MetaChat - In the vein of Foto Fridays, may I be so bold as to propose .mp3 Mondays?

MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

15 November 2006

In the vein of Foto Fridays, may I be so bold as to propose .mp3 Mondays? →[More:]Given the love around this joint for YSI links and random .mp3 player track lists, may this not be a completely shitty idea?

I'm thinking themes for each Monday, and anyone who wishes to participate could upload a (and, yeah, I'm kinda thinking one as a limit, but I'm open) track to ysi, post the link here, and va-va-va-voom, instant MeCha mixtape every week.

Themes I've kind of thought of in the past five minutes: Numbers, colors (or even specific colors - red, blue, avocado green), cover songs, songs with the word "Kumquat", etc. etc. etc. Thoughts?

post by: ufez at: 23:39 | 20 comments

It's most emphatically NOT a completely shitty idea!

Let's do it!

posted by jason's_planet 15 November | 23:54

I love it.

posted by iconomy 15 November | 23:57

I love it, too, as long as it doesn't get the site or mods into trouble.

posted by elizard 16 November | 00:16

That is a really super great idea.

I'll be the first to break the ice and suggest the following theme: Songs About Crime. Of course, I'd love to give ufez the honor of choosing the first theme, if he'd like it.

posted by Rock Steady 16 November | 00:31

I love it, too, as long as it doesn't get the site or mods into trouble.

I thought of that too, elizard. But we've been linking all along to yousendit with no problem, so I guess it would be ok? I would think as long as we link to yousendit or some similar mp3 hosting site, and not directly to the mp3s themselves, it shouldn't present a problem for taz or seanyboy, but I could be wrong. Hopefully one of them will chime in.

posted by iconomy 16 November | 00:39

Yeah. It just crossed my mind that a whole thread of them every week might be viewed differently. Hopefully not--it'd be great if we could do it. Woo! A theme day that lets us revel in our inner (or in some cases outer) music geek!

posted by elizard 16 November | 00:41

It's a great idea.

posted by gaspode 16 November | 00:58

Nice!

Until sites like YSI are shut down (which is bound to happen eventually), it seems to me that we're okay linking to them....

posted by mudpuppie 16 November | 01:02

i like it, but didn't it use to be tuesday? that stretched into wednesday, etc. etc.

posted by ethylene 16 November | 01:03

I'm completely stoked to see such a warm reception to the idea. So long as the MeChaGods have no issue with I'm totally ready to roll.

posted by ufez 16 November | 01:06

I'll play! I have collected some fun covers. I haven't worked out the yousendit details yet, so might be asking some stupid questions along the way.

posted by lilywing13 16 November | 01:32

I'm thinking.... Let's call it "Music Monday" instead, and the thread can include any kind of musical trivia or interesting stories or images related to the theme as well, and I think that people posting ysi links should be asked to link to purchasing information (where it exists) as a requirement.

So... I'm thinking something like this:

Music Monday: Numbers. Share interesting tunes, music trivia, musical tales and images related to the theme "Numbers". Please link to purchase information where available so other users can use this opportunity to explore new music.

And I think it would be extra-cool if we could get a volunteer each week to collect the tunes and air a broadcast of the mix tape, maybe on Wednesday.

I'd like to hear seanyboy's thoughts on this first, though.

posted by taz 16 November | 03:22

I'll be honest. I'm not that happy with it. I don't like the idea of metachat turning (by degrees) into a file-swapping site, and I'm deeply uncomfortable with the possibility of the RIAA/BPI taking my house off me.

If there's some way of doing this that won't incur the wrath of powerful people then I'm all for it. Everyone's thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

posted by seanyboy 16 November | 03:35

What if someone started a blog like the Cooking with Metachat site? Then files could be hosted there, off-site, but we could link to them here.

I don't know if this is a plausible work-around, but it sounds like one (now).

posted by mudpuppie 16 November | 03:43

ysi files are also hosted offsite... but the debate about this is whether a blog linking to any files at all is held responsible. From what I can find so far, the issue is muddy, and RIAA, et al seem to be more interested in p2p, but this doesn't mean they won't start swiping at music blogs any minute.

posted by taz 16 November | 04:18

Well, I guess if the YSI links are potentially a problem, then isn't one as bad as one hundred? Some possible (partial) remedies:

1. The Music Monday thread could be deleted on Tuesday night, providing less chance that an RIAA drone stumbles on it by googling.

2. Ask commenters to not include artist/title information in their comments, for the same reasons as #1 (but be sure your tags are decent).

3. Suggest that folks focus on Creative Commons-licensed stuff, or give links to places where the track may be legally downloaded (artist website/myspace/etc).

4. Realize that even if we do this, MeCha will likely not be the first mp3 blog that will be targeted, so we will have some warning to change our ways.

posted by Rock Steady 16 November | 10:34

I definitely understand your hesitance, seanyboy, and I'd be the last person to put your (or anyone else's) house at stake.

That said, is there much difference between this and say, posts like this?

There are scores of .mp3 blogs that offer free downloads on a daily basis, and to the best of my knowledge, the RIAA hasn't bothered any of them a bit.

I'd certainly think that the RIAA and other assorted entities would focus more on the people that own YSI and their counterparts, not to mention soulseek, et. al. At the very least, it would be a limited download number, and the links would be nullified after (again, conjecture) a day or so at the most, I'd think.

But, I won't support it if we don't have full support of the powers that be.

posted by ufez 16 November | 11:04

Given the widespread tolerance of MP3 blogs, I don't think any paranoia like deleting threads is necessary. YSI downloads expire eventually anyway.

posted by stilicho 16 November | 12:41

There's also senduit, which is just like YSI, except you can give an expiry time for the file that you've uploaded - from 30 minutes to 1 week.

posted by Zack_Replica 16 November | 12:52

Sound like a great idea to me, provided the kinks get worked out.

posted by deborah 16 November | 14:48

← The Pink Superhero eats monster trucks. || Awesome Rain Sensitive Billboard →

HOME || REGISTER || LOGIN