Special Editions & Purchasing Commercial Licensing (so we can use it)

lloyd wrote on 12/13/2017, 7:05 PM

Hi,

As we all know, Music Maker doesn't allow for commercial use. And a whole bunch of us just got the 80's edition, and the hip-hop edition for next to nothing.

I have some questions:

- Music Maker ships with samples & instruments normally. Do those also require a commercial license? Where can we get a list of every one of those licenses for what ships in Music Maker as a vanilla product?

- For the 80's and Hip Hop editions - what version of Music Maker is provided? Music Maker (free) edition does not support sound banks, and the special editions come with 3 sound banks each - how does that work? It must mean they aren't using the free edition?

- The sound banks we get with the 80's and Hip Hop edition, does anyone know what license are those? The website does not say. Are they pro edition or some cheaper variant? I ask, because then we may need to pay for the commercial edition anyway... which makes paying 30$ for a special edition and sound banks a much worse deal.

As you can imagine, I am curious in using this for games / videos without worrying all the time about what license each sample has. I'd rather just take the included samples/instruments/audiopacks and get my @$$ fully covered - but that process seems very difficult as there is no consolidated list or easy way to do this in bulk... Any help simplifying or giving me advice on this would be graciously welcomed.

Comments

AnthonyPython wrote on 12/14/2017, 5:01 AM

Non-commercial version in the store, I believe they all say you can find the pro for each sound pool at www.catooh.com , looks to be in german or dutch though.

Edit: I put the english version as the normal for the link, the default is german, save you guys some time.

browj2 wrote on 12/14/2017, 12:35 PM

@lloyd

Hi,

What do you mean by "Sound banks?" Do you mean Soundpools?

The license for the special MM editions is private, not pro, so you would need to obtain the pro license if you want to use particular Soundpool loops commercially. Contact Magix for this.

No license is required to use the instruments, so long as you make the music yourself and are not using the demo song that comes with the instrument.

John CB

johnebaker wrote on 12/14/2017, 1:30 PM

@AnthonyPython

. . . . at www.catooh.com , looks to be in german or dutch though . . . .

Scroll down to the bottom of the home page and you can select the country (language) you require.

HTH

John EB

dark_spartan wrote on 12/16/2017, 2:35 PM

Took some digging but I found the answers (thanks to folks like John)

Q: Music Maker ships with samples & instruments normally. Do those also require a commercial license?

Instruments do not require a commercial license
Sound samples (non-loop) do not require a commercial license
Demo-tracks that come with instruments, do not include commercial use
Soundpools & loops require a commercial license and can be very difficult to track to the original owner

Q: Where can we get a list of ... licenses for what ships in Music Maker as a vanilla product?

Soundpools it ships with are only for non-commercial use

Q: For the 80's and Hip Hop editions - what version of Music Maker is provided? Music Maker (free) edition does not support sound banks, and the special editions come with 3 sound banks each...

It ships with Music Maker FREE edition (does not include any pro or premium features such as VST support)
Not sure why the comparison chart says the free edition doesn't support soundpools (it does)

Q: The sound banks we get with the 80's and Hip Hop edition, does anyone know what license are those? The website does not say. Are they pro edition or some cheaper variant? I ask, because then we may need to pay for the commercial edition anyway... which makes paying 30$ for a special edition and sound banks a much worse deal.

The only thing the special edition provides, is the same free copy of Music Maker plus 3 non-commercial Soundpools
If you want to use commercial Soundpools, the special editions would be throwing your money away

Q: ... using this for games / videos without worrying all the time about what license each sample has ... but that process seems very difficult as there is no consolidated list or easy way to do this in bulk...

Just my two cents, but soundpools serve very little real practical purpose in reality. They are an easy cash grab but the license is such that you can't do anything with them. It is not easy to identify & purchase the commercial editions. On average, it is approx 50$ USD / soundpool, purchased from a completely different website that has different naming conventions and any coupons you received from Magix will not work on this website. To put this into context, the Music Maker free edition alone comes with 7 packs, which requires 350$ USD just to unlock the soundpools in the free edition.

Note: Technically right now, every version starts only with Music Maker Free. The Special Editions / Pro / Premium packs just give you codes you can use to "unlock" additional features in their store front - it is a tedious and time consuming process. No idea why their installers are very different sizes when all the instruments and packs are obtained separately. But most likely due to the "pc optimization free today" stuff they try to install along side them.

ReplicantX wrote on 12/16/2017, 11:50 PM

Just my two cents, but soundpools serve very little real practical purpose in reality. They are an easy cash grab but the license is such that you can't do anything with them. It is not easy to identify & purchase the commercial editions. On average, it is approx 50$ USD / soundpool, purchased from a completely different website that has different naming conventions and any coupons you received from Magix will not work on this website. To put this into context, the Music Maker free edition alone comes with 7 packs, which requires 350$ USD just to unlock the soundpools in the free edition.

This was really informative. Thanks!

http://www.catooh.com/us/help_-_license_terms.248.html

From my understanding, even after paying for the Bundle or even buying additional soundpools... you really can't do anything with them except to make music for yourself to listen to in private.
You couldn't even use the music in videos made with Vegas Pro (also in the bundle) and post them freely on Youtube.

Zlatenin wrote on 11/26/2018, 1:38 PM

Took some digging but I found the answers (thanks to folks like John)

Q: Music Maker ships with samples & instruments normally. Do those also require a commercial license?

Instruments do not require a commercial license

Sound samples (non-loop) do not require a commercial license

Demo-tracks that come with instruments, do not include commercial use

Soundpools & loops require a commercial license and can be very difficult to track to the original owner

Q: Where can we get a list of ... licenses for what ships in Music Maker as a vanilla product?

Soundpools it ships with are only for non-commercial use

Q: For the 80's and Hip Hop editions - what version of Music Maker is provided? Music Maker (free) edition does not support sound banks, and the special editions come with 3 sound banks each...

It ships with Music Maker FREE edition (does not include any pro or premium features such as VST support)

Not sure why the comparison chart says the free edition doesn't support soundpools (it does)

Q: The sound banks we get with the 80's and Hip Hop edition, does anyone know what license are those? The website does not say. Are they pro edition or some cheaper variant? I ask, because then we may need to pay for the commercial edition anyway... which makes paying 30$ for a special edition and sound banks a much worse deal.

The only thing the special edition provides, is the same free copy of Music Maker plus 3 non-commercial Soundpools

If you want to use commercial Soundpools, the special editions would be throwing your money away

Q: ... using this for games / videos without worrying all the time about what license each sample has ... but that process seems very difficult as there is no consolidated list or easy way to do this in bulk...

Just my two cents, but soundpools serve very little real practical purpose in reality. They are an easy cash grab but the license is such that you can't do anything with them. It is not easy to identify & purchase the commercial editions. On average, it is approx 50$ USD / soundpool, purchased from a completely different website that has different naming conventions and any coupons you received from Magix will not work on this website. To put this into context, the Music Maker free edition alone comes with 7 packs, which requires 350$ USD just to unlock the soundpools in the free edition.

Note: Technically right now, every version starts only with Music Maker Free. The Special Editions / Pro / Premium packs just give you codes you can use to "unlock" additional features in their store front - it is a tedious and time consuming process. No idea why their installers are very different sizes when all the instruments and packs are obtained separately. But most likely due to the "pc optimization free today" stuff they try to install along side them.

Thank you for saving me the extra (yes, i said extra) waste of time.
It seems like today's companies can't live without setting 10 traps per single piece of whatever they "do" or "serve" and not even being an able reader of terms of use will be enough to prevent yourself from falling in one of those.