Wiki Loves Music

From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki

Wiki loves music is the name of several initiatives. The goal is to create audio files and upload them under a free licence, or to improve articles about music.

Best practices[edit]

Rights management[edit]

Audio files are stored on Wikimedia Commons under a free licence. If you want to upload a file, you must make sure that there are no legal issues. For example, a song may have several creators:

  • composer of the melody
  • person who wrote the arrangement
  • the singer(s) (soloist, choir etc.)
  • people who accompany the singers at an instrument
  • conductor
  • publishers, collecting societies, performance rights organizations etc.

If the creator has died more than 70 years ago, then her work should be in the public domain. (The law may differ from country to country.) Other creators can sign an agreement that they publish their work under a free licence.

Technical aspects[edit]

Make sure that the recording can be done without additional noise. A repetition may be a better occasion than a public presentation.

Use appropriate microphones and recording devices.

Wikimedia Commons accepts only a limited range of file formats. You may have to convert the file.

Some initiatives[edit]

See also[edit]