But everything is a tradeoff - we also do not have the funding infrastructure these traditional institutions have, and over the past few years I've frankly exhausted my imagination in searching for new realistic sources of funding for IMSLP.
We are not, like traditional music libraries, bound by the service of a conservatory, university or publisher, but rather can do things that traditional institutions are not willing to do, because we serve only musicians and music lovers. ‘The income we receive from various sources have been enough to maintain the site so far, but I increasingly believe that this level of funding is not sustainable in the long run. IMSLP founder Edward Guo explained the changes in an online statement: Paid members will also avoid advertisements, and gain access to newly submitted files, which are not immediately available to non-members.
Paid membership will ensure no waiting period for downloads – those who continue to use the free service will be required to wait 15 seconds before the score appears, unless the work is licensed via Creative Commons. The new membership service – costing $22.80 per year – will provide certain benefits, but is not mandatory and users may continue to use the service for free.
Up to this point the online sheet music service has been entirely free, providing access to over 350,000 downloads of non-copyrighted musical scores, and over 30,000 music recordings. The IMSLP Petrucci Music Library announced a new membership plan in December.