# Thoughts: Member demo/live performances/album sharing via torrents



## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

What's everyone's thought on integrating bit torrent tracking into the forums. I see it being used so members can distribute some of their work to other members. Of course the trackers would be private to this forum.

1) No copyright material would be allowed, unless of course you own the copyright. Only member performances/material is allowed, no bootlegs of other acts.
2) Certain quality will need to be achieved 320kbps mp3 or flac
3) Files must be properly tagged
4) Files must be accompanied with high quality album art.
5) A certain ratio of seeding may need to be maintained to ensure files are available to those interested

I was just tossing this idea around with Scott and just wondering how much it would be used? Or if anyone actually thinks it's a good idea?



Jeff


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Exposes the site to potential liability unless rigidly policed - I'm not very well versed on torrents, but mightn't that mean some admin has to check every single download that ever comes available? 

Sorry to play devil's advocate.

I see that you have cover versions off limits, I only say that in case someone didn't catch the "Only member performances/*material* is allowed".

This is not something I would find useful at this time. I know, what a curmudgeon that damned keto is. :sport-smiley-002:


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## kw_guitarguy (Apr 29, 2008)

I always love using technology where it makes sense.

I think there are enough artists on this forum that use Youtube etc...that we could make use of this.

Maybe a handful of moderators to check the torrents for any violations etc...

~Andrew


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

There are a few dozen other sites out there that do this already. It may be simpler and more expedient to "partner" with a site that handles the bandwidth, the lists, and the legalities.

Covers I would worry about. There are legitimate means of doing covers that I think the professionally performing musicians abide by (there is an agency you can register with and pay a fee to for artists you cannot otherwise contact, you are legally then allowed to do the covers and the agency then deals with those artists if they come forward, friend of mine does this work professionally, I would have to ask her again to explain it but the fee is really nominal), and there are copious pieces in public domain that would be subjugated too by a no-covers policy that was a blanket policy.

Yea, minutia is the details that make life live one minute at a time


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

keto said:


> Exposes the site to potential liability unless rigidly policed - I'm not very well versed on torrents, but mightn't that mean some admin has to check every single download that ever comes available?
> 
> Sorry to play devil's advocate.
> 
> ...


It won't be a free for all on torrent submission. Most likely they would be moderated before become publically available. Liability wouldn't be an issue if we did such.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

keeperofthegood said:


> There are a few dozen other sites out there that do this already. It may be simpler and more expedient to "partner" with a site that handles the bandwidth, the lists, and the legalities.
> 
> Covers I would worry about. There are legitimate means of doing covers that I think the professionally performing musicians abide by (there is an agency you can register with and pay a fee to for artists you cannot otherwise contact, you are legally then allowed to do the covers and the agency then deals with those artists if they come forward, friend of mine does this work professionally, I would have to ask her again to explain it but the fee is really nominal), and there are copious pieces in public domain that would be subjugated too by a no-covers policy that was a blanket policy.
> 
> Yea, minutia is the details that make life live one minute at a time


 
Well bandwidth isn't really an issue, that's part and parcel to the seeder(s) not the server. Only portion that would be handled by Guitars Canada would be the trackers.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Jeff Flowerday said:


> It won't be a free for all on torrent submission. Most likely they would be moderated before become publically available. Liability wouldn't be an issue if we did such.





Jeff Flowerday said:


> Well bandwidth isn't really an issue, that's part and parcel to the seeder(s) not the server. Only portion that would be handled by Guitars Canada would be the trackers.


So the question becomes one of management then?

I have friends that use torrents to share personal composition music files. I did for a short time when developing some animations a few years back. Not my personally preferred means of collaborating, but I do not see moral or ethical issues with it.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

keeperofthegood said:


> So the question becomes one of management then?


There is a plugin for vBulletin that takes care of management of the actual torrents. Moderation would be the only factor after the initial overhead of getting working.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Jeff Flowerday said:


> There is a plugin for vBulletin that takes care of management of the actual torrents. Moderation would be the only factor after the initial overhead of getting working.



:rockon2: Then I say "ATTN: We are undertaking a 3 month trial" and see how it goes. Only way to know is give it a shot and see how it went and then decide it from there


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

Personally, I don't want to see it used for every random mp3 someone puts together. There are a 100 sites for those. I'd like to see a certain amount of professionalism in the packaging. Not sure how many people can be bothered if those are the requirements?


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I think it's a cool idea. But honestly, 320kbps isn't necessary. A decent V0 encoded rip sounds every bit as good, but takes up much less space. Tagging is important, I hate improperly tagged stuff, but I don't think album covers are necessary, especially with original material for non-pro releases. I'd like to post a album I cut at home, but I have absolutely no artwork for it!

If it isn't too difficult to limit and monitor the torrents to make sure no illegal stuff is being distributed (and honestly, I can't think of anyone who would do this, as there are numerous other places which are far better to find illegal music), I think it would be a great way to sample other users' music. Better than going to myspace or soundclick as far as i'm concerned.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

hollowbody said:


> I think it's a cool idea. But honestly, 320kbps isn't necessary. A decent V0 encoded rip sounds every bit as good, but takes up much less space. Tagging is important, I hate improperly tagged stuff, but I don't think album covers are necessary, especially with original material for non-pro releases. I'd like to post a album I cut at home, but I have absolutely no artwork for it!
> 
> If it isn't too difficult to limit and monitor the torrents to make sure no illegal stuff is being distributed (and honestly, I can't think of anyone who would do this, as there are numerous other places which are far better to find illegal music), I think it would be a great way to sample other users' music. Better than going to myspace or soundclick as far as i'm concerned.


Well I think presenting in the best quality is important. If you don't want to waste the space, convert to a lesser format, but going the other way isn't possible. If I'm going to download the stuff and keep it in my collection because I like it I want it lossless. And yes I can easily hear the difference on my system. Sure it might take a little longer to initially seed but that will greatly reduce when more people start seeding it.

For art we could provide a simple template, maybe even something with the GuitarsCanada logo in it. The submitter could then populate artist and album name.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Jeff Flowerday said:


> Personally, I don't want to see it used for every random mp3 someone puts togethor. There are a 100 sites for those. I'd like to see a certain amount of professionalism in the packaging. Not sure how many people can be bothered if those are the requirements?


I know I would upload my bands album ripped at a decent bitrate, tagged properly, and with at least the cover art and some kind of info file.

There would just have to be a few guidelines. And I think the people who would be willing to get involved with this would also likely be willing to follow the guidelines.


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## Xanadu (Feb 3, 2006)

So, what's the verdict on this?

I think that 320kbps is great, I also can hear the difference, and realistically, an album encoded at 320kbps won't be that big. Comparatively speaking of course.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

Xanadu said:


> So, what's the verdict on this?
> 
> I think that 320kbps is great, I also can hear the difference, and realistically, an album encoded at 320kbps won't be that big. Comparatively speaking of course.


There was a lack of interest, so the idea was put on the side burner.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

If there ever ends up being any renewed interest I would still be in.

There are some logistical issues though that I didn't think of. Wouldn't we need a tracker to be able to do this with bitorrent files? It's either that or use an existing tracker. But if we use an existing tracker, that means either registering for it, or having it on a completely public tracker which means anyone could download the stuff.

It would definitely take some organizing.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

torndownunit said:


> If there ever ends up being any renewed interest I would still be in.
> 
> There are some logistical issues though that I didn't think of. Wouldn't we need a tracker to be able to do this with bitorrent files? It's either that or use an existing tracker. But if we use an existing tracker, that means either registering for it, or having it on a completely public tracker which means anyone could download the stuff.
> 
> It would definitely take some organizing.


There are tracker add ons for vbulletin. And they would be private to GC members. Not sure if they have been updated for 4.0 yet though.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Jeff Flowerday said:


> There are tracker add ons for vbulletin. And they would be private to GC members. Not sure if they have been updated for 4.0 yet though.


One way or the other, either some natice program or an add on I dont see this being a major hurdle if people were interested


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

GuitarsCanada said:


> One way or the other, either some natice program or an add on I dont see this being a major hurdle if people were interested


About how many users do you guys think it would take to make it worth while? 

Ideally, if there is a vbulletin add-on, there would also be some type of submission form for the torrent files. If that is the case, maybe that form could be set up with some mandatory fields? EG you have to add a track listing, and other relative information for the CD?


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

torndownunit said:


> About how many users do you guys think it would take to make it worth while?
> 
> Ideally, if there is a vbulletin add-on, there would also be some type of submission form for the torrent files. If that is the case, maybe that form could be set up with some mandatory fields? EG you have to add a track listing, and other relative information for the CD?


This one is not up my particular alley in terms of how it works etc, but I will do some checking on mods and add-ons. I would think that if it was implemented it would take some time to catch on. But the technology and usage seems to be increasing


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

GuitarsCanada said:


> This one is not up my particular alley in terms of how it works etc, but I will do some checking on mods and add-ons. I would think that if it was implemented it would take some time to catch on. But the technology and usage seems to be increasing


Jeff mentioned it was shelved due to lack of interest. So I was just wondering how many albums you guys thought it would need to be worthwhile?

To the people checking this thread, how many of you use Bit Torrent? I know I do daily.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Where do we stand on this one? Should we look into adding the technology to the site?


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