Royalty free music available to .Mac users


For those who subscribe to .Mac, you have something to look forward to in the future. For those letting the clock run out, you still have a chance to get some royalty free music while you can.

Many may not realize that Apple maintains a MP3 library of FreePlay's music. Actually called "mechanical, synchronization and master recording rights," the music may be used for non-commercial work without any royalties. The music bits are timed to specific needs such as 10,15,30 and 60 seconds, ideal for video clips.

The FreePlay music was brought to my attention through reader comments in a recent IGM article looking at pros for subscribing to .Mac. Apple's .Mac service will end its free preview on September 30 for its iTools users. Current iTools users can upgrade to .Mac for $50 for the first year. After the preview period and the promotional upgrade offer, .Mac will be $100 a year for all subscribers.

The music is available to download inside the Software/Extras folder in your iDisk. The music is also available for download via FreePlay's Web site, so you're not really missing out if you lose .Mac. In total, the music is about 1.3 GB in size. For subscribers of .Mac, they have the convenience of using the iDisk to store the music for future use, rather than maintain it on a local hard drive. I suppose also it's easier to browse and download the music via .Mac than from the FreePlay Web site.

For complete details on the music licensing, please visit FreePlay Music.