You may have heard announcements on the air that: “Many of the music beds and sound effects that are heard in content produced by this station are made available through a Creative Commons License.” What does that mean? Why do we make those announcements?

When something is covered under a Creative Commons license, that means that creators provide audio (and many other types of creative work) that can be used freely under various conditions. Many of these creators simply ask for attribution for their work. That’s why we air those announcements—and, why we have this page on our website.

Learn more about Creative Commons here.

Website Sources We Use

Do you know of a good resource for Creative Commons or Public Domain music and sound effects? 
EMAIL US AND TELL US!  (wuaw at cccc dot edu)

General Search

Sound Effects

Music Beds

Photos and Artwork

Licenses We Use

You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

You may copy, alter, distribute and perform the work without permission, even for commercial purposes.

You are free to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon this work, even commercially, as long as the author or licensor for the original creation is credited.

You are free to remix, tweak, and build upon this work even for commercial purposes, as long as the author or licensor is credited, and new works are licensed under identical terms.

Licenses NOT Used in Underwriting Announcements

You are free to remix, tweak, and build upon this work non-commercially, and although new works must also acknowledge the author or licensor and be non-commercial. New works do not have to be licensed on the same terms.

You are free to download and redistribute this work for non-commercial purposes as long as the author or licensor is credited. You are also free to translate, make remixes, and produce new works based on this work as long as the author or licensor of the original work is credited, the new creations are licensed under identical terms and they are non-commercial in nature.

Licenses NOT Used by WDCC/WUAW

This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to the creator.  (There are also licenses that stipulate “share-alike” conditions.)