FAQ

In fact, these questions have never been asked by anyone. Here are some answers anyway.

Didn't you stop blogging...?

What's it all about?

Is this legal?

Hey, you linked to my site and I'd rather you not do so...

How did you find this music?

Can I submit a link?

I've got a real question...

Hey, didn't you say that you would blog no more forever...

or at least, if you ever did again, it certainly wouldn't be through Blogger?

Okay, sure, all good points, but...

1. This isn't really the same thing, because it's not really about me writing, it's about all these swell links where independent musicians make what they've created available for free plus

2. And I'd collected all these links in my bookmarks and it seemed a shame for them to just sit there doing nothing and

3. Really, in light of such rash statements this can be viewed as a subtle post-modern metacommentary on the nature of freedom, or, erm, uh...

4. Shut up shut up shut up just SHUT UP

So, what's this all about?

This is a blog of links to MP3 files of music that are free (that is, you may download them without paying anything). That's all.

Wow, free music. Is this legal?

It should be. Although I'm more or less taking people's words for it, I am only to the best of my knowledge linking to sites that are run by the artists whose music is featured. Since they are the creators, they own the copyrights, so they have the right to distribute their own material for free. But note that giving intellectual property away does not grant the recipient (you, if you choose to download something) the right to redistibute it. Chances are few if any of these individuals would object to non-commercial distribution of their material. But if they don't literally say so on their sites, I wouldn't do so, out of basic respect, to say nothing of legality. If you want to promulgate something you think is particularly cool, either link to their site as I'm doing here, or else contact them and ask permission. There are some weird grey areas, even when you only link to an external site you have nothing else to do with... so if you see something linked from this blog that you think is illegal, go to my profile, send me an email, and I'll investigate it.

Hey, you linked to my site and I'd rather you not do so.

That's not really a question. Legally, I don't think an individual has the authority to deny others the right to link to something they have made available on the internet. However, I believe in respect over legality: if you administer a site and don't want me to link to it for whatever reason, drop me a line by going to my profile and sending an email to the contact address listed there. I will verify your contact information from your site, send you an email confirming your request, and upon your response remove the link.

How did you find this music?

All over the place. General surfing, specific searching, some of it is friends of mine. For all the talk about the paradigm-shaking effect of the internet on the distribution of music, the intense lack of any sort of really effective filter is a real problem for the independent musician. This blog ain't a solution. It's just a bit of fun.

Can I submit a link?

I've got a backlog of links stored up, but I'm happy to add your link to the to-do list. Go to my profile, send me an email.

I've got a real question I think should be in this FAQ, not just one you made up. How do I submit it?

Profile, email, how do you not get this by now?

Happy surfing