- Do I have to login or register ?
- No, you do not need to register or logon to pianosociety.com. The Logon form in the bottom left corner is for administrators only. For the forum, you only need to register and logon if you want to post a message or see attachments. If you are not logged on, you can read posts but you can not see attachments.
- Can I just download the music and listen for free?
- Yes, providing free music is what Piano Society is about. But we do encourage you to take an interest in our artists, who spend so much time making these recordings. PLease read the arist biogtaphies, and the information about the music and the composer, infofar that is available.
- Can I distribute recordings downloaded on the site to other people?
- No, you can not. The recording is for personal use only.
- Can I put a recording downloaded from Piano Society on my own web site?
- Not without the acceptance of the pianist. Most biographies have contact information but if you do not find it, send an email to info@pianosociety.com and we will help you out. If you put up a recording without acceptance, the Copyright violation will be reported to your network owner.
- How do I become a artist on the site?
- First, you must have made at least three recordings of yourself playing the piano and saved in MP3-format (see Recording Guidelines for details). Next step is to register to the Forum and upload the recordings in the Audition Room where the recordings will be evaluated. If they are accepted, you will be asked to post a biography and picture, and then the administrators of the site will create you personal page that lists your recordings.
- Does Piano Society only involve piano recordings ?
No, Piano Society includes all classical music. In the past, only piano recordings were accepted, then we bent the rules to involve any keyboard instrument as long as it conforms to the copyright rules and Recording Guidelines.
- Can I provide my own compositions?
Yes you can, but we only allow compositions along with sheet music. So to speak, it should be a thoroughly composed work and not any kind of improvisation.
- How do I make a recording?
- You need a decent microphone, a recording device (MP3-recorder, computer etc.) and a program to compress the final recording to MP3-format. There are a several open source programs which can be downloaded for free, like e.g. Audacity and WavePad. Also, there has been a lot of discussion on the Forum regarding how to make recordings so if you are a registered user, please search for recording topics.
- What about Copyrights on a recording I make?
- All compositions made before 1923 are unrestricted in about any country. Compositions made by composers who died at latest 1937 are in public domain in EU, Canada etc. but not in US. In Canada, compositions made by composers who died at latest 1957 is in public domain. If you get the permission of the composer, recent compositions can be accepted on the site as well. The pianist owns the rights to the specific recording.
- Is there a download restriction?
- Yes, the download speed is restricted to 10 Mbit/s and a maximum of 2 simultaneous downloads.
- Can I stream recordings directly off the site?
- With most software you can, but some have been restricted because they take too much resources from the site.
- Can I link directly to recordings from my own website ?
- No, hotlinking is actively prohibited. But you are welcome to link to any page of the site.
- Can I advertise at Piano Society?
- That can be discussed. If you have a suitable advertising/publisher program, please contact us at info@pianosociety.com.
