question: posting demos/unreleased recordings online

i think it's been pretty well demonstrated by a variety of governmental authorities that you're legally required to get permission before posting any song online, released, unreleased or otherwise, at least if you're going to make it available for download. you may feel free to strongly disagree with those governmental authorities and post stuff online anyway, but if you're asking what's currently legally required, i think that will be your answer.

but even if you want to join the rather huge crowd of otherwise law-abiding citizens who think those laws are really really dumb -- including, presumably, every single person who posts here -- the idea of posting unreleased recordings is an entirely different question. because now you're not just spreading the joy of a song the artist has already released, you're actually releasing it for him. and you so don't have that right.

a legal/ethical equivalent can be found in the part of copyright law dealing with first performance of a copywritten song. once a song has been recorded by anyone -- the original writer or anyone he's given the song to -- then anyone else in the world can record their own version and release it without asking permission. they still have to pay royalties to the writer, using the automatic "compulsory" copyright rate, but they don't have to get permission, because once a song has been officially "published," it's automatically available to anyone to use. BUT ... if the song hasn't been recorded or otherwise published yet, then no one in the world except for the original copyright holder can record it, at any price, without getting permission. it's that first recording that the songwriter has complete control of. it is he, and only he, who gets to decide if the song gets published at all in the first place.

seems to be the same principle should apply to posting music online. once a band has put a recording out there into the world, then do what you want with it. but don't go making that decision for the band if they've chosen not to put it out themselves.

was that a long enough answer?

I'm not asking the government before putting my demos online...

Figured as much. Thanks, Mr. Cuz.

I'm not entirely sure - but I know for a load of free web tracks by a band that I was asked to prep recently permission was required from both the artist and the label. But that was official site stuff.

This Bowie site seems to get away with it

http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/drongo/45/music.html

Maybe you could try emailing whoevers behind that and find out what they did.