Where are people going now that Oink is gone?

October 23, 2007 5:14 AM

Where are people going now that Oink is gone? Is there anything that compares?
posted by hazyspring to Computers & Internet (29 answers total)

Oh no! Dammit, that's the end of the best music site on the internet.

I dunno... Mininova?
posted by ReiToei at 5:19 AM on October 23, 2007

Best answer: Demonoid has what I'm looking for maybe 6 of 10 times, but nothing compares to Oink.... especially for FLAC nerds (not me). Hopefully they are as crafty as these other sites that have been attacked of late.
posted by zennoshinjou at 5:27 AM on October 23, 2007

indietorrents has files not tracked by the RIAA (an actual requirement of the site) but the hard part with that site is getting an invite and keeping a ratio up with so few users.
posted by ijoyner at 5:34 AM on October 23, 2007

usenet has always been there for you.
posted by bobot at 5:40 AM on October 23, 2007

It's too bad Usenet no longer exists. That used to be the single best (and safest) way to get tons of great and obscure music. Maybe one day some new technology will replace The Usenet, but until then I guess it's back to buying CDs...like in the old days.
posted by melorama at 5:43 AM on October 23, 2007 [8 favorites]

Usenet via any number of automatic binary aggregators (Easynews, etc.)
posted by arimathea at 6:00 AM on October 23, 2007

I can't believe it's dead. *sigh*

There are some private FTP servers with pretty wide selections. 'Course, you usually have to brave IRC to find 'em. And maintaining your ratio is a lot harder.
posted by hjo3 at 6:04 AM on October 23, 2007

How does one get a login to demonoid?
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:04 AM on October 23, 2007

We discussed only two days ago the reasons why we don't discuss ways of infringing copyright. It's incredibly easy to freely download music and films on the internet, so why ask about it here?
posted by roofus at 6:11 AM on October 23, 2007

Where are people going now that Oink is gone? Is there anything that compares?

I doubt anyone will reveal the super-secret torrent sites on a public form...
posted by the cuban at 6:21 AM on October 23, 2007

Roofus-- You don't seem to fully understand what OiNK was. Many of the things they offered weren't "freely" downloadable. Most of OiNK's appeal was that they had torrents of very obscure audio and music in lossless formats. Sadly, I don't think an adequate substitute exists right now.

Also, people can use these sites and services to share CC-licensed/public domain/etc. files. Asking where one can download music doesn't necessarily imply an intent to infringe anyone's copyright.
posted by hjo3 at 6:30 AM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

IRC's a good way to go if you can find a good server. Always preferred it to other methods.

Nowadays, a google search of the artist and/or track + torrent usually does the trick.
posted by jmd82 at 6:35 AM on October 23, 2007

hjo3, OiNK specifically did not allow material that was "freely available" on their servers -- in other words, everything on the site was by definition pirated material.

My best guess is probably demonoid. But just because the tracker is shut down doesn't mean those files from OiNK are lost, they're just scattered on computers. Someone will come along and reunite them eventually.
posted by ofthestrait at 6:42 AM on October 23, 2007

Soul seek used to be good to find obscure/less popular music, but I stopped using it when oink came along. Don't know how it works these days.
posted by rpn at 6:48 AM on October 23, 2007

http://www.stmusic.org/ - this might be good.

Perhaps if people have invites to demonoid, supertorrents, indietorrents etc we can set up a MeFi exchange?
posted by awesomebrad at 7:20 AM on October 23, 2007

hjo3, OiNK specifically did not allow material that was "freely available" on their servers -- in other words, everything on the site was by definition pirated material.

Not to drag this on, but OiNK did have a good number of legal bootlegs, so its content was, say, 90% copywritten.
posted by tmcw at 7:33 AM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

OiNK did have a good number of legal bootlegs, so its content was, say, 90% copywritten.

Unless it's really old, even a permitted bootleg will still be under copyright protection. The difference is that the copyright holders may have given you permission to use it.
posted by grouse at 7:45 AM on October 23, 2007

Mod note: A few comments removed. There's now an oink obit thread on the blue; take general discussion there, keep responses here focused on the question.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:02 AM on October 23, 2007

Here's a very interesting post-OiNK-related idea.

Basically, since OiNK is no longer around, you can't violate the "don't upload our torrents to other trackers" rule that was in place. Which means that really any public trackers should be getting hit with a deluge of torrents.
posted by boreddusty at 8:44 AM on October 23, 2007

No, there is nothing that compares to Oink. There are plenty of private trackers around and some of them are music-focused (like stmusic, pedro's, etc) but there is nothing - and probably never will be anything again - like Oink in terms of size, scale, breadth of coverage, speed, users, etc.
posted by humuhumu at 9:17 AM on October 23, 2007

humuhumu writes "No, there is nothing that compares to Oink. There are plenty of private trackers around and some of them are music-focused (like stmusic, pedro's, etc) but there is nothing - and probably never will be anything again - like Oink in terms of size, scale, breadth of coverage, speed, users, etc."

I thought the same thing after audiogalaxy went opt-in, but eventually Oink showed up. Something else will come along eventually.

The more you tighten your grip, the more music buyers will slip through your fingers...
posted by mullingitover at 10:08 AM on October 23, 2007

I'd be wary of Demonoid. I've heard using it is a good way to get a boilerplate nastygram from the RIAA or MPAA. They do watch the site.
posted by zsazsa at 10:18 AM on October 23, 2007

Start checking out music blogs and finding free, legal music. The sooner the traditional music industry is killed off, the better, especially for the musicians who have been screwed for years, and certainly for music lovers.
posted by theora55 at 11:48 AM on October 23, 2007 [6 favorites]

hjo3, OiNK specifically did not allow material that was "freely available" on their servers -- in other words, everything on the site was by definition pirated material.

Setting aside the fact that you're wrong, that's not what I (or the person I quoted) meant by "freely." Freely -- as in, easy to get. Not "freely" re: price.
posted by hjo3 at 3:37 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Canadian IPs are banned from Demonoid anyways. Not that I would know.
posted by tksh at 4:17 PM on October 23, 2007

Best answer: A forum was recently set up to answer this question (among other things).
posted by p3t3 at 11:22 PM on October 23, 2007

mullingitover: I was literally just saying your comment about audiogalaxy to someone. I _still_ miss audiogalaxy. I hope we don't have to wait as long this time.
posted by systematic at 7:55 PM on October 24, 2007

Word on the street is that Oink is coming back, with original servers and all, to a different country.
posted by geoff. at 10:16 AM on October 25, 2007

Another word on the street: BOiNK which is going to be run by the pirates bay folks. [via]
posted by yeoz at 4:40 PM on October 26, 2007