Give it a watch and a listen, but not just a listen. February 24, 2010 8:59 PM Subscribe
What's the difference in MeFi-comment-worthiness between posting a link to a Youtube video of a song and an actual mp3 of the song itself?
Maybe I'm venting. Garr, but it just bugs me.
Some of these "recommend a song" posts would be so much easier if we could just post a link to the MP3. Instead, a bunch of links to still-probably-infringing Youtube videos that contain the video AND the song.
What's the deal? (I haven't been schooled by a mod or anything; I do often search for copyright-free music for use in my own videos.)
Maybe I'm venting. Garr, but it just bugs me.
Some of these "recommend a song" posts would be so much easier if we could just post a link to the MP3. Instead, a bunch of links to still-probably-infringing Youtube videos that contain the video AND the song.
What's the deal? (I haven't been schooled by a mod or anything; I do often search for copyright-free music for use in my own videos.)
What's the problem here? Are you wishing people would post links to downloadable mp3s? or just to mp3s that play in quicktime or something?
I link to youtube because: it's easily searchable, most songs I know are on it, and most computers can play it.
posted by Think_Long at 9:04 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
I link to youtube because: it's easily searchable, most songs I know are on it, and most computers can play it.
posted by Think_Long at 9:04 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Just make sure to include a Wikipedia link to the song as well.
posted by mlis at 9:06 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mlis at 9:06 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Well, I say give it a watch and a listen and a back rub and twenty bucks.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:07 PM on February 24, 2010
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:07 PM on February 24, 2010
Last time I gave a youtube link a watch the fucker took my wallet too. Never again.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:22 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:22 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Some of these "recommend a song" posts would be so much easier if we could just post a link to the MP3
So do that. Nobody's stopping you. It's not against the rules.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:35 PM on February 24, 2010
So do that. Nobody's stopping you. It's not against the rules.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:35 PM on February 24, 2010
Well, what website even hosts mp3s of every song ever, that people can just link to freely?
That's why people don't do that.
posted by so_gracefully at 9:40 PM on February 24, 2010 [5 favorites]
That's why people don't do that.
posted by so_gracefully at 9:40 PM on February 24, 2010 [5 favorites]
You can't stop these kids from dancing, and why would you want to?
posted by unknowncommand at 9:57 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by unknowncommand at 9:57 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
I learned from my big time Yale course on classical music that the kids today listen to music on the YouTubes. Who knew?
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 10:35 PM on February 24, 2010
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 10:35 PM on February 24, 2010
Someone has to host that MP3. I don't want to find that MP3 (or download it if I don't have it), open Filezilla, connect to my server, wait for it to upload, rename it something easy to download and link it when I can just go to YouTube, type in the name and BAM there it is, all ready for linking.
Plus, it's not my ass on the line w/r/t hosting infringing stuff.
posted by griphus at 10:38 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Plus, it's not my ass on the line w/r/t hosting infringing stuff.
posted by griphus at 10:38 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think a lot of people feel sketchier linking to an .mp3 of some commercially-available song because you can just save it to your harddrive. If you link to it on YouTube, you can link to an official music video that the artist put up, or failing that, at least it takes more work to jack the audio from the video and save it.
And that's when there's even an obvious .mp3 lying around, which is not often the case. YouTube has most stuff.
posted by Nattie at 10:39 PM on February 24, 2010
And that's when there's even an obvious .mp3 lying around, which is not often the case. YouTube has most stuff.
posted by Nattie at 10:39 PM on February 24, 2010
So do that. Nobody's stopping you. It's not against the rules.
Reeeeeeally? Well then maybe I'll just have to try that.
posted by circular at 10:55 PM on February 24, 2010
Reeeeeeally? Well then maybe I'll just have to try that.
posted by circular at 10:55 PM on February 24, 2010
Pay no heed to Rhomboid, circular, he is not a part of Team Mod and does not speak on behalf of MetaFilter LLC.
posted by Meatbomb at 11:19 PM on February 24, 2010
posted by Meatbomb at 11:19 PM on February 24, 2010
Maybe I'm venting. Garr, but it just bugs me.
Maybe, but here's Garr venting some Silverstein
posted by P.o.B. at 11:31 PM on February 24, 2010
Maybe, but here's Garr venting some Silverstein
posted by P.o.B. at 11:31 PM on February 24, 2010
Rhomboid: “So do that. Nobody's stopping you. It's not against the rules.”
circular: “Reeeeeeally? Well then maybe I'll just have to try that.”
Err... take it from me. That probably will lead to comment deletion. At least it has for me.
Let's not mince words, circular: what exactly are you saying? Are you saying you'd like to post Rapidshare links to songs instead of Youtube links to songs because it'd be a lot easier? Or what? It sounds like you feel like the current policy is sort of unfair because you feel as though youtube is just as much infringing as any share site.
I won't speak for the mods, but I get the feeling they don't really care whether something's infringing or not. It seems like they care more about the practical application of law and how much we all can and can't get away with. I would like to hear their side on it, though.
posted by koeselitz at 1:23 AM on February 25, 2010
circular: “Reeeeeeally? Well then maybe I'll just have to try that.”
Err... take it from me. That probably will lead to comment deletion. At least it has for me.
Let's not mince words, circular: what exactly are you saying? Are you saying you'd like to post Rapidshare links to songs instead of Youtube links to songs because it'd be a lot easier? Or what? It sounds like you feel like the current policy is sort of unfair because you feel as though youtube is just as much infringing as any share site.
I won't speak for the mods, but I get the feeling they don't really care whether something's infringing or not. It seems like they care more about the practical application of law and how much we all can and can't get away with. I would like to hear their side on it, though.
posted by koeselitz at 1:23 AM on February 25, 2010
> Some of these "recommend a song" posts would be so much easier if we could just post a link to the MP3. Instead, a bunch of links to still-probably-infringing Youtube videos that contain the video AND the song. What's the deal?
I don't get what you're asking here. We can "just post a link to the MP3." I have myself posted direct links to MP3s in response to "What song am I thinking of?" AskMe posts. Nothing I'm aware of anywhere on metafilter stops this from happening.
What are you asking for here? I literally have no idea.
posted by churl at 1:31 AM on February 25, 2010
I don't get what you're asking here. We can "just post a link to the MP3." I have myself posted direct links to MP3s in response to "What song am I thinking of?" AskMe posts. Nothing I'm aware of anywhere on metafilter stops this from happening.
What are you asking for here? I literally have no idea.
posted by churl at 1:31 AM on February 25, 2010
At times I've done this - generally when the song or band I'm suggesting either doesn't have a video up on youtube, or it's of such shitty quality that it doesn't give an good representation of the song. In doing so I'll caution the people that the file will only be up for a week. Not really because of copyright issues, but of bandwidth and storage space ones.
posted by Lemurrhea at 3:34 AM on February 25, 2010
posted by Lemurrhea at 3:34 AM on February 25, 2010
youtube's the more uniform, expected user experience.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 3:46 AM on February 25, 2010
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 3:46 AM on February 25, 2010
I think people just link to YouTube because music on there is easier/faster to find. I'm not that internet music savvy at all, so I would have no idea where to find mp3s of songs I'd like to recommend (short of uploading them myself which, again, takes time).
posted by bluefly at 3:56 AM on February 25, 2010
posted by bluefly at 3:56 AM on February 25, 2010
For the most complete and long-lasting resource, the best way to link to a music track is to use the following rules:
A link to Wikipedia (to easily look up more info on the artist, album tracklists, etc). Use an '8' as the link text, because it's like a sideways infinity symbol, and a Wikipedia link is likely to last longer than any other type of link.
Multiple links to Youtube videos for the song, for redundancy (in case one or more are taken down. Link each video using a '=', since the equals symbol is roughly the same aspect ratio as a Youtube vid.
Finally, if you can find/provide one, put a direct link to an mp3 file, linked with a 'D' for 'Direct'.
So say you were recommending songs about summer holidays, you might post:
Cliff Richard - Summer Holiday 8====D
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:56 AM on February 25, 2010 [15 favorites]
A link to Wikipedia (to easily look up more info on the artist, album tracklists, etc). Use an '8' as the link text, because it's like a sideways infinity symbol, and a Wikipedia link is likely to last longer than any other type of link.
Multiple links to Youtube videos for the song, for redundancy (in case one or more are taken down. Link each video using a '=', since the equals symbol is roughly the same aspect ratio as a Youtube vid.
Finally, if you can find/provide one, put a direct link to an mp3 file, linked with a 'D' for 'Direct'.
So say you were recommending songs about summer holidays, you might post:
Cliff Richard - Summer Holiday 8====D
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:56 AM on February 25, 2010 [15 favorites]
oh wait
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:57 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:57 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
In the days before youtube, there were mp3 links galore on Metafilter.
*gets off own lawn*
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 5:50 AM on February 25, 2010
*gets off own lawn*
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 5:50 AM on February 25, 2010
Next week I'm going to post a question about the Joy Division catalog and hope someone links to the whole thing in a downloadable format.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:00 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by cjorgensen at 6:00 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
cjorgensen: "Next week I'm going to post a question about the Joy Division catalog and hope someone links to the whole thing in a downloadable format"
Google "joy division discography torrent" and I think you'll find joy, as it were.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:37 AM on February 25, 2010
Google "joy division discography torrent" and I think you'll find joy, as it were.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:37 AM on February 25, 2010
Actual media files are the icing on the song-recommendation cake; generally, the key part of the answer is a name of a song and/or artist that the asker can then go research on their own however they like.
Youtube, as folks have said, works well because it's ubiquitous, familiar, free-and-quick as a viewing experience, and very broad in the scope of the content it hosts. People link to it because that's often the quickest route from point A to point B for both answerer and anyone reading that answer.
If you want to go to the trouble of directly providing a no-bullshit link to an mp3, that's fine. If you want to post links to rapidshare or something sort of obnoxiously middle-man like that, that's not so great since it throws some friction in the way. Linking to a torrent is pretty much not gonna fly, not for any particularly moral reason so much as because we don't want to let this place slip into A Place For Torrents And Such.
So the short answer is, really, you can link to an mp3 directly, but that's a matter of your personal preference in how you go about providing answers, and you need to take into account (a) how this file is being provided and maybe (b) what kind of lifespan it's gonna have, considering questions are around forever and its nice when their answers functionally hang around for a while as well.
Also, and this is probably just stating the obvious, but a link isn't worth much without some sufficient amount of description, so be sure to include that basic stuff like song/artist explicitly in the text of an answer regardless of whatever linking is going down.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:57 AM on February 25, 2010
Youtube, as folks have said, works well because it's ubiquitous, familiar, free-and-quick as a viewing experience, and very broad in the scope of the content it hosts. People link to it because that's often the quickest route from point A to point B for both answerer and anyone reading that answer.
If you want to go to the trouble of directly providing a no-bullshit link to an mp3, that's fine. If you want to post links to rapidshare or something sort of obnoxiously middle-man like that, that's not so great since it throws some friction in the way. Linking to a torrent is pretty much not gonna fly, not for any particularly moral reason so much as because we don't want to let this place slip into A Place For Torrents And Such.
So the short answer is, really, you can link to an mp3 directly, but that's a matter of your personal preference in how you go about providing answers, and you need to take into account (a) how this file is being provided and maybe (b) what kind of lifespan it's gonna have, considering questions are around forever and its nice when their answers functionally hang around for a while as well.
Also, and this is probably just stating the obvious, but a link isn't worth much without some sufficient amount of description, so be sure to include that basic stuff like song/artist explicitly in the text of an answer regardless of whatever linking is going down.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:57 AM on February 25, 2010
God, it was hard to find the Warszaw tracks back in the day. I both love and hate the internet for making that stuff accessible.
posted by malocchio at 7:07 AM on February 25, 2010
posted by malocchio at 7:07 AM on February 25, 2010
Yeah, the internet has sucked all the fun out of music for me. I used to travel from city to city, record store to record store, just to acquire rare David J and Joy Division pieces. Now thanks to eBay and Amazon I literally have everything I want, and my ultra rare Tindersticks CDs aren't so rare anymore and can be had for free or legitimately in seconds.
Being one of 2,000 people that had Bloomsbury Theater and one of 2,000 people that had Marks Moods and being the only person I knew that had both used to mean something. Now it just means I misspent a lot of cash in college.
And I honestly quit torrenting music when Metallica got pissy about it. I also got rid of all my Metallica. I used to spend a godawful amount of money on music, but not so much anymore. I got tired of the record companies repackaging the same music over and over again. Got tired of buying discs to get the bonus song that wasn't included on the first pressings. Got tired of the remastered and anniversary CD reissues. And I got tired of the record companies and artists bitching about how they weren't making any money.
I am also getting old, and think the stuff kids listen to these days suck, and I have all the The Jesus and Mary Chain, Joy Division, and Echo & the Bunnymen that I want. I own well over 2,000 CDs, and can't remember the last time I bought any music.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:16 AM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
Being one of 2,000 people that had Bloomsbury Theater and one of 2,000 people that had Marks Moods and being the only person I knew that had both used to mean something. Now it just means I misspent a lot of cash in college.
And I honestly quit torrenting music when Metallica got pissy about it. I also got rid of all my Metallica. I used to spend a godawful amount of money on music, but not so much anymore. I got tired of the record companies repackaging the same music over and over again. Got tired of buying discs to get the bonus song that wasn't included on the first pressings. Got tired of the remastered and anniversary CD reissues. And I got tired of the record companies and artists bitching about how they weren't making any money.
I am also getting old, and think the stuff kids listen to these days suck, and I have all the The Jesus and Mary Chain, Joy Division, and Echo & the Bunnymen that I want. I own well over 2,000 CDs, and can't remember the last time I bought any music.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:16 AM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
Plus, linking to youtube also provides the reader with access to the insightful comments over there, and that can be a real value-add when it comes to non-contentious things like musical tastes.
posted by quin at 8:19 AM on February 25, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by quin at 8:19 AM on February 25, 2010 [4 favorites]
I don't think listening to a song by way of a cold, lifeless MP3 file can ever hold a candle to the deep, lasting emotional impact of listening to that same song while staring at a slow zoom montage of wedding photos, candid holiday snapshots, and stock images of sunsets.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:03 AM on February 25, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:03 AM on February 25, 2010 [3 favorites]
Did you know that a famous documentary filmmaker liked iMovie's "Ken Burns" slow-photo-zoom effect so much that he named himself after it?
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:11 AM on February 25, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:11 AM on February 25, 2010 [3 favorites]
I did not know that.
posted by entropicamericana at 9:17 AM on February 25, 2010
posted by entropicamericana at 9:17 AM on February 25, 2010
Can we get an official mod ruling on whether it's OK to link to MIDI versions of songs, as long as it's accompanied by a link to the lyrics as well?
posted by mkultra at 9:38 AM on February 25, 2010
posted by mkultra at 9:38 AM on February 25, 2010
is it ok to dance?
posted by toodleydoodley at 9:42 AM on February 25, 2010
posted by toodleydoodley at 9:42 AM on February 25, 2010
cjorgensen - watch out for the new Bunnymen. Either I forgot what they used to be, or they did. And even though thousands of people all over the world can have their own (digital) copy of what only existed as a few hundred copies, they don't have the physical thing, or the story behind it. If you're only in it for the sounds, the internet has ruined crate-digging. Otherwise, you might find that your wall of CDs has a few bits of rubbish others value as gems.
As for direct links to MP3s: I thought that was along the lines of linking to torrents, but I guess I'm wrong. The issue I see with MP3 links is that for anyone looking through old posts from past months or years will find more dead links than if they were checking YouTube links. And even if they were finding dead YT links, you're half-way to finding another copy to listen to.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:45 AM on February 25, 2010
As for direct links to MP3s: I thought that was along the lines of linking to torrents, but I guess I'm wrong. The issue I see with MP3 links is that for anyone looking through old posts from past months or years will find more dead links than if they were checking YouTube links. And even if they were finding dead YT links, you're half-way to finding another copy to listen to.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:45 AM on February 25, 2010
Here's what I did about it. The artist in question had the mp3s directly hosted on last.fm (mostly), so I just linked straight to them.
Later on, I added two additional tracks that I couldn't find anywhere on the internet and hosted them on Divshare, which is (in my opinion) the best site currently for free hosting. You can even make an account in a few clicks if you have a Facebook account.
posted by flatluigi at 10:26 AM on February 25, 2010
Later on, I added two additional tracks that I couldn't find anywhere on the internet and hosted them on Divshare, which is (in my opinion) the best site currently for free hosting. You can even make an account in a few clicks if you have a Facebook account.
posted by flatluigi at 10:26 AM on February 25, 2010
I am Mister_A's autonomous sockpuppet.
And I was cured of the new Bunnymen by the Bunnyman disc that didn't have Ian along with his solo career. If you have their first 4 discs you have all you need. Though the reissues did tempt me, but I pinky swore with God that I would never buy any more reissues after I bought Ziggy Stardust for the third time (fourth if you let me count my cassette tape) and He's holding me to it.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:21 PM on February 25, 2010
And I was cured of the new Bunnymen by the Bunnyman disc that didn't have Ian along with his solo career. If you have their first 4 discs you have all you need. Though the reissues did tempt me, but I pinky swore with God that I would never buy any more reissues after I bought Ziggy Stardust for the third time (fourth if you let me count my cassette tape) and He's holding me to it.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:21 PM on February 25, 2010
is it ok to dance?
Yes, we can dance if we want to.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:41 PM on February 25, 2010
Yes, we can dance if we want to.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:41 PM on February 25, 2010
is it ok to dance?
SURE, WHEN THE MORNING COMES (EMBEDDING DISABLED BY REQUEST)
posted by unknowncommand at 6:04 PM on February 25, 2010
SURE, WHEN THE MORNING COMES (EMBEDDING DISABLED BY REQUEST)
posted by unknowncommand at 6:04 PM on February 25, 2010
I used to spend a godawful amount of money on music, but not so much anymore. I got tired of the record companies repackaging the same music over and over again. Got tired of buying discs to get the bonus song that wasn't included on the first pressings. Got tired of the remastered and anniversary CD reissues. And I got tired of the record companies and artists bitching about how they weren't making any money.
At the record company meeting
On their hands - a dead star
And oh, the plans they weave
And oh, the sickening greed
[...]
Re-issue, re-package, re-package!
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra track (and a tacky badge)
[...]
Best of, most of!
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves!
Buy both, and feel deceived
[...]
And when it fails to recoup?
Well, maybe
You just haven’t earned it yet, baby
posted by Sys Rq at 7:49 PM on February 25, 2010
At the record company meeting
On their hands - a dead star
And oh, the plans they weave
And oh, the sickening greed
[...]
Re-issue, re-package, re-package!
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra track (and a tacky badge)
[...]
Best of, most of!
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves!
Buy both, and feel deceived
[...]
And when it fails to recoup?
Well, maybe
You just haven’t earned it yet, baby
posted by Sys Rq at 7:49 PM on February 25, 2010
Sys Rq, that song was out before they really started do this whole crap in droves. There are like 4 Jeff Buckley discs and that guy recorded like 5 songs.
I sometimes do wonder what it would take to get me back into music the way I used to be. I guess a cure for tinnitus would have to be first.
What a record company says to me when they do a reissue is, "What we sold you before was defective."
I loved the first Interpol disc, so I raced out to buy the second. A month later another disc comes out with 3 extra songs on it. Is there a third Interpol disc? I don't know. I could care less. Why? Because I feel like that band's label (or the band) was trying to exploit me. Well, that and the second disc sucked, but still.
About the only way I ever buy music anymore is directly from the artist's hands.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:23 PM on February 25, 2010
I sometimes do wonder what it would take to get me back into music the way I used to be. I guess a cure for tinnitus would have to be first.
What a record company says to me when they do a reissue is, "What we sold you before was defective."
I loved the first Interpol disc, so I raced out to buy the second. A month later another disc comes out with 3 extra songs on it. Is there a third Interpol disc? I don't know. I could care less. Why? Because I feel like that band's label (or the band) was trying to exploit me. Well, that and the second disc sucked, but still.
About the only way I ever buy music anymore is directly from the artist's hands.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:23 PM on February 25, 2010
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posted by circular at 9:02 PM on February 24, 2010