Part of taking care of the digital commons is making sure that useful things remain available to all and do not disappear from link rot, bogus takedowns, sloppy curation, and other woes of the Internet. Today’s Free Thing of the Week would have disappeared into cyberpurgatory this way. Fortunately with a certain amount of leg work, we’ve found an original and now have made copies so that you, dear reader, can enjoy this bit of history and music.
We’ve already shared with you all the Wired CD from 2004, the first all-Creative Commons music compilation ever released on CD in America. The first all-Creative Commons music compilation ever released in Europe on CD was today’s curio, Música Lliure from Catalonia. Released in copies of Enderrock magazine in April of 2006, the Música Lliure (“free music” in Catalan) compilation compiles 19 unreleased songs by groups and bands from Catalonia and, for street cred, also includes the song by Gilberto Gil, Brazil’s then-Minister of Culture, that is also on the Wired CD.
Typically, however, the Europeans went one better: During the Catalan Internet Festival in May of 2006, Grup Enderrock and the government of Catalonia put on three concerts with some of the bands that participated in the CD Música Lliure and in collaboration with the Popular Music Houses of Catalonia. We should be so lucky.
Enjoy the music. And enjoy freedom.
Download Música Lliure from the Seattle Star here.
