Moby, the iconic techno-pop singer/songwriter, and his music has long been very popular for underwater videos, due to his rhythmic and mellow beats and layers. He is also a great supporter of the arts and he shows it in his Moby Gratis film music licensing deal, where he basically allows free use of his music for non-commercial/non-profit film,videos and shorts. It is incredibly gratifying to see a successful artist support his fellow artist's creative outlets through his own work.
You will have to sign up to access the music and there is also an approval process to submit to.

Good on the Moby-man.

I guess he is trying to realign his artistic karma after cashing in pimping out just about every song on Play!

Alex

Wow, a major player providing free music, very cool of him.
Steve

What a dead set legend!!!

Yes, it's very cool. But when I applied to use a piece of music for a non-profit educational multimedia slide show last year I was denied with no reason given. Go figure.

Don't expect too much. I auditioned every track on Moby Gratis a few months ago and I couldn't find anything I was interested in using. Nice of him to offer it though!

Yes, like many things in life, you get what you pay for.

I'm beginning to think Moby's lawyers have made this song download process more a hassel than it may be worth. In order to download a song, you must complete a request form questionnaire, complete with the title of your film and a description of the scene you intend to use the music for. Then you must submit your request and wait for their approval to download the song. Its not a case of simply downloading the song. I put in a request for a few songs, for my home personal use, and its been a week and so far no reply. In my simple way of thinking, if he is going to allow these particular songs to to be used for free, he should have just put them out there for download. Make it simple.

I kind of like Jamendo
Lots of songs there and most come under the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Wow, I must say a few people are pretty demanding here. Here is a multi-platinum artist who is offering his songs for projects for which there is an approval process. Sure it's more cinematic but at least he makes the effort to even let his songs out. For example, Laforet requested and got Extreme Ways for free. How many times have I heard Moby music on dive trip DVDs (used illegally for profit) of course in the 90s?
If Moby doesn't approve your project, it's well within his rights. At least he bothers to consider your project. And I'm sure it also helps his sales too as the music soundtrack.

I think Vincent Laforet used one of his gratis songs for his 5DII video, eh?

Cheers
James

Like I said, it's very cool. And I understand it's well within his rights to deny approval. I just would've liked a stated reason for the denial. But they didn't give one so no big deal. I still think it's a cool thing he does. I just threw my experience out there because someone brought up the topic. I'm just saying don't expect to go on the website and start downloading all of his songs to use gratis. I don't think that makes me demanding.

I didn't mean to come across that way. I just wanted to share my experience with the moby gratis "download process".

Yes James and the sale of that song went up again because the video was seen like 1.5 million times in 10 days or something. Apparently it's better viewership than the Bourne series movies LOL. It's also a mutually beneficial arrangement if he does approve his songs for the projects.


Andy, my post was a general post and not directed at you. It's meant to temper expectations of the service. It's great that you relate your experience because I don't think many people understand there is a process to license Moby's gratis music, and it's not a sure thing. In fact, it's my fault that I didn't clear state that in the initial post. It's not a free download of Moby's greatest hits for home use but a "service" for media projects, especially indie film/video/shorts projects. With an example like Laforet's video, Extreme Ways was not listed in the but requested and approved.
I know there are quite a few filmmakers on this board who are making indie projects (some for conservation too), and applying for Moby soundtracks could save some money and add more effect to the film. This thread was directed toward them. It doesn't hurt to ask but just don't expect it's a free download service.

Drew, that's cool. I should have been more clear in my original post that there is a process. We're on the same page.