Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Macaulay Library
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Surround sound logo with picture of Hawaiian bird
Listen to a surround-sound recording of Hawaiian birds

Prices

Why we charge for sounds and videos

Glaucous-winged Gull with starfish

As a not-for-profit organization, we charge for the time it takes us to retrieve materials and prepare them for distribution. This can vary because some of our recordings are in digital form, while others are still on reels of tape. Access to some recordings has been restricted by the people who recorded them.

A recording's price also varies depending on how complicated the request is. For example, it takes less time for us to provide the keeyuur of a Red-shouldered Hawk than it does for us to provide a more specific request such as the hawk's high, sharp kilt vocalization of the California adult.

We base our hourly rates on the way the recordings will be used. If a recording will be used in a commercial product that will make money, our hourly rate ($75 per hour) is higher than for an undergraduate who needs a sound for a summer research project ($25 per hour).

Read more about pricing on our order form.

Commercial clients pay a licensing fee that varies depending on the scope of the recording's use. Please contact us to find out more.

Anyone who would like to use the materials in the collection will be asked to complete either a commercial or a non-commerical use agreement (see samples below).

Adobe PDFCommercial License Agreement download pdf

Adobe PDF Non-Commercial License Agreement - download pdf