Why Free Music?

[Michael David Crawford]

Here is my final draft of the essay I recently asked lilypond-user to 
critique.  Thank you all very much for your help.

The essay is now printed on the inside of the CD jewel case insert of my 
album "Geometric Visions: The Rough Draft".  I offer a free, autographed 
copy of my CD to anyone on the list who wants one.  Just email your 
postal mail address to address@hidden

The essay is also on my website at:

       http://www.geometricvisions.com/music/manifesto/

Some interest has been expressed in translating it to other languages, 
which wouldn't be permitted by its No Derivative Works CC license.  If 
you'd like to translate it, just contact me off-list and I'll grant you 
the necessary permission.

Ever Faithful,

Mike Crawford

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                       Why Free Music?

                    Michael David Crawford

                 address@hidden
                http://www.geometricvisions.com

I don't charge money for my music -- recordings or scores -- and have
placed it under the "Free-as-in-Freedom" Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike License  so more people can get to know my music
than would be possible if I sold it, or restricted copying. I actually
give a Free compact disc to everyone I meet!

Music makes us human: in its creation, we can laugh, cry, celebrate and
mourn. We can love and hate. We can allow our souls to soar. Music
speaks to the very core of our sense of Freedom.

Furthermore, setting my music Free is The Right Thing to Do. I am
inspired by Richard Stallman and his Free Software movement; my music is
"Free" as in "Free Speech" rather than "free beer." It's a matter of
liberty and not price.

It's risky. Musicians have to eat. I plan to earn my keep by selling
tickets to my shows, as well as T-shirts, posters, and other tokens of
our mutual love of music. I hope that by making my music available to
you for Free, you can learn to love it as I do, and will be there to
attend my performances when the time comes:

I have studied piano intensively for several years, preparing to enroll
in music school to study musical composition. I want to write symphonies!

The Recording Industry Association of America has threatened thousands
with lawsuits for sharing music over the Internet. But it's important to
understand that, in America anyway, our Founding Fathers created
copyright to benefit all of society, not merely copyright holders.

The framers of the US Constitution intended "to promote the progress of
science and useful arts" by granting creative people temporary
monopolies. But I feel that the power of computers and the Internet to
send digital works, created in love, completely and faithfully anywhere
on Earth, at near-zero cost, outweighs by far the benefit to society of
work created in order to gain copyright's monopoly. So enjoy this music,
and pass it along to your friends.

I love my music, so I set it Free. If music loves me it will return, all
the greater for its freedom.

     Why Free Music? by Michael David Crawford is licensed under a
  Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
           http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/