Yay! It is time once again for the Free Music Archive year-end mixes. Don't you love hearing the gems others have found? Are you like me, ending up in love with many more artists by the time the new year rolls around thanks to the FMA mixes?
2012 was a banner year at the FMA, and you can stream or download the proof. Your ears will love you for it.
Earbits and Shuffler.FM are Internet radio stations that comb through independent music sources to compile their streams. They can turn you on to all sorts of new sounds.
WFMU and the Free Music Archive are challenging songwriters everywhere to unseat “Happy Birthday to You” from it’s cultural throne by composing possible replacements. The Birthday Song Contest seeks a few new Happy Birthday songs that are simple and catchy, with great earworm potential that can be sung in restaurants, bowling alleys, and even in TV shows and movies – free of charge.
The song "Happy Birthday To You" is the most recognizable song in the English language, but it can cost independent filmmakers an estimated $10,000 to clear the song for their films, and it will remain under copyright protection in the United States until 2030. This is a major stumbling block hindering the creation of new works of art. It's time to shake (or at least unsettle) “Happy Birthday” from it’s fortified cultural throne, and replace it with a melody that the children can sing without fear of being served.