P2P download software

January 15, 2006 7:49 PM

I haven't really downloaded music since the days of Napster, then Audiogalaxy and then Soulseek (until it started to suck).

I want to start stealing downloading music again. What are the kids using these days?

FYI: I tried Shareaza, but it looks like I can only download something if it's on more than 50 sources, other than that it stays "pending" forever. Is there some network I should connect it to?

posted by falameufilho to Computers & Internet (42 answers total)

eDonkey maybe? I have a friend who can get group releases, so I never really bother to use p2p.
posted by Paris Hilton at 7:50 PM on January 15, 2006

Bittorent. Try here.
posted by soiled cowboy at 7:50 PM on January 15, 2006

What sucks with Soulseek? Their test version works extremely well for me.
posted by zsazsa at 7:58 PM on January 15, 2006

Limewire with credence database? It's what I use the few times that I want something that the bit torrent sites can't find me.
posted by Richat at 7:59 PM on January 15, 2006

What kind of music are you into? And what about Soulseek did you find sucky? Bittorrent (I use Torrent Typhoon to find most my music) is great for downloading high-quality, guaranteed-to-be-full albums, although it comprises mainly of more mainstream music. If you're into older or more independent music, I would recommend Soulseek. It seems to work very well for my friends and I...maybe it's improved since you used it last?
posted by apple scruff at 8:00 PM on January 15, 2006

falameufilho, is the email address in your profile valid? i can send you an indietorrents invite.
posted by ori at 8:05 PM on January 15, 2006

Someone told me that if you go on eMule and search for a musical artist but under the "archive" category (e.g. .zip, .rar. etc...) instead of the "music" category (.mp3, .wmv, etc.) then you can download complete discographies of music in one fell swoop, or at least whole albums at a time. Apparently using the search word discography or discographia can also be quite illuminating.
posted by furtive at 8:14 PM on January 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: ori, it's valid. thanks!
posted by falameufilho at 8:14 PM on January 15, 2006

use limewire pro. some people out there download it for free on certain bit torrent trackers like pirate bay.
posted by merlin17 at 8:21 PM on January 15, 2006

bittorent sucks for anything beyond the most banal pop.
posted by delmoi at 8:24 PM on January 15, 2006

Torrents are the best replacement to Kazaa et al. Using torrents, you can download full albums at a high bitrate, complete with correct song names and correct ID3 tags all in one single download. And these work with all forms of digital media, not just music.

Things you need to do:
1. Download the Bittorrent client here.
2. Download a Bittorrent manager; I would recommend Azureus.
3. Use a torrent website to search for your artist or album. I would recommend The Pirate Bay, Torrent Spy or Mini Nova.

One your download starts, don't be surprised if it starts out super slow. After 5 or 10 minutes, the download speed will really pick up. If you continue to suffer from low download speeds (under 50 kb/s), google for "azureus download speeds" and you'll find a lot of helpful info.

Once you start using torrents, I guarantee you'll never go back. Also, be sure to use this information for legal purposes only ;)
posted by Paul KC at 8:32 PM on January 15, 2006

Delmoi
bittorent sucks for anything beyond the most banal pop.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one. I was able to get my hands on super rare albums like Jeff Buckley's full discography, as well as Radioheads rare Towering Above the Rest. You must not be looking in the right spots.
posted by Paul KC at 8:35 PM on January 15, 2006

Is there a way to protect yourself against being monitored? There was an app that would block sony, RIAA etc...but I found it took up too many resources.
posted by filmgeek at 8:35 PM on January 15, 2006

filmgeek
Is there a way to protect yourself against being monitored? There was an app that would block sony, RIAA etc...but I found it took up too many resources.

In theory, PeerGuardian is supposed to block them from connecting to you. I'm not sure if I believe it, but I keep it running because I don't see any reason not to. I'm running it right now and it's using 5,060 K.

If you do install it, be sure it's not set to block HTTP, because it makes surfing the net a chore.
posted by Paul KC at 8:46 PM on January 15, 2006

What's the best for classical?
posted by Gyan at 8:56 PM on January 15, 2006

Bittorrent (I use Torrent Typhoon to find most my music) is great for downloading high-quality, guaranteed-to-be-full albums, although it comprises mainly of more mainstream music. If you're into older or more independent music, I would recommend Soulseek.

The recommendation for Indietorrents is spot-on, and I would add OiNK, though you have to endear yourself to existing members in the chat rooms in order to suss an invite.
posted by mykescipark at 9:02 PM on January 15, 2006

By the way, I'm not sure if this is the case with the original question asker, but a few years ago Soulseek's original domain (slsk.org) got stolen and taken over by a sleazy P2P company and their spyware-infested software. I can see one thinking Soulseek sucked if they downloaded the software from there. Soulseek's at slsknet.org.
posted by zsazsa at 9:18 PM on January 15, 2006

or you could endear yourself to, say, a metafilter user like Hat Maui.
posted by Hat Maui at 9:27 PM on January 15, 2006

I have to add my YEA vote to bittorrent. I have been a member of Oink for about a year now and got amazing stuff that is high quality rips. Just some of the stuff I have grabbed in the past couple of weeks: Bedhead discography, 1st Green River disc, Radio Birdman, Skin Yard, Steel Pole Bathtub, Spectrum, Dusseldorf and the complete Fall Peel sessions. So I am pretty sure my tastes go nowhere near banal pop.

The thing with sites like Oink and Indietorrents, you have to to share. You have to be willing to fill requests and upload as much (or more) as you download.

If someone is interested is swapping an Oink invite for an Indietorrent invite, my address is in my profile. I should be getting some more invites after Oinks server died this past week.
posted by Razzle Bathbone at 10:39 PM on January 15, 2006

The thing with sites like Oink and Indietorrents, you have to to share. You have to be willing to fill requests and upload as much (or more) as you download.

I think this is an entirely reasonable and welcome policy. I personally try to maintain at least a 2:1 ratio between share and download, from a "share and share alike" standpoint.
posted by mykescipark at 10:50 PM on January 15, 2006

falameufilho, is the email address in your profile valid? i can send you an indietorrents invite.

falameufilho you hit the jackpot. Indie Torrents is supposedly the bee's knees for online indie music swapping and you just stumble into an invite like this. I could never figure out which IRC channel I had to go to and grobble and impress to get an invite.

P.S. - My e-mail address is in my profile. And I'll definitely keep atleast a 2:1 ratio. :)
posted by Mijo Bijo at 11:54 PM on January 15, 2006

If you're serious about downloading classical music, you'll hit IRC. There are people there sharing 500+ gigs of classical mp3s. Just about everything you could want. As an example, I was able to download *all* of Bach's cantatas, and 8 CDs of Charles-Valentin Alkan's piano music.

Get mIRC for starters. Then install AutoGet. Log onto an Undernet server, and join #mp3_classical. From there it's a matter of learning the quirks of AutoGet. The AutoGet help files are pretty decent, and there's a help forum too.

IRC also kicks ass for downloading other types of music, but I don't have a specific channel recommendation for others. I just know one week last year I was able to grab 12 gigs of trance music on a whim.

For those concerned about unfriendly parties tracking bittorrents, IRC seems to have remained completely under their radar for the time being, probably because the slight learning curve for getting started keeps out the casual downloaders. Those that remain tend to be serious collectors.
posted by agropyron at 12:00 AM on January 16, 2006

I use eMule, even though it's a resource hog. It's also slow as hell compared to bittorrent, but it's solid--it may take you a couple of days to download an album, but if it's out there somewhere, eMule will get it. Eventually.

Think of bittorrent like spearfishing--quick, efficient, but you gotta be in the right place at the right time. Emule is more like casting a wide net--slower but more reliable in the long run. Usually.
posted by zardoz at 12:17 AM on January 16, 2006

If you're even considering the Gnutella/Limewire network, then grab Cabos. It's an open source client and it's OS X and Windows XP compatible! It's simple and works well, and even has decent iTunes integration if you're into that.

For bittorrent, use µTorrent as your client. It's XP only, but it's tiny, full of features (think Azureus), and doesn't hog system resources.

Good luck matey!
posted by mr.dan at 2:20 AM on January 16, 2006

if anyone is still reading this thread and can send and oink or indietorrents invite my way, it would be much appreciated
posted by TheIrreverend at 3:15 AM on January 16, 2006

All of MP3 is a grey-market, Russian-run website that offers an amazing library for about 10 cents/song. (You can choose the bitrate on almost all the songs, some up to FLAC and lossless.)

They have an "explorer" program that functions similarly to iTunes, and while they don't have all of the very newest songs, they're pretty damn up to speed. And I've a great deal of friends who (along with me) have had no security problems or otherwise, despite it being a bit on the Ruskie side.

Good times. (Declining balance account, no CC stored.)
posted by disillusioned at 3:22 AM on January 16, 2006

How good is IRC or those torrent invite-only forums? Can they help you find a rare album such as Carmina Piranha's "revenge poems" for example?
posted by JeNeSaisQuoi at 4:19 AM on January 16, 2006

Does anyone use binaries for music? I know it's technically not "free" but the monthly fees are nominal for what you can find out there.

I discovered the binaries when attempting to download some old radio shows and I never went back.

I really don't know too much about exactly what I am doing and I am certain that I could be more efficiant with the application but I am rarely disappointed with quality or variety of what comes up.

I am scared to use any of the above-mentioned torrents because I really don't need anyone knocking on my door inquiring about my bandwith and the closet full of .mp3 files.
I never see any mention of people being caught downloading through binaries.
posted by Makebusy7 at 5:22 AM on January 16, 2006

If I've endeared myself to anyone with an IT invite I would be very happy if you would prove it by emailing me said invite. I'm very good at sharing.
posted by iconomy at 5:29 AM on January 16, 2006

Of course Soulseek is terrible - so completely terrible and awful for finding music that NO ONE, especially the RIAA, should bother looking at it for even a second.

</wink>

PS - Regardless of how "terrible" Soulseek is, I too yearn for an Indietorrents or Oink invite. Should you have one to spare, I swear to keep a high ratio!
posted by Gortuk at 5:35 AM on January 16, 2006

A lot of people are talking about bittorrent, but there are some things that you need to keep in mind if you're going to use it. Bittorrent is a great way to download just about anything, but it is also a great way to get caught doing it. When you are downloading something with bittorrent, you are also uploading the parts that you already have. This is a problem because, in the US at least, while downloading music is technically illegal it isn't being prosecuted because (from my understanding) you can only charge the person with the one count of theft or whatever. Not worth prosecuting for $10. The huge charges for tens of thousands of dollars are being slapped on people who are uploading music, because the RIAA can say, oh you could have given this song to thousands of people so our potential losses are huge.

Now this may not apply to you since your profile says you are in Brazil (I don't know what the IP laws are there), but a lot of people in the US are reading this thread too. The things to keep in mind here are that you are uploading whatever you are downloading when you use bittorrent, and that it was never designed for privacy (i.e. your IP address is right there for anyone who connects to you to see).

I love bittorrent for the right things, but most of the time I use DC++.
posted by Who_Am_I at 5:39 AM on January 16, 2006

Does anyone use binaries for music? I know it's technically not "free" but the monthly fees are nominal for what you can find out there.

Some people do. Particularly easynews, which has a great search engine. It makes it very easy to find individual songs. As you said, it's basically untraceable unless your ISP rats you out, which they have no interest in doing. It's more work than torrents though, IMO.
posted by smackfu at 6:54 AM on January 16, 2006

Are all of the BT sites to find decent music invite-only? I've never been able to find music that I like/want on the main torrent sites, nor find a site that looks to have good music but is open...suggestions? or invites...?
posted by youarenothere at 7:01 AM on January 16, 2006

Someone wanna hook me up with an indietorrents invite? I am a good network citizen...

Personally, I dig soulseek. I mean, it ain't the fastest way to get music, but this stuff is hardly life or death. Usually, I can find what I'm looking for and d/l it eventually.
posted by ph00dz at 7:08 AM on January 16, 2006

It's not a bittorrent-ish program, but if you happen to have access to a network that is likely to contain many people sharing iTunes libraries (think workplace LAN or better yet a college dorm network) OurTunes is a nice little program to have (java). It allows you to borrow from the shared library of iTunes users. Will not work with password-protected libraries and of course will let you borrow purchased music from the iTunes Store but won't let you open it.

Just be sure that you know the person you are borrowing from, and that you've made an agreement to share each other's music. I made some really good trades with others in my building. In my mind that makes it no different than "can I borrow your CD" but a little more convenient.

Of course on a network full of shared music one could easily start thiefing pretty much anything they wanted from any other unsuspecting iTunes user, but that would be wrong. (And if you are an iTunes user, you might consider enabling the password protection for your library. I only share files that I know were free, unless I get a specific request from a friend on my local network.)
posted by caution live frogs at 7:27 AM on January 16, 2006

UberTunes is a music community that has very stringent standards for what they share. So stringent that I would never bother trying to get on it. I believe it is based on DC++ and it looks like they specify software that is not available for the Mac.

I rely on oink to find new music, although I would be most obliged were I to receive an indietorrents invite... I would keep some kind of crazy ratio, honest.
posted by sid at 9:23 AM on January 16, 2006

I used to love soulseek but have also been lovin it less. I use a combination of utorrent and limewire. i find alot of new music between pandora and kexp.org. Start trying various torrent search engines and stick with the ones that work with you. oh. and if you are going to get into torrents, be sure to configure your ports correctly (see portforward.com). don't be surprised if many torrents never finish (hang at 98%) or go even slower than limewire. that is par for the course.
posted by BigBrownBear at 9:43 AM on January 16, 2006

Two Oinks are up for grabs for the first two e-mails I receive. (Addy in profile). You must promise to use them only for good; no jazz-funk or happy hardcore.
posted by punilux at 10:23 AM on January 16, 2006

Does anyone have any experience with Morpheus? I used to use WinMX, but that's been gone awhile now - and torrents just seem too hard for me to tackle, for some reason.
posted by Puppy D at 11:12 AM on January 16, 2006

offer now expired, sorry all.
posted by punilux at 11:18 AM on January 16, 2006

I gave up on p2p for music years ago. Too many mislabelled songs, crappy rips, etc.

http://www.allofmp3.com - from what I've read, it's legal. Dubious, but legal. More legal than just ripping stuff down from p2p apps (unless you're in Canada, then I believe that is perfectly legal.)

If you *are* in Canda, have you considered Usenet? I find great stuff on Usenet all the time.
posted by drstein at 11:22 AM on January 16, 2006

I also gave up on p2p a long time ago. Everybody's needs are different, but I find that mine are satisfied by the various torrent sites out there (thank you for the OiNK, punilux!). Torrents make you work for it a little more, but that's half the fun. For those of you out there who are scared by the programs, try Bitlord. It's easy to configure and then you never have to look at it again. There's a whole ton of torrent sites out there - it takes no time to google them to find 'em.
posted by ashbury at 1:21 PM on January 16, 2006