Gordon Lightfoot Forums - New - licensed music tracks for YouTube

YouTube has been cracking down on the illegal use of copyrighted songs on uploaded videos, but a new service launching next week will help people use music legally.

Music licenser Rumblefish is partnering with YouTube to launch FriendlyMusic.com, which will go live Tuesday, June 29. The site will offer licensed tracks for $1.99 each.

The catalog at launch will include more than 35,000 independent tracks. Purchasing a track gets the buyer a downloadable MP3 and an e-mailed license. Tracks can be used on one video only per purchase, but for an unlimited number of views. Buyers will need to add the music to their videos themselves using whichever video editor they prefer.

Users will be able to search the site by mood, genre, or playlists. They’ll also be able to browse playlists or artists, and download a free song of the week.

Licensed tracks can be used for any video sharing site. The library’s audio signatures won’t be flagged by YouTube as copyrighted music, so videos won’t get blocked or muted.

The big catch here is that tracks can only be used for non-commercial videos. This is for home users, not for companies of any size. Non-profits and educational groups, however, will be able to use it.

Rumblefish plans to offer major artists to FriendlyMusic.com in the future, but wouldn’t comment on which artists or when it will happen.