SoulSeek and P2P Music

SoulSeek and P2P Music

SoulSeek is a free website used for downloading music using the peer to peer system, much like Napster or LimeWire. People download the software for free (although donations are accepted) and are then able to search and download literally millions of songs. The site is in English but has users all over the world. Besides making music available for free downloading, the site also has different forums for discussing particular types of music –from opera to punk rock to Celtic music. When looking for music, the user can search using a song title, artists or album name or an association, such as a movie that featured the song. Users can also communicate directly with other users or browse their music collections. Each participant can also define how much music can be downloaded or specify files that can be browsed and even block other users if they want to. If you cannot find a particular song, users can add them to their ‘wish lists’ and will be notified when it becomes available. On top of all that, the site also showcases unknown or unsigned artists, creating a type of ‘town square’ where art can be expressed and appreciated.
SoulSeek is packaged as a service –it is not selling software, it makes it available for free. Furthermore, the service is continually updated and the better, newer versions are made available for downloading as soon as they are ready for use. As with Napster, every downloader is a server, helping the network grow. The more people who use the program, the faster it is to download certain songs because they get broken down and pieces come from more than one other computer. So many people are involved that users can download songs in a matter of minutes, sometimes seconds depending on its popularity.
The program also works in terms of collective intelligence. For example, if one user has a song on his computer that is not very well know, he might be talk about it in one of the forums; another user may find it when browsing his files and acquire it or it may turn up as a result in a search. Whichever way the song is ‘discovered’ there is now one more user who has it and may discuss it and so forth. Knowledge is spread through debate or discovery and the site builds on that, so now that a larger group has been made aware of the song, it might be the first result that appears during a search. To mention O’Reilly’s article again “every user automatically helped to build the value of the shared database” (pg. 8). The more users the site has, the more valuable it becomes.
On their first page, SoulSeek has a statement that reads: “Soulseek(tm) does not endorse nor condone the sharing of copyrighted materials. You should only share and download files which you are legally allowed to or have otherwise received permission to share. By using this network you agree to this and the other rules which are linked to from this page. Take some time to recognize files that may be protected by copyright within your own shares. Please share responsibly and help make Soulseek(tm) a place where all artists can find a common ground.” This statement clearly demonstrates the sites reliance and trust in its users to self monitor, making the user co-developers.
The software is also written for use above the single device, as the music that is acquired can be moved to an MP3 player or burned onto a CD, or even transferred onto a mobile phone.
SoulSeek is more than just a peer to peer music space, it is a network where users can ‘get together’ and talk about their interests; new artists can expose their work to a large audience and abuses are noticed and dealt with.