Want to know how to find and use public domain sheet music for profit? Then you may want to pay close attention to the rest of this article. First off, a word of caution - there are plenty of sites out there that offer sheet music free of charge...often times though, they are not copyright-free. That's why it's important to make sure the music you choose is in the public domain, before going ahead and downloading it to your computer.

With that said, here is a list of useful resources for sheet music that's either free for certain uses or are in the public domain. For each and every resource, we'll tell you what you can expect and let you know about any user restrictions that may be in place. You see, one of the sites given below contain both copyrighted and public domain sheet music, while others grant you permission to use their sheet music for educational/personal purposes only.

Before we begin however, we'd like to give you a friendly reminder...

Don't overlook libraries!

Libraries can be a hidden goldmine when it comes to locating public domain sheet music, especially university libraries and large city libraries. For instance, the Boston Public Library houses a massive repository of music titles - over 150,000 volumes to be precise. You may check out their website here - http://www.bpl.org/research/music/aboutmusic.htm. Furthermore, if sheet music is in decent condition and in the public domain, you're allowed to take photocopies. So don't forget to browse the music section at your local libraries...who knows, you might stumble across some gems!

And with that, here is a list of websites that offer free sheet music:

* California Sheet Music Project (http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/%7emkduggan/neh.html)

You'll find a collection of 2000 pieces of sheet music published in California between the years 1852 and 1900. The collection also includes various materials such as photographs, song sheets, a 1972 San Francisco publisher's catalog and advertisements. The sheet music contained in this collection belongs to the public domain.

* Early Editions Of Chopin (http://chopin.lib.uchicago.edu/)

The University Of Chicago collection includes over 400 early printed editions of delightful musical compositions by Frédéric Chopin, all of which were published before 1881. Every single score in the collection has been digitized and can be searched by genre, title, dedicatee or uniform title.

All of the above-mentioned materials belong to the public domain. However, the library does require that you include a credit line with each reproduction. The credit line should be inserted in the following manner - University of Chicago Library, Special Collections Research Center.

Additionally, if you're planning on reproducing any of the scores in a profit-making project, you must obtain special permission and pay a user fee in order to get the green light. On the other hand, you may use the material free of charge for scholarly and educational purposes.

* African-American Sheet Music [1850 - 1920] (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/sheetmusic/brown/)

This website contains more than 1000 pieces of authentic African-American sheet music dating from 1850 through the early 1900's. This impressive collection includes music from the abolitionist movement as well as from the Civil War and post-Civil war period.

Most of the pieces in this particular collection belong to the public domain. However, if you intend editing or using any of these works, you're responsible for verifying their copyright status. Keep in mind that some of the sheet music album covers include several photos of famous singers of old - do not attempt to reproduce these materials, unless you've got express permission to do so.

Let's now discuss...

How to use public domain sheet music for profit

Well, for example, you could put up a niche site that offers free lessons on how to play the piano. You could then re-package some public domain sheet music, throw in some enhancements and promote it as a paid product on your website. If the traffic you receive is highly targeted, you're sure to pull in a steady stream of profits on a regular basis.

You may also publish public domain sheet music in DVD format and physically ship it to customers as a bonus to one of your main products. Another option would be to sell these materials offline. Perhaps you could organize a joint venture with a local musical instruments store - you provide them with popular public domain sheet music packages, they do the selling on your behalf and then both parties split the profits.

And with that, we wrap up this article on how to find and use public domain sheet music for profit. We hope you found the content useful and interesting!

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