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The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher
Ottaviano Petrucci
Ottaviano Petrucci (born in Fossombrone on 18 June 1466 – died on 7 May 1539 in Venice) was an Italian printer. His '' Harmonice Musices Odhecaton'', a collection of chansons printed in 1501, is commonly misidentified as the first book of sheet ...
, is a subscription-based digital library of
public-domain music scores. The project, which uses
MediaWiki
MediaWiki is a free and open-source wiki software. It is used on Wikipedia and almost all other Wikimedia websites, including Wiktionary, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata; these sites define a large part of the requirement set for MediaWi ...
software, has uploaded more than 630,000 scores and 73,000 recordings of more than 195,000 works by 24,000 composers. IMSLP has both an
iOS app and an
Android app.
History
Overview
The site was launched on February 16, 2006. The library consists mainly of
scans of old musical editions out of
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
. In addition, it admits scores by contemporary composers who wish to share their music with the world by releasing it under a
Creative Commons license. One of the main projects of the IMSLP was the sorting and uploading of the complete works of
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...
in the
Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe
Joh. Seb. Bach's Werke () is the Bach Gesellschaft's collected edition of Johann Sebastian Bach's compositions, published in 61 volumes in the second half of the 19th century. The series is also known as Bach-Gesellschaft edition (german: Bach-Gese ...
(1851–99), a task that was completed on November 3, 2008. Besides J.S. Bach's complete public domain works, all public domain works of
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
,
Johannes Brahms,
Joseph Canteloube,
Emmanuel Chabrier,
Ernest Chausson,
Frédéric Chopin,
Joseph Haydn,
Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli (, also , , ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence of th ...
,
Claude Debussy,
Vincent d'Indy
Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...
,
Paul Dukas
Paul Abraham Dukas ( or ; 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His b ...
,
Gabriel Fauré,
Pierre-Octave Ferroud,
George Frideric Handel,
Jean Huré,
Albéric Magnard
Lucien Denis Gabriel Albéric Magnard (; 9 June 1865 – 3 September 1914) was a French composer, sometimes referred to as a "French Bruckner", though there are significant differences between the two composers. Magnard became a national hero in ...
,
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina ( – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de Victoria, Palestrina is considered the leading ...
,
Maurice Ravel,
Albert Roussel,
Erik Satie,
Florent Schmitt,
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...
,
Robert Schumann,
Alexander Scriabin and
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...
are available, as well as a large percentage of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
,
Franz Liszt, and the works of many others as well.
Besides providing a digital repository, the IMSLP offers possibilities as a
musicological encyclopaedia, since multiple and historical editions of a single composition can be uploaded. Also, pages on publishers provide valuable information, and the work pages themselves often contain a large quantity of information, e.g. roles in an opera.
IMSLP is recommended as a research tool by
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
, which also uses it extensively for providing scores for its
OpenCourseWare
OpenCourseWare (OCW) are course lessons created at universities and published for free via the Internet. OCW projects first appeared in the late 1990s, and after gaining traction in Europe and then the United States have become a worldwide means ...
courses. It is suggested as a resource by the
Sibley Music Library
Sibley Music Library is the library of the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. It was founded in 1904 by Hiram Watson Sibley in honor of his father Hiram Sibley and is said to be the largest university music library in the US.
History
The li ...
and by libraries at other universities such as
Stanford University,
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
,
Brown University,
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
,
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
,
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in the United States. It is one of ...
,
Manhattan School of Music University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
,
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
,
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...
,
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscon ...
,
Appalachian State University in the US,
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...
in Canada,
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
,
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
,
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
University of Bristol
, mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'')
, established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter
, type ...
in the UK,
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...
in Australia, and others. In 2019, IMSLP and
TwoSetViolin collaborated to make a TwoSetViolin x IMSLP merchandise lineup.
Logo
In 2007–2015, the IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library used a logo based on a score. The score image in the background was taken from the beginning of the first printed book of music, the
Harmonice Musices Odhecaton
The ''Harmonice Musices Odhecaton'' (One Hundred Songs of Harmonic Music, also known simply as the ''Odhecaton'') is an anthology of polyphonic secular songs published by Ottaviano Petrucci in 1501 in Venice. It is the first book of polyphonic mu ...
. It was published in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
, Italy in 1501 by
Ottaviano Petrucci
Ottaviano Petrucci (born in Fossombrone on 18 June 1466 – died on 7 May 1539 in Venice) was an Italian printer. His '' Harmonice Musices Odhecaton'', a collection of chansons printed in 1501, is commonly misidentified as the first book of sheet ...
, the library's namesake.
In 2016, the IMSLP changed its logo to a clean
wordmark
__notoc__
A wordmark, word mark, or logotype, is usually a distinct text-only typographic treatment of the name of a company, institution, or product name used for purposes of identification and branding. Examples can be found in the graphic iden ...
, featuring its two project names—''IMSLP'' and ''Petrucci Music Library''.
Awards
In 2009, the IMSLP won the MERLOT Classics award for Music. It was named one of the Top 100 Web Sites of 2009 (in the "Undiscovered" subsection) by
PC Magazine. In 2018, Edward Guo was honored with The Helen Rice Award by the
Associated Chamber Music Players (ACMP) Foundation in recognition of those who have moved the chamber music world in a new directions.
Closure and reopening
On October 19, 2007, the IMSLP closed following legal demands from
Universal Edition of Vienna, Austria.
The
cease and desist letter expressed concern that some works that are in public domain in the server's location in Canada with
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
protection of 50 years following death, but are protected by the 70 years following death term in some other countries, were available in those countries. The administrator of the website, Edward W. Guo, also known under the nickname Feldmahler, decided to close down the repository, but left the forums online so that discussions into the best way to proceed could be made:
In response, director
Michael S. Hart of
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...
offered support to keep the project online. This offer was declined by Guo, who voiced concern about having the project hosted in the United States, and consulted the Canadian wing of Project Gutenberg.
On November 2, 2007,
Michael Geist, a prominent Canadian copyright academic, wrote an article for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
discussing the specifics and the wider implications of this case.
IMSLP went back online on June 30, 2008. Since its reopening, the site has been using a strict copyright policy wherein uploaded files are made accessible for download only after the copyright status for three most frequent copyright regimes has been reviewed by staff members. Although the server is located in Canada, files that are not public domain in the US were until July 2010 flagged
B for 'Technical Block' or 'Temporary Block', and could not be viewed. The FAQ posted in their forum stated, "Unfortunately, these 'temporary' blocks will be until further notice – possibly all the way until the expiration of term in the USA." After an initial phase,
Bflagged items have essentially disappeared thanks to the introduction of regional servers operated by unaffiliated organizations (see next).
On 21 April 2011, the
Music Publishers Association (UK) issued a
DMCA
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
takedown notice against the IMSLP.
Go Daddy
GoDaddy Inc. is an American publicly traded Internet domain registrar and web hosting company headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and incorporated in Delaware.
, GoDaddy has more than 21 million customers and over 6,600 employees worldwide. The co ...
, the
domain name registrar for the IMSLP, removed the
domain name
A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. As ...
"imslp.org", leaving it inaccessible. The MPA's argument was similar to that made in 2007 by Universal Edition. In particular, the MPA claimed that Rachmaninoff's 1913 choral symphony ''
The Bells'' violated US and EU copyright. According to the IMSLP, the action is without any merit. Almost 24 hours later, the MPA (UK) announced on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that they had asked Go Daddy to reinstate the domain name.
On November 7, 2017, the IMSLP received a cease and desist letter from the heirs of
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...
expressing concern that the composer's music was available for download in countries where his music was still under copyright protection. This demand was followed up by a separate letter from the
National Music Publishers Association
The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) is a trade association for the American music publishing industry. Founded in 1917, NMPA represents American music publishers and their songwriting partners. The NMPA’s mandate is to protect and ...
on January 19, 2018. On February 23, 2018, access to all compositions by Prokofiev was blocked by the IMSLP in response to these legal threats. The issues were partially resolved on the IMSLP forums in July 2018, resulting in the reupload of Prokofiev's pre-1923 works. In August, the remainder of Prokofiev's works were reuploaded so that they would only be available in the countries they are allowed in.
Subscription introduction
On December 27, 2015, the IMSLP moved to a subscription-based model, where users are expected to pay to avoid a waiting period on some of the files available on the site, and to access certain newly uploaded files.
Users who have not paid are subject to a 15-second waiting period on certain files (excluding
Creative Commons-licensed files that constitute a majority of the site's files), are required to wait up to two days to access newly uploaded files, and are shown advertising.
The project leader Edward Guo claimed the changes were made because the level of funding was "not sustainable in the long run", but also noted:
: "The income we receive from various sources have been enough to maintain the site so far, but I increasingly believe that this level of funding is not sustainable in the long run. We are not, like traditional music libraries, bound by the service of a conservatory, university or publisher, but rather can do things that traditional institutions are not willing to do, because we serve only musicians and music lovers. But everything is a tradeoff – we also do not have the funding infrastructure these traditional institutions have, and over the past few years I’ve frankly exhausted my imagination in searching for new realistic sources of funding for IMSLP.
: "And so I will announce here that a subscription system for IMSLP will be put in place. But this will not be a traditional subscription model – in particular, no file will be blocked from access by the public. Rather, a subscription will permit a member to download files without having to wait a certain number of seconds, eliminiate
'sic''some of the advertising on the site, and a few other benefits. I see this as a way to both preserve IMSLP’s philosophy of open access and to secure IMSLP’s future."
Guo attributed the change in funding to discussions with librarians at an
IAML conference in June 2015. Some contributors to the website expressed concerns that Guo had not properly attempted to raise donations, but without any prior warning, introduced the membership system to monetize their work.
Naxos Music Library
On April 18, 2016, the IMSLP announced on its
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account that all subscribers will have access to the
Naxos
Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...
Music Library.
EU server
On July 10, 2010, a forum thread announced the opening of a new server located in the Netherlands. This server allows works that are public domain in Canada and the EU to be downloaded legally, even if they are under copyright in the US. The server was initially run by an unaffiliated European organization, while a forum thread later announced that operations had been handed over to Project Leonardo, a new unaffiliated company incorporated in New Zealand to "provide web hosting services to online libraries that distribute free contents in any fields of arts and science". Files on the EU server are flagged (EU).
US server
A similar, also unaffiliated, US server allows users to download works that are in the public domain only in the US. Unlike the other servers, this one can only be contributed to by administrators and users who have asked for the privilege, though the files are freely accessible for download.
CA server
On July 1, 2013, a forum thread announced the opening of a new server located in Canada and operated by Project Leonardo, the unaffiliated company that also runs the EU server. This server is especially intended for users located in countries where copyright lasts 50 years from the death of the author, such as Canada, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, and many others. Files on the CA server are flagged (CA).
WIMA merge
On August 23, 2011, an announcement was made that the
Werner Icking Music Archive would merge with the IMSLP. WIMA had announced the merge on its own site five days before in an open letter to contributors. After working out some technical issues, the IMSLP decided to officially commence the merge on August 28. The merge was announced to be complete on July 21, 2012.
Current legal structure
IMSLP is now owned by Project Petrucci LLC, a private company created to run the website. Project Petrucci LLC was registered as a
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
limited-liability company on June 28, 2008, when the site founder was studying at the
New England Conservatory. The website provides an e-mail address for the site's founder ("preferred"), and a physical address for the company's
registered agent
In United States business law, a registered agent (also known as a resident agent, statutory agent, or agent for service of process) is a business or individual designated to receive service of process (SOP) when a business entity is a party ...
in the United States (for "any legal or formal correspondence").
Project Leonardo is an
internet service provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...
that hosts free online content in the arts or sciences.
Similar projects
*
Choral Public Domain Library
The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) is a sheet music archive which focuses on choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing (such as via permission from the copyright holder).
It is a ...
(focused on choral and vocal music)
*
Musopen
Musopen Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Tarzana, California, launched by Aaron Dunn in 2005. It aims to "set music free" by providing music to the public free of charge, without copyright restrictions.
Mission and charit ...
(focused on recordings)
*
Mutopia Project (focused on
typeset
Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing '' characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random H ...
scores)
*
Werner Icking Music Archive (contains mainly
early music; merged with the IMSLP)
See also
*
List of online music databases
Below is a table of online music databases that are largely free of charge. Note that many of the sites provide a specialized service or focus on a particular music genre. Some of these operate as an online music store or purchase referral se ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Discipline-oriented digital libraries
Internet properties established in 2006
Internet services shut down by a legal challenge
Online music and lyrics databases
MediaWiki websites
Music libraries
Public domain music
Sheet music
Canadian music websites
Canadian digital libraries