Creative Commons Artist Spotlight: Philippe Mangold

In this week’s Creative Commons Artist Spotlight, we interview French artist Philippe Mangold about his CC-licensed work available at Jamendo.com.

Why did you decide to release your music under a Creative Commons license?

I always considered art and music in particular as a way to share and build relationships with others. When I heard about the CC licences, I was immediately attracted because it fit my personal ethic. On the one hand, my works are protected under a copyright, but on the other hand I have the opportunity to do anything I want with it — and why not offer them by free downloads? It allows me to have good visibility on the web, a visibility which leads me into relationships with people like Red Hat Magazine readers!

How much of your work is CC-licensed?

All of my work is available under CC license on jamendo.com.

Who are your musical influences?

Actually I’m interested in all music; I’m like a kind of sponge. It influences me if i feel emotionally touched. Of course African music and ethnic music are my strongest influences. I fell for the Swiss harpist/guitar player Andreas Wollenweider. His music turned out to be a revelation for me — a kind of world fusion with a lot of instruments.

My carrier as a musician is pretty weird. Basically I’m a guitarist and I come from rock music. I had the chance to get in touch with many musicians with very different influences and they handed a little of their knowlege down to me, and they all contribute to build my tastes and my styles. I’m a completely open musician and I look forward to new discoveries.

What tools do you use to produce your music?