These MP3 download sites kinda bug me.
They seem to be on everyone's mind these days sparked by Tofu Hut's meta-aggregation (see the recent BoingBoing and The Rambler entries). I had been tracking some MP3 sites after Mingaling recommended a few to me, and I got the genius idea to aggregate the links from them.
What I'd hoped is that people are posting Cool Music That They Love. What I often see are the same MP3s (of some band that just happens to be touring right now) plastered across three or four sites. Now, I can imagine that (a) a popular band going on tour would spark many fans' interests, and (b) that interest would result in having many sites just-happen-to-post the exact same MP3 from the band. I can imagine it. Is it that likely though? Or is it more likely that these sites have become guerilla marketing outlets?
Say that many of these MP3 sites are just corporate shills. Is that such a bad thing if, in the end, you get the music you want for free?
It's similar to actors on the talk-show circuit when their movies come out. But that again is corporations controlling the pulse of media. Wasn't this supposed to be some New Way? Weren't individuals supposed to control this pulse?
I think it's more than likely that although individuals supposedly control the pulse, we all fall victim to the pack mentality. So rather than blame the ubiquity of certain mp3 plugs on the invisible corporate hand, I think it's more likely a bunch of us blogging kids all crowding around the cool kid's virtual iPod.
Posted by: fat asian baby at May 12, 2005 12:14 PMA "pack mentality" like with the links to an interesting site that suddenly start appearing everywhere (a la all of our links to Tofu Hut)? I can definitely understand that. And even with the many duplicate MP3s I find, there are a far majority of completely unknown (to me) MP3s on lesser-known sites. I'm not saying that these 2nd and 3rd tier sites should be more popular--pop categories define these strata no matter where you're at. Fringe styles are fringe for a reason, and that's fine.
I can imagine both a pack mentality and guerilla marketing as possible, non-exclusive causes.
I didn't want to get too much into the "corporate is bad" or the "there's a conspiracy man and I'm FREAKIN' OUT!" thing. I got more wrapped up in the question of whether I should take issue with the deception. If corporations did start giving away music in this manner, it might be a step in the right direction. If the dissemination were done on the sly, I think I'd only have a problem with it until it got lost in all of the aggregators. When an aggregation allows browsing by style or band or song title, the popularity (or deceptiveness) of any one song or site disappears. They become just part of a big bag of music. Of course, someone could probably add information on popularity by listing how long the track has been available and how many times it has been downloaded.
But I guess I'm off topic.
There's a pack mentality for sure - it's in the nature of blogging (as you point out) for the same link to appear on many sites in quick succession. To be honest, I don't see that happening so much with the MP3 blogs I regularly read (because they're a pretty diverse bunch). However, I suspect that the phenomenon is driven more by lazy MP3 blogging than an inherent problem in the medium. Good MP3 bloggers find new, unusual, interesting stuff that they want to share. Bad MP3 bloggers don't - they follow trends, they reflect what's current, what's popular, but don't take risks. They're a bit like commercial radio in that respect - I'd just turn the dial to something else.
Posted by: Tim at May 13, 2005 5:42 AM