Creative Commons Music Spotlight: Podington Bear and Dexter Britian

One obstacle that my students (and myself) run into when making films is finding the perfect music. Specifically, music that is Creative Commons friendly. My students are expected to use only Creative Commons music in their films because I think it is tremendously important to give and respect the credit that creative work is entitled to, which often times does not happen. And while my students try their best to find CC-friendly music, it is rather difficult to find great songs. Over the years, I have found some artists that I absolutely love to listen to and use in my films and thought I should share them all along with you.

Podington Bear

My love for Podington Bear knows no bounds-this man is amazing. Since 2007, Podington Bear has been making music that is featured on several NPR shows and podcasts like This American Life. You can get all of his music on Free Music Archive, but below are some of my favorite tracks.

Dexter Britain

I first  found out about Dexter Britain after watching a beautiful film about migrant workers in Singapore that Alex Fortmann, a brilliant filmmaker and former SAS student, created and posted on YouTube.



Dexter Britain has some of the most beautiful instrumental music out there, and I often times put it on in class or when spending a quiet evening reading because it's so well-done. It was Dexter Britain's song, Nothing to Fear, that I used for my Apple Distinguished Educator video, which was the perfect soundtrack for the feeling I wanted to deliver in my application video. Besides making beautiful music, Dexter Britain also allows you to name your price when you buy his music, which is awesome. Here are some of my favorite tracks/albums below.
   

My intent is to also keep up my search for the great CC-friendly music to keep sharing with my students and readers, so keep checking back for more CC Music Spotlight posts. Happy listening!