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http://www.dimeadozen.org/ too
also has lots of legally available live music
one may prefer BitTorrent to HTTP
uploads allowed unless the act has said they don't want their stuff there, as opposed to etree being optin-in.

From article: "Until updates are made available, users should only play FLAC files from trusted sources. To date, however, FLAC files are rarely seen in the wild."

Ironic since I read this article while listening to a just downloaded Devo show in flac format. Considering the number of live music torrent sites ( e.g. archive.org,trader's den, etree , and dime a dozen) that mostly offer FLAC I am surprised by the statement. I also would think that people wanting lossless quality audio will be checking their hashes anyways for audio integrity and it won't be a problem. There is also a difference in leaching an album in FLAC off a torrent site and audiophiles listening to live music, the former would be inclined to listen to mp3 rips anyways. Good to know, but the security implications seem a stretch.

The DRM free content available to download legitimately, usually is not even worth the time you sift thru them to find the one piece that you can barely tolerate among 100s of trash metal bands (I am speaking of music only here but it can be stretched to cover any art form) who thinks louder they play better it is, or some talentless hack, who thinks whatever he/she plays is instant classic.

dimeadozen.org offers quite a wide array. Here's a sample from the two pages of torrents:

OASIS - First Time Out 2000 (Jools Holland 11/02/00)
Page and Plant - 1996.02.17 1996 - Century Hall, Nagoya - AUD - "10 Days" (Hoochie Coochie)
Deep Purple - 1973-06-23 Final Truckin'
The Cure -- Glastonbury 6.21.86
Rush - 1981-12-20 - Tempest
Rush - 1994-05-07 - Animated Remaster (RESEED)
Bob Dylan 1975-11-27 Bangor (2 aud sources) flac
Yes - Columbia - 8/13/72 (Reseed by Request)
Eric Clapton, Touch of Class, Birmingham, England March 1st & 2nd 1985 (Beano)
Damien Rice - Passau, Germany - 2002-03-22
Prince -The Artist, The Cross, The Ride. Washington DC 10th Jan 1997 (AUD)
Whitesnake - Glasgow Apollo 29-10-1978
Bob Dylan Ischgl, Austria 1999-05-01 (Bach Recording)
Damien Rice 2004/03/12 Firenze, Italy
Bob Marley & The Wailers San Diego Sports Arena San Diego 1979-11-24 aud
Black Sabbath 1990-10-01 Palasport Bolzano, Italy (Good Audience)
Belle and Sebastian - a kind of magic
Van Morrison 1993 03 04 Utrecht The Netherlands Muziekcentrum Vredenburg Reworked

Yeah, that really looks like you have to pick through...

I have bad news for the author: information still wants to be free

Oh for fucks sake, stop with that already. A good majority of people don't want to pay for ANYTHING they don't have to -- it has nothing to do w/the information.

Support free music and you don't have to worry about DRM or paying off the RIAA.

Not rare, it's extremely common on private sites with specialized material. I've had trouble raising my ratio above 0.85 on DIME, in spite of having 250KB/s upload. It's annoying, but there's not much you can do about it.

They're one step away from admitting filesharers buy more music.

I rarely buy any music and I'm a huge filesharer but I also don't pirate any music. I listen to music that is free to distribute. There are plenty of bands out there to listen to that are free and open about their live stuff.

Live music not only showcases how the music *really* is (not overprocessed and mass marketed) but depending on the recording (mixed AUD/SBD and full blown AUD) gives you a sense of crowd response.

Support those bands and not the fucking trash that the RIAA panders. Fuck illegal P2P and check out http://www.dimeadozen.org/ or http://archive.org./

Why is dimeadozen "not legal" and etree & cotapers legal? They all seem to follow the same standards (nothing commercial, bands must be taper friendly, etc). From the dimeadozen FAQ:

• No torrent may distribute any official material. This includes:
  • OOP material and the separated audio part of VHS videos, Laserdisc videos, and DVD videos -- even if the recording is from a different source than the officially available material;
  • Alternate recording sources of any officially released performance, unless specifically permitted by the artist's policy for trading;
  • Video material whose audio portion has officially released content;
  • Remixes or remasters of any officially available material;
  • So called "bastard" mixes and DJ sets.
• No torrent may distribute any material of artists respectively bands who do not agree to the electronic distribution of their unofficially recorded live shows. For a list of bands/artists see here.
• No torrent may distribute recordings (audio or video) of shows from subscription cable or broadcast channels (such as, but not limited to, HBO or Showtime, XM Radio, SIRIUS, Canal+, Wowow, and Mezzo). These stations assert and enforce copyrights on all their broadcasts. The same applies to all pay-per-view events on any station or channel.

If you are not sure if your torrent will adhere to these rules, please ask the moderators first. Torrents violating the rules or contra bonos mores of live music trading will be banned without further notice.

Why etree & etree-like sites not considered worthy of being included in a paper of legal bittorrent use is beyond me. People automatically view P2P applications was tools used to steal music and here are examples where people are using them to get music that the musicians want shared.

http://www.dimeadozen.org/
http://www.thetradersden.org/
http://www.cotapers.org/

This is about power. The record companies want to dictate how you use their product. They cannot get over the idea that once you purchase something it no longer belongs to them.

If this is true, then they just don't get music (as if they ever did or cared to).

Music is like language, it is a part of _our_ culture, not the record execs power trip. Sure, a record company can produce a random artist that looks good and can produce a couple of bubble gum hits, but everybody over 15 knows that is not music, and it will only be a forgoten thing except for later releases like "Greatest hits of the '90s" and a memory on the billboard list. If you don't believe me, go and look back at the "hits" from the 60s and see how many of them are songs that you know or if many of those songs are what you think of as 60s era music.

Music that lasts, lasts for a reason. Look at http://www.archive.org/audio/ for tons of music that is freely available. Look at some of the music trading sites on the net like http://www.dimeadozen.org/. We love music, and it has been a part of the human experience since the first guy beat 2 sticks together.

Like the South Park episode that shows the poor starving record exec and his mansion and private plane or whatever they showed. That is not music. That is business. Both will survive, regarless of there being a "record business".

Check out the people sharing live music shows at http://www.dimeadozen.org/ - their tracker is even open source. Could be able to help you, if I understood the question correctly.

Like bands don't exist unless they have massive media hype, a video on MTV, and a shamelessly promoted 'world tour'.

Most bands don't exist w/o that -- at least they don't in the eyes of most people. Most people sit at home glued to their major media shows, force fed conglomorate TV, and listening to their conglomorate owned/sponsored radio.

God forbid you have to search around for some different stuff to listen to! God forbid they might have to leave their comfort of their own homes to see a show and support an artist that might not be 100% favorable in the eyes of the conglomorates!

Makes me want to start my own music distribution just to show it can be done without the RIAA.

It's called the Internet. Ever been there? I have and it's *FULL* of new and interesting bands right next to old and interesting bands! There they are for the world to listen to. Try it some time. etree and dimeadozen should get you started.