Open Source Music

Yes, many articles here will start, or at least silently infer, that "free" is not necessarily "open".  Like all things, there is both unintentional AND intentional confusion around drawing people to certain resources.

Many people tag their web sites with "free" and "open source" with the intention of building an ad based business around a highly popular search parameter and ideal.  Your mileage may vary as you seek out properly licensed music for use and re-use.

There are two prominent phrases in artistic, copyright works.  They are "copyleft" and "creative commons".  These are key indicators that what you seek is truly open.  You can also seek out "Public Domain", just be sure to understand that legal concept is subject to interpretation and as such, it is wise to not trust a claim that a work is truly in the public domain.

With that said, have no fear, there truly is open music that can not only be of quality and enjoyable for simply listening to, but may also be shared openly and modified and the modification shared, as desired, legally.

I will start by reminding readers that the first searches should be for trusted repositories.  Finding lists like those at "Web Distortion" can point one in the right direction.  Again, just be aware to look for the key indicators on the actual resource page to ensure the licensing of content.

Many of the Web Distortion links are searchable on the internet so the list I found is common to what I found on that site.

The "audio available at the internet archive" is stated to be creative commons.  Check the specific license to ensure that the license allows for modifying and sharing of the modified content before doing so.  Also, "opsound" indicates that the content on its site is creative commons.

And there are web sites like "Jamendo", "ccMixter", "sectionZ", "open source music", and even "soundcloud" that contain some / much music that is some form of creative commons.  Again, check the licensing before using it in other projects or remixing.  The song itself should be labelled with a relevant license.  Alternately, trust the artist who created the label and the source, which may have a more general statement of creative commons licensing.