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Yes—Citizen DJ lets you turn selected Library of Congress recordings and audiovisual archives into downloadable samples and simple beat patterns. But it is a browser-based Library of Congress Labs project, not primarily a phone app, and “free to use” applies only where the relevant collection or item-level rights statement says it does.
Open it at citizen-dj.labs.loc.gov. You can browse archival material, preview automatically generated clips, arrange sounds on a 16-beat grid, and download samples for use in a DAW or sampler.
What is Citizen DJ?
Citizen DJ is a browser-based sampling and remixing tool created by Brian Foo during his 2020 Innovator in Residence residency with the Library of Congress. It is part of Library of Congress Labs, whose experiments explore new ways to use the institution’s collections.
The project was designed to make archival audio and moving images usable as raw material for new music. Rather than merely playing old recordings, Citizen DJ helps users discover short clips, place them into rhythmic patterns, and download source material for more detailed production elsewhere.
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Foo and early coverage framed the project as a way to reconnect with the dense, collage-like sampling associated with hip-hop’s often-called “golden age.” That description is a creative and historical framing, not a claim that Citizen DJ reproduces one fixed definition of hip-hop history. Its broader achievement is practical: it lowers the barrier between archival discovery and musical remixing.
How to make a beat with Citizen DJ
- Open the project. Start at Citizen DJ’s landing page, since individual collection URLs and interface labels may change.
- Choose a collection. Options have included National Screening Room, Variety Stage Sound Recordings and Motion Pictures, Free Music Archive, MusicBox Project, and National Jukebox material.
- Select or shuffle an item. The tool presents a source recording, film, or other archival item.
- Preview generated clips. Citizen DJ automatically creates shorter excerpts and one-shot samples from qualifying material.
- Build a pattern. Place clips on the 16-beat grid and try alternate patterns.
- Adjust the track. Where available, controls include volume, clip start, and clip duration. Drum-machine elements can also be added.
- Download the material. You can usually download individual clips, longer excerpts, or a larger collection sample pack.
- Continue in a DAW. Import WAV files into Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro, Bitwig Studio, a hardware sampler, or another production environment.
The browser interface is best understood as a discovery, chopping, and pattern-building tool—not as a replacement for a full digital audio workstation. It does not provide the detailed arrangement, automation, effects, mixing, or mastering features that a finished production normally requires.
Which collections can you explore?
Citizen DJ’s collections are musically and legally different from one another. The available selector has included:
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- National Screening Room: Library moving-image material, including film audio and other audiovisual samples.
- Variety Stage Sound Recordings and Motion Pictures: Early entertainment recordings and motion-picture material, including Edison-related sources.
- Free Music Archive: A selected subset of recordings dedicated to the public domain—not the entire Free Music Archive.
- MusicBox Project: Selected recordings meeting Citizen DJ’s public-domain criteria, including performances of songs whose copyrights have expired.
- National Jukebox: Early-20th-century popular and classical recordings, including thousands of historically significant samples.
Collection pages and item pages are more important than the fact that a recording appears on loc.gov. The Library’s broader website contains both public-domain and copyrighted material, so availability on the Library’s website is not, by itself, permission to sample.
Why the “century-old samples” claim is mostly accurate
The project’s most important expansion involved National Jukebox material. The Library describes National Jukebox as holding more than 16,000 early-20th-century recordings dating from 1900 to 1925. Citizen DJ added thousands of these recordings as public-domain sample material in 2022.
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The relevant legal milestone is the Music Modernization Act of 2018. In the United States, sound recordings published before January 1, 1923, entered the public domain on January 1, 2022. Recordings older than 100 years continue entering the public domain under the schedule described by the Library of Congress in its 2022 public-domain explanation.
That date does not mean every element connected to an old recording is automatically free. It is essential to distinguish:
- The composition: the written song or musical work.
- The sound recording: the particular performance captured on a record.
- Visual material: film, video, photographs, artwork, logos, or titles.
- New contributions: modern drum sounds, arrangements, edits, or performances added to a project.
A public-domain composition can have a copyrighted modern recording. Conversely, an old recording can be cleared for reuse while associated visual or newly added material has separate conditions.
Is Citizen DJ’s material legal to use in commercial music?
For material whose Citizen DJ page explicitly says it is free to use and reuse, the project states that users may copy, modify, distribute, and perform it, including commercially, without requesting permission. Attribution is generally recommended even when it is not legally required for public-domain material.
The crucial qualification is that this permission is not a blanket license for every Library of Congress recording. Check the rights statement attached to the specific collection and item you use.
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| Material | Rights question | Practical approach |
|---|---|---|
| National Screening Room | Does the selected item’s page state that its audio or video is free to use and reuse? | Save the item page, rights statement, and suggested credit line. |
| Variety Stage | Does the collection page identify the particular recording as eligible, and are there separate visual considerations? | Follow the collection and item-level terms rather than relying on the recording’s age alone. |
| Free Music Archive | Is the track part of Citizen DJ’s public-domain subset? | Do not assume that other Free Music Archive recordings have the same status. |
| MusicBox Project | Does the recording meet the project’s public-domain criteria? | Retain the item identifier and the exact reuse language shown on the page. |
| Drum-machine sounds | Are the derived sounds covered by a separate Creative Commons license? | Credit the source and comply with CC BY-SA 4.0 terms where applicable. |
The National Screening Room page, Variety Stage page, Free Music Archive page, and MusicBox page explain their respective reuse terms.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsWhat to save before releasing a track
For every sample, keep a small provenance record containing:
- Item title and collection name.
- Creator, performer, or production information.
- Library identifier and item-page URL.
- The displayed rights statement.
- The suggested credit line.
- The date you downloaded the material.
- Any license information for drums, effects, artwork, or other added elements.
An example item-level page is available at Citizen DJ’s MusicBox item page. Keeping this information does not make an uncleared sample legal, but it makes it much easier to demonstrate what you used and which terms you relied on.
From an archival clip to a finished production
Use MP3 files for quick browsing and rough experiments. When WAV is available, it is the better choice for production because it avoids adding another lossy-compression stage before you edit, pitch, or time-stretch the sound.
Bulk packs are particularly useful when working outside the browser. They are not finished beats; they contain source material such as excerpts and one-shots. The National Screening Room pack lists 4,297 automatically generated samples—201 audio segments and 4,096 one-shot clips—with a 192-kbps MP3 pack listed at 101.3 MB and a 16-bit WAV pack listed at 482.2 MB.
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- The All-Rounder to Learn On: A simple, user-friendly layout inherited from pro Pioneer DJ gear makes it easy to start and grow
- No Beatmatching Skills Needed: Smart Fader auto-adjusts volume, bass, and BPM so you can blend genres by moving one fader
- Room to Grow: 2-channel, 2-deck control with 16 Performance Pads for Hot Cues, Pad FX, Beat Jump, and Sampler
- Built for Streaming and Streaming Out: Mix from Apple Music, Tidal, and Beatport, and live-stream or MC from a single device
- Plug In Anywhere: Connects to PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Android by USB or Bluetooth with a built-in sound card for speakers
The Variety Stage pack lists 4,173 samples—77 audio segments and 4,096 one-shot clips. Its listed sizes are 88.6 MB for the 192-kbps MP3 pack and 451.4 MB for the 16-bit WAV pack. These figures are useful planning signals, but experimental project interfaces and download offerings can change.
Once imported into a DAW or sampler, you can chop longer phrases, pitch them, reverse them, time-stretch them, layer one-shots, and build a complete arrangement. Citizen DJ can be used without paid software; a free editor such as Audacity can handle basic trimming, while a full DAW is more suitable for extensive arrangement and mixing.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Attribution and the drum sounds
Public-domain material may not legally require attribution, but crediting the Library collection, creator, performer, and source item is good practice. It also preserves the historical context that makes the sample valuable.
The project’s derived drum sounds are a separate issue. They originate from Slackermedia Multimedia Sprint v2 drumkits and are distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike terms. The Citizen DJ project identifies the derived files as CC BY-SA 4.0, which permits commercial use when attribution and the license’s other conditions are followed.
Do not treat “no attribution required” as a universal rule. Follow the specific license or rights statement shown for every element in your project.
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Responsible use of archival material
Copyright clearance is not the only consideration. Historical recordings, folk performances, ethnographic material, and documentary footage can involve communities and people whose lives are not fully represented by a simple public-domain label.
Before using a clip, consider whether the surrounding context could create a misleading impression, expose private or sensitive information, or turn culturally significant material into an unexamined novelty. Audiovisual sources may also contain trademarks, logos, or identifiable people. These concerns do not necessarily prohibit reuse, but they are reasons to make deliberate editorial choices and avoid implying endorsement.
Where Citizen DJ falls short
- It is not a full DAW: detailed production normally happens elsewhere.
- Search may be limited: it is not necessarily optimized for BPM, key, mood, or instrument searches.
- Collections are selective: the project does not make the entire Library archive available as a free sample library.
- Rights vary: similar-looking materials may have different permissions.
- Bulk files are large: WAV packs can occupy hundreds of megabytes.
- The interface may change: Citizen DJ is an experimental Labs project, so exact controls and deep links are not guaranteed to remain fixed.
It is also a weaker fit for producers seeking polished modern drum kits, genre-specific presets, cloud collaboration, or commercial sample-library search tools.
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Who should use it?
Beatmakers can find unusual textures that are difficult to locate in conventional sample libraries. Educators can demonstrate public-domain law, archival research, copyright, and remix culture. Archivists and documentary makers can explore how historical materials become part of new creative works. Beginners can experiment without paying for a subscription, although learning a DAW will expand what they can do after downloading the sounds.
Quick Recap
Release checklist
- Confirm the sample’s collection and item-level rights statement.
- Save the item URL, Library identifier, and download date.
- Record the creator, performer, title, and suggested credit line.
- Check whether drums or other added sounds carry a separate Creative Commons license.
- Use WAV when available for production.
- Review artwork, video, logos, names, and other non-audio elements separately.
- Keep a sample log with your project files.
- Do not assume that unrelated Library of Congress material has the same rights as Citizen DJ material.
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