FREEMUSE – THE WORLD FORUM ON MUSIC AND CENSORSHIP is an independent international membership organisation advocating and defending freedom of expression for musicians and composers worldwide.

UN SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS
Freemuse has Special Consultative Status with the United Nation‘s Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC, since 2012.

FREEMUSE CHARTER
Freemuse is governed by its charter and has a membership elected international, interdisciplinary Executive Committee.

FREEMUSE HISTORY
Freemuse was born of the 1st World Conference on Music and Censorship held in Copenhagen in November 1998.

The conference joined together professionals from diverse fields and countries – musicians, journalists, researchers, record industry professionals and human rights activists – to examine, discuss and document a wide variety of abuses from the apparently benign to the overtly extreme.

The alarmingly widespread nature of censorship of music prompted the conference attendees to initiate the creation of a new organisation, Freemuse. Its guidelines are the principles outlined in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights as they apply specifically to musicians and composers. The Freemuse Secretariat was established in August 2000.