graemep wrote:
| Not just eccentric, it is vague and arbitrary. "Right wing" is
| very vague, and "animal products" is not much better.
|
| That snippet implicitly acknowledges this and Moby the person
| gets to arbitrate between you and Moby Collaboration, Inc.
|
| Also this:
|
| "Mobygratis retains the right in its sole and absolute
| discretion to determine whether any use of a Track (or
| Collaboration or Master Recording derived therefrom) is
| commercial."
| glimshe wrote:
| I wish they could have used standard creative commons licenses.
| It took me some time to find that the tracks can't be used
| commercially without per-track licensing conversations.
| nialse wrote:
| The licensing is "interesting". Using a standard and well
| understood license would be helpful. Reading the license Moby
| Collaboration, Inc. reserves the unchecked, unilateral right to
| revoke the permission "at any time for any reason or no
| reason." - this is unlikely to hold up in court and is a signal
| for anyone to not touch the content with a ten-foot pole. It
| makes me think that Moby forgot to check the license with a
| lawyer, and maybe with reality, first.
| ZeroTalent wrote:
| Given his track record, I doubt he will pursue irrational
| lawsuits.
| antfarm wrote:
| Cool idea of a great artist to stay relevant in the era of AI
| generated muzak!
| imaginationra wrote:
| It's not tho, Moby. And this "music" is human generated muzak.
| anotherlab wrote:
| Moby licensed every song from "Play" for commercial use. The
| exposure made "Play" a huge hit for him. This is just a
| variation of that.
|
| This is an attempt to grab a slice of the pie before AI-
| generated music kills the market for session musicians. His
| terms of use are odd, but that's his choice.
| joenot443 wrote:
| With all the charity work Moby does, I get the impression
| he's pretty comfortable cash-wise.
|
| Personally, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and
| saying that his intentions are earnest here; he really does
| want to put free music in the hands of creators. Maybe if
| he'd launched a $MOBY memecoin alongside it I'd be skeptical,
| but my gut says this isn't a venture he expects to make real
| money from.
| textadventure wrote:
| Moby launched this site TWENTY YEARS AGO, before YouTube even
| existed.
| joeevans1000 wrote:
| Really interesting to think about what would constitute
| commercial use in this day and age. If someone makes the track
| and puts it on YouTube and there happens to be ads... apparently
| 51% has to go to Moby. it is cool that anyone could just download
| and go. But I wonder if a lot of bedroom producers are just going
| to accept the terms without actually reading them, and not
| realize, based on the introductory video, that they have to do a
| profit share if they monetize in anyway. I do think he should've
| mentioned the profit share in his video.
| androng wrote:
| Commercial Use License If you wish to use a track from the
| mobygratis platform for commercial purposes, you must apply for
| a commercial license prior to such use. You may do so by
| sending an email to: mobygratis@moby.com and include your full
| name, the name of the Track, and your desired use of the Track,
| including all the commercial uses you anticipate, and the
| desired duration of the commercial license.
|
| If one or more artists create an initial Collaboration and they
| are granted a commercial license, their revenue share would be,
| in the sole discretion of mobygratis, at most, 49% (forty-nine
| percent) of the gross income earned, received or credited from
| the permitted use and exploitation of that Collaboration. If a
| Collaboration is subsequently used by another artist or artists
| to create a new (or sub-) Collaboration--the new collaborating
| artist(s) will receive their share of any revenue exclusively
| from the initial collaborator(s); the mobygratis revenue share
| of any collaboration, regardless of how many layers of
| collaboration have occurred, shall always be greater than 50%
| (fifty percent). However, the specifics are subject to change
| in the sole and absolute discretion of mobygratis and would be
| covered on a case-by-case in the commercial license.
| gus_massa wrote:
| Just to clarify, your comment is a quote of
| https://mobygratis.com/license-
| agreement#:~:text=Commercial%...
|
| If you add > * text * it's more clear what is happening:
|
| > _Commercial Use License If you wish to use a track from the
| mobygratis platform for commercial purposes, you must apply
| for a commercial license prior to such use. You may do so by
| sending an email to: mobygratis@moby.com and include your
| full name, the name of the Track, and your desired use of the
| Track, including all the commercial uses you anticipate, and
| the desired duration of the commercial license._
|
| > _If one or more artists create an initial Collaboration and
| they are granted a commercial license, their revenue share
| would be, in the sole discretion of mobygratis, at most, 49%
| (forty-nine percent) of the gross income earned, received or
| credited from the permitted use and exploitation of that
| Collaboration. If a Collaboration is subsequently used by
| another artist or artists to create a new (or sub-)
| Collaboration--the new collaborating artist(s) will receive
| their share of any revenue exclusively from the initial
| collaborator(s); the mobygratis revenue share of any
| collaboration, regardless of how many layers of collaboration
| have occurred, shall always be greater than 50% (fifty
| percent). However, the specifics are subject to change in the
| sole and absolute discretion of mobygratis and would be
| covered on a case-by-case in the commercial license._
| self_awareness wrote:
| Too much politics involved for my taste.
|
| It seems that I can't use it to promote Slavic content, because
| Slavic as a tradition can be right-wing in Moby's world.
|
| If you're a content creator, I don't think going into this rabbit
| hole is worth it.
| 999900000999 wrote:
| >there are only 2 things you can't do with the music here; use it
| to advertise right wing politics or causes, or use it to promote
| meat, dairy, or other animal products. click here to view the
| full terms.
|
| I'm very liberal, but this is bizarre. Apart of a society is
| doing business with people who don't 100% agree with you.
|
| And Bob's Burritos can't run an ad with it because they aren't a
| vegan restaurant ?
|
| I'm lumped in with the Republicans because I like burgers and
| pizza? Is that where the culture war is at?
| protimewaster wrote:
| It's been a pretty common practice for years that musicians
| will refuse their music being used to promote things they
| disagree with. E.g., some politician will use a track by a
| band, the band doesn't like the politician, so they'll tell the
| politician to stop using the track.
|
| And, I don't think that the agreement here is meant to equate
| eating meat with being right wing. Moby is famously against
| animal products, so he's decided he doesn't want the music used
| to support those products.
| pcthrowaway wrote:
| > Apart of a society is doing business with people who don't
| 100% agree with you.
|
| There's a vast chasm between "not 100%" agreeing with someone
| (Moby in this case), and being a Nazi. Bob's Burritos is a TV
| show so I don't think they'd be considered promoting meat,
| though the legalese is probably too questionable, as is
| restricting use for "right wing politics".
|
| Moby is however of the opinion that animal abuse is
| unacceptable, regardless of whether people think it tastes
| good. I'm generally of the opinion that people should be free
| to establish hard boundaries for the use of their content.
| 999900000999 wrote:
| You're thinking of Bob's Burgers, but even then it's a
| cartoon where the characters eat meat.
|
| If you take this to its logical conclusion it can't be used
| with any media that displays the consumption of food that's
| not 100% vegan.
|
| Right wing cause is also a bucket of worms. Someone like Joe
| Rogan is now considered Right Wing though he supported Bernie
| Sanders in the past.
|
| If a liberal podcast host uses this as their theme music,
| then has a right wing guest on violate this?
|
| If I mention I start my day with some yogurt, did I violate
| it ?
|
| Feels like a "I'll sue you if I want" clause.
| pcthrowaway wrote:
| My bad, I was just listening to a podcast with someone
| talking about being on Bob's Burgers.
|
| But no, I don't think it makes it unusable for media which
| shows people eating meat. If I make my music available for
| anyone to use in projects which aren't promoting
| homophobia, I'm not going to have a problem with someone
| using it in a TV show where a character is homophobic. The
| salient thing is whether the show itself is promoting
| homophobia (and if I wanted to sue someone for such a use,
| I'd need a pretty strong case that the TV show was actually
| promoting homophobia)
|
| > Right wing cause is also a bucket of worms. Someone like
| Joe Rogan is now considered Right Wing though he supported
| Bernie Sanders in the past.
|
| Yes, I agree with this 100%, it's pretty much meaningless.
| I'm not sure if this makes it unusable or usable for
| anything. My suspicion is that the wording of the license
| would make it very difficult for Moby to sue you for use
| for anything but a clear violation, but he _can_ revoke
| your license (which he would gain nothing from, and would
| erode faith in his mobygratis project). So I think it would
| be best avoided by people who aren 't reasonably using his
| music for projects that he wouldn't approve of. Obviously
| "right-wing" is subjective, but if you're using it to
| promote Trump's campaign, trans-denialism, or the new
| Arby's chicken burger, obviously you can expect the license
| to be revoked.
|
| If you're a "liberal" talk show host I think the license
| would be best avoided; liberal in the U.S. is considered
| right-of-center by many
|
| If you're a socialist (or even social democratic) talk show
| host who occasionally brings on centrist or right-wing
| personalities, I think you'd be fine.
| 999900000999 wrote:
| Right wing is whatever Moby decides it is.
|
| Again, I'm liberal, I check the box for the Dems in every
| election. Just straight blue.
|
| But if Moby wakes up tomorrow and says the Dems are right
| wing and I say most people should just vote for Dems he
| can sue me.
|
| Personally I don't like the idea of releasing content
| with a "use it if I like you " clause. He's free to keep
| it for his own personal use.
|
| I know I release my code MIT. I don't release it along
| with a list of my personal beliefs.
| pcthrowaway wrote:
| > Personally I don't like the idea of releasing content
| with a "use it if I like you " clause. He's free to keep
| it for his own personal use.
|
| And he's free to release it under whatever license he
| wants also. I don't like it as much as a free license
| either, but it's not my music, and IMO it's better than
| not granting use; there are of course many cases where
| people will feel comfortable using it (and in fact it has
| been used by many people already who have applied common
| sense to their usage of his work, and I don't believe he
| _has_ sued anyone or revoked the license in the 18 years
| he 's made it available under similar terms).
|
| I also release my code MIT or GPL even though I find it
| tempting to use less permissive licenses like the "Don't
| be evil" license of JSON[1] or JSLint[2]
|
| I would feel comfortable using Moby's music for lots of
| purposes personally.
|
| I feel like you are overthinking this, I don't think it's
| about what you believe in, it's about what you think Moby
| would approve of. If you wanted to release a video
| promoting veganism, you could obviously use his music
| (even if you're a democrat). If you wanted to release a
| video promoting the Democratic party, there's _some_
| chance he 'd revoke the license (but almost no chance he
| could successfully sue you). Even if you were a far-right
| activist using his music for a video supporting an
| abortion ban, he wouldn't be able to sue you (because
| banning abortion isn't exclusively a right-wing
| position), but I expect he _would_ revoke your license if
| he became aware of the use and didn 't believe in banning
| abortion.
|
| I say that using it for Democratic party propaganda would
| be unwise because Moby himself is a socialist, or
| something in that direction. If you were AOC or Bernie
| and wanted to use his music for your own platform, you
| could probably get away with it; Whatever Moby's views on
| social democrats (or democratic socialists depending on
| who you ask), I think it's _incredibly_ unlikely he 'd
| revoke the license.
|
| So you don't need to worry about "getting sued" unless
| you're using his music for clear violations of the
| license (e.g. "significant" commercial usage , or literal
| republican party promotional materials). If you're not
| clearly, unambiguously violating the license which itself
| contains much ambiguity, you don't need to worry about
| anything other than the license being revoked. And for
| determining if it might be revoked, consider why Moby
| made his music available for causes he cares about in the
| first place.
|
| For many uses of the music, it can be replaced with
| something else fairly easily anyway
|
| [1]: https://www.json.org/license.html
|
| [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C-JoyNuQJs&t=2480s
| "I give permission to IBM, it's customers, partners, and
| minions to use JSLint for evil"
| hackyhacky wrote:
| The only thing that bothers me about these terms is the blatant
| misuse of the semicolon. Too much work to hire a copyeditor?
| imaginationra wrote:
| Is this a joke? No one is going to use this. This "music" was
| content slop ai music before content slop ai music- so people
| will just use real content slop ai music.
| hackyhacky wrote:
| "The music these days, it's just noise. Why can't kids listen
| to real music, like we used to have?"
|
| -- literally every generation
| janalsncm wrote:
| The best songs from any generation will be much better than a
| random song from today's top 80. So there's some selection
| bias as well.
| senko wrote:
| "You have technicians here making noise. These people are not
| musicians, because nobody can play the guitar!"
| VariousPrograms wrote:
| The intro video makes it sound multiple times like he wants
| creatives to use the music with absolutely no strings or
| restrictions, but the most basic uses like a Youtube video or
| indie film would require manually applying for a license where
| half the revenue goes to Mobygratis let alone the restrictions
| based on Moby's political and dietary preferences.
|
| He's certainly free to license his music however he wants but
| he's really overselling how permissive it is.
| autobodie wrote:
| > "Moby does not permit his Tracks to be used to advertise right-
| wing politics or causes, or to be used to promote meat, dairy, or
| other animal products. People may disagree about when these lines
| have been crossed--which is why Moby retains the right to
| terminate the license to any Track completely at his sole and
| absolute discretion, at any time."
| janalsncm wrote:
| It's all relative. Last week I found out that building housing
| was considered a right wing idea. Apparently supply side
| _progressivism_ is right wing in some circles.
| ZeroTalent wrote:
| Context matters: what housing?
| janalsncm wrote:
| The idea to increase supply to push costs down so that
| regular people like teachers and waiters and nurses can
| afford to live in the city.
|
| Of course this will induce demand as well, so it's
| nonlinear. But the point is, it's not a right wing idea.
| lovegrenoble wrote:
| Crazy and over-complicated license, better have a look at it:
| https://freemusicarchive.org/home
| ano-ther wrote:
| I don't care that the license is non-commercial.
|
| The collection is great. It's like a much more polished and
| professional version of my ideas folder (I rarely get beyond the
| initial loop/riff stage). Will now download a random piece, pop
| it into my DAW and see if it can inspire me to create something
| new.
| textadventure wrote:
| I think like 99% of people in comments are missing the fact that
| Moby first launched this project 20 years ago when not even
| Youtube was a thing.
| croisillon wrote:
| i don't understand how i can accept the license, i disabled
| uBlock origin and still see no solution
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