More OiNK
News releases continue to pour out concerning the raid on OiNK, and I keep seeing the same incorrect information repeated.
OiNK was a community of music nerds that shared music because they love music. Its primary focus was most definitely NOT advance copies of albums. Sure they were available, but any idiot can track down an advance copy of an album online. That’s not why I was a member. The media keeps emphasizing “This site was a major outlet for pre-release albums” or “This site specialized in releasing albums before they were publicly available” to try and make the site sound more ominous than it really was. Whatever. I was on there for stuff these record execs and their bulldogs have probably never even heard of. For example, I have a friend thats really into old and/or obscure jazz. He would always come over and ask if I could “OiNK some stuff” for him. We was CONSTANTLY blown away that I could track the stuff he wanted down. “I can’t believe they have this. You can’t find this record ANYWHERE.” THAT was the real draw. No matter what you liked, you could always find somebody else on OiNK that liked it too and if you owned a hard-to-find album, filling requests was always rewarding. This is not a new concept. When I was in junior high, if you bought a CD, making dubs of it for your friends was commonplace, and you expected the same from them. People have copied music for friends for years. Now, in 2007, the methods have changed, but the attitude toward music “ownership” remains the same.
It would be stupid to say that music piracy has not affected the recording industry, but it is most definitely not to the extent that they claim. Don’t forget that legal music downloads are skyrocketing. Maybe CD sales are dropping because it’s infinitely more convenient to carry a device half the size of a Discman that contains your entire music collection. I know I personally remove a CD from its case ONCE to rip it to my computer, and the disc goes into a drawer. For many, it’s easier to download the music they want in MP3 format to begin with - legally or illegally. The record industry is a dinosaur, and any entity of that size is going to have trouble adapting to change. Have they stopped to think for a second that maybe CD sales are dropping because the music they release sucks? 95% of the music I own isn’t from the Big Four because I can’t stand 95% of their artists. This is why you’re beginning to see a lot of artists releasing free material themselves, encouraging the proliferation of their albums, and the labels with the “hot” artists are the smaller independent ones. Judging from the discussions in the forum and what was available on the site, the tastes of your average OiNK member were eclectic to say the least. That is to say, I’m sure it was available on OiNK, but I’m PRETTY sure nobody joined so they could hear Britney’s comeback album before it hit shelves. Just sayin’.
I’m also sick of this nonsense about having to pay to “gain access” to OiNK. Every news release I’ve seen says “users had to pay “donations” to gain access.” Users paid donations if they felt like donating, which a good number of members did, because they believed so strongly in the community. Running a server that handles millions of hits a day is not cheap, but the vast majority of OiNK’s users didn’t pay a dime. I was invited by a friend that knew I loved music, and in turn I invited several of my music-loving friends; no money ever changed hands for anything.
Finally, I wanted to talk about the media coverage the OiNK raid got (and continues to get). The very fact that authorities invited the BBC to follow them on the takedown is indicative of a publicity stunt, and they can use that to propagate false information about these communities. The creator of OiNK was released the next day and currently no charges have been brought against him because, due to the way that BitTorrent works, what he did wasn’t technically illegal. They know they can’t really stop music piracy - if people want to share music, they’re going to share music - so they run these scare campaigns to try and spook people away from it. The best analogy I saw compared the piracy scene to a hydra. The IFPI/RIAA/etc can orchestrate these elaborate, highly publicized takedowns, but when a site goes down all that happens is its users splinter to start four new ones to take its place. There are already projects in the works to replace OiNK; we’ll have a new home soon enough.
October 26th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
I buy CDs to avoid all the DRM and stuff, I don’t mind buying legally, but if you’re trying to compete against illegal downloads, you have to stop offering different content based on specific areas and stop making it such a hassle just to use the music at all. I have, in the past, paid for songs, not downloaded them, and then downloaded the same songs ‘illegally.’ Even if I do buy them, you can be sure that I’ll be burning-and-ripping ‘em to get rid of the DRM. It’s nothing more than an annoyance and is not doing anything other than hurting the legal music industry, so it’s not hard to see why these communities exist.
October 26th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
For sure. If I purchase an album, I expect unrestricted use of it, even if that includes sharing it with my friends.
October 27th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
i like to buy 50 at a time then light them ALL on fire and jump threw the flames pretending im in a heavy metal video or the last woodstock
October 27th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
You’re obviously advocating criminal activity. When I buy a new CD I don’t play it loud enough for anyone else to hear so they aren’t getting free music. If friends request to hear the CD I ask to see a receipt for their copy. I also cover my ears in public places where music that I haven’t paid for is being played. It’s called morality, try it some time.
October 27th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Hahaha
I was actually going to post a “R.I.P. Chris W” blog today, but then you commented. Glad to hear you’re not really dead.