I want to start releasing my own music and have no interest in the corporate streaming platforms. I have only a basic conceptual understanding of torrenting but it seems to me like a nice way of sharing my music with people directly.
What do I need to do and consider in order to make a music release freely available in this way?
Currently my knowledge and experience is limited to using an application on my computer to search for and download files from others but I’m willing to learn.
Any advice or signposting much appreciated :)
If you have access to certain music-focused private torrent trackers, many will do spotlight articles on independent or smaller artists who are also members.
This kind of sharing is often welcomed and a valued thing, so could even be a way in to some of those communities.
Redacted does this, and I’ve been introduced to some really good music this way.
Alternately, as others have noted, Bandcamp is a good way to offer as well. If you go this route, even with setting the music as free, you might make some small money… I’ve often tipped a bit via the “Pay what you want” pricing tier.
Thanks :) What are private torrent trackers? And what is Redacted?
Yes, I may use Bandcamp too or perhaps Faircamp, which you can host yourself. Bandwagon and Funkwhale appeal to me a lot as well, for the federation.
Private trackers are closed communities for sharing torrents. Often you can either interview to get access, or occasionally one with have open sign up for access. These usually have strict requirements to maintain a reasonable ratio of seeding for your downloads to prevent greedy users from ruining performance of sharing.
Redacted is one of these communities, based strictly around music and maintaining quality, refusing to allow low quality encoding of the data. It is harder to get into the community, as well as very strict seeding requirements to maintain.
Information about who they are and how to apply for access can all be found at https://interviewfor.red/
Also checkout orpheus alongside redacted. Smaller site but significant overlap with redacted, many have accounts with both. You can ‘crosspost’ your music torrents to both.