I wrote about the Creative Commons license as a great way to get your music protected. Here is an overview of the licenses offered by Creative Commons. I’ve created a 1-2 sentence description of the licenses. Bookmark now so you’ll have this post for future reference.

Before you license - You must own the copyright. If you are the artist, then there shouldn’t be a problem. If you were hired to create the work or if you are working for someone else, then you probably don’t. In the situations were you aren’t the owner, you must check with them about applying the license.
Quick overview of Creative Commons licenses:

No Commerical Use

(These 3 licenses allow your fans and others to use your work, but no one can make money from that creation)

1. Give me credit - Your name must be included as the original creator. (Creative Commons license - Attribution Non-commercial)

2. Give me credit and use the same license - Your name must be included and the ‘new’ work must be licensed under the same terms. (Creative Commons license - Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike)

3. Give me credit, share, but no changes - Your name must be included for credit, but the work can’t be changed in any way. (Creative Commons license -Attribution Non-commercial No derivatives)

Commercial Uses

1. Go forth and create. Give me credit. - This allows your fans to go out and use your work to create new things. You are credited for the original source. (Creative Commons license - Attribution )

2. Go forth only. Give me credit. - Your fans can redistribute the work, but no changes can be made to the original content. You must be credited as the author. (Creative Commons license - Attribution No Derivative )

3. Go forth, create, and share alike. Give me credit. - New works can be created based on yours. The new works must carry the same license as yours and you must be given credit. (Creative Commons license -Attribution Share-alike)

2 mis-perceptions with licensing your work:

(b) Using the CC license doesn’t prevent you from other licensing. This is a non-exclusive license, which means you can enter into other licenses for your music. So, while you may choose a license for the general public, you can enter into a dollar-based agreement for commercial use, provided that the agreement is also non-exclusive.

(c) You can stop the license anytime, but you can not restrict someone who has already using the material under the license. So, for example, if someone downloads your song under a Creative Commons license on Monday and you remove the license on Tuesday, there is nothing you can do to prevent the Monday downloads.

Source: Creative Commons