Legally include music on site?

[kwyjibo]

Is there any way to legally include music on a web site? I don't want to sell it, or offer it for download, or anything like that. I just want to play it in the background for an informational music site. But, I think I remember reading somewhere that streaming any audio without permission is illegal. What about just snippets of songs?

The music itself will be embedded into a silverlight animation, no direct links to music will be provided.

Is there any way to do this legally, without having to contact the record companies and pay licensing fees? Please let me know if anyone has experience with this.

Thank you.

[LeeU]

Nope. Your only option is to contact "indies" who might let you do it, or the record companies.

[kwyjibo]

Yeah, that's what I thought, I just wanted to make sure. I guess I may have to go the royalty-free music route.

Thanks for your reply.

[LeeU]

The royalty-free route is good to use. You can also check archive.org (http://www.archive.org/). The had a large selection of free music.

[kwyjibo]

Thanks for the help. Yes, archive.org does seem to have quite a bit up there to look at...I guess the royalty-free route is the best way.

Thanks!