Over the past year or so, BitTorrent as a medium for independent artists and labels to distribute content has grown immensely. It’s good to see that BitTorrent.com, the ‘official’ BT site is spearheading this movement.
Just a couple of weeks ago we saw bands as popular as Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service and The Shins (among others) put up songs and videos for free download. Being a huge Postal Service fan, I was extremely excited to get three music videos and two remixed songs of theirs for free. Sure, record labels have been offering downloads like these from sites for a while now, but it’s lovely to see them embrace BitTorrent and make use of it.
Last time it was SubPop Records, this time it’s another independent label, Saddle Creek Records that has published a sampler of their artists “exclusively available on BitTorrent.” Artists on the sampler include: Cursive, Eric Bachman, Ladyfinger, Now It’s Overhead, and Bright Eyes, all of whom have new records coming out this fall.
Hopefully we will see more labels and artists upload content to BitTorrent. It’s pretty clear that this technology is here to stay. Isn’t it time mainstream labels, specifically those that make up the RIAA stop resisting it and join the revolution? After all, hasn’t Apple already proven that the only way to combat music piracy is by offering an easy-to-use legal alternative? Arr’
