MTV posted an article today which explains why many Linkin Park fans have been getting fake songs labeled as the real deal. The article explains how "spoofing" is now being used by labels in order to discourage piraters from sharing leaked songs. Digital Decoys Are Making Frustrated Pirates Say 'Arrr' MTV.com -- 03.11.2003 7:47 AM EST If you've tried to download Linkin Park's new single, "Somewhere I Belong," on peer-to-peer networks like KaZaA or LimeWire lately, chances are you downloaded files that looked legit but sounded like — well, something that rhymes with "legit." File traders are used to weeding through the chaff to get to the wheat, but over the past year a new tactic, "spoofing," has emerged in the fight against file trading. Spoofing is the practice of spamming trading networks with decoy files in an effort to frustrate traders, and, hopefully, drive them to seek music from one of the industry's legitimate downloading destinations. Not only is spoofing on the rise, but a new company called Covenant is recruiting file traders to post bogus files for them on peer-to-peer networks with the promise of cash and prizes. Bogus downloads have been around for years, but in the old days it was usually the result of unskilled traders posting corrupted files. As major labels increase the pressure on networks where files are traded illegally and try to drive traffic to legal download services such as MusicNet, Pressplay and Rhapsody, spoofing has emerged as an effective, legal means to combat pirating, industry sources say. One band whose label appears to be taking an aggressive tack on the spoofing front is Linkin Park. On a recent afternoon, attempts to download "Somewhere I Belong" from the LimeWire network resulted in about 60 percent bogus files. Additionally, songs from upcoming Madonna and Blur albums appear to have been heavily spoofed. The spoofs featured looped messages from Linkin Park bandmembers in which they mention the title of the album and single, its release date and discuss the making of it for approximately the same duration as the three-and-a-half-minute single. The band's label, Warner Bros., would not comment on the bogus files. With more than 200 million illegally traded music files changing hands every month, Forrester's Bernoff said it will take more than signed CDs and cash for spoofing to make a dent. —Gil Kaufman I edited out anything that wasn't interesting or had nothing to do with Linkin Park or Warner Bros. You can read the full article here.
spoofing yeah it really sucks i had 5 different versions of sib and i always thought it was the real one :angry:
yeh but come on if you think about it...linkin park wudnt be where they ar enow if we handnt gone out and bought hybrid theory...ive supported lp since they were hybrid theory...they were established then but only to ppl who visited mp3.com everyday...yeh spoofing sux...but its the only way...cuz if it illegal files get worse...they could soon stop selling cds and make you buy them as mp3s...which is stupid...because cds are the best thing around in music...you get the art,enchanced features...so think
I've bought all LP / Eminem Albums cuz i think the music is good and they deserve the money, but any other albums that's not worth the price will be downloaded AND: i think if u have the money, buy the album
i got a question. why does lp have a so tight security on METEORA eventhough they agree on those who use programs like napster for free music?
It is not LP doing the security. It's Warner Brothers Records. They are money hungry bastards who didnt even give LP a copy of their OWN album till weeks ago. They think, more security=more sales. How lame.
well, if i owned a record company, i wud do the same that warner did, in times like these, ppl need money more than they want it
The reason that CD sales have dropped is that they are simply overpriced for what they are. Record companies are evil, pure evil. :angry:
I agree 100% With that comment. Think about it. You can d.load the album = Covers. And then Burn it on High Quality Paper. And its as good as the same thing serves the sames purpose and only costs you about £2. When record compnies like warner charde you £12 its scandalous. But hey theres nothin' like havin the real thing.
not only that, the store Best Buy ususally charges 10-12 on first day of selling a new cd, dunno about meteora though. anywho, i think being uptight on this album was a great idea so that you kids can't download their sh!t. i'm tired of threads where you guys are talking about your download finds for meteora. plus, it ruins the surprise of the release date. you guys are counting down until meteora, and yet, you're also already looking for their songs on the side. let's all just wait like good lp fans. i think spoofing teaches you kids a lesson to wait for albums to come out!! and i know replies i'll get is, "well you claim to have over 7,000 mp3s, you f_ck!" but i actually wait until the albums come out!!
not only that, the store Best Buy ususally charges 10-12 on first day of selling a new cd, dunno about meteora though. anywho, i think being uptight on this album was a great idea so that you kids can't download their sh!t. i'm tired of threads where you guys are talking about your download finds for meteora. plus, it ruins the surprise of the release date. you guys are counting down until meteora, and yet, you're also already looking for their songs on the side. let's all just wait like good lp fans. i think spoofing teaches you kids a lesson to wait for albums to come out!! and i know replies i'll get is, "well you claim to have over 7,000 mp3s, you f_ck!" but i actually wait until the albums come out!! [/b][/quote] best buy= $13 for the normal version, $18 for the enhanced CD. pretty good. anyways, if u think the economy isn't that good and a lot of companies need money, so they are doing anything they can. and before i go and buy a CD by someone, i hear most of the songs first and then i'll go and buy the album 'cuz i dont know if its good. if only one song is really good and i dont like the other ones, i wouldn't buy the album.
I live in this miniscule little town in Nova Scotia, Canada. We have a Zellers which charges $17.99 - $19.99 or more for CD's. Then, we have a music store which is about $17.99 - $18.99. It depends when you get the CD and who it is. Previously released CD's can be almost 25 bucks. I've seen old BSB cds (just using an example) for $24.99 in Zellers. Our closest city is Halifax, and that's just about an hour and a half away. As much as I love music and LP, I wouldn't drive an hour and a half just to save two bucks. For one, I don't even have a car nor a lisence (I'm working on that) and my parents wouldn't do that. I would've ordered the CD online, but you see my parents are really retarded and won't let me use their credit card for things like that. So, I have to buy it from either Zellers or the music store in the mall (I forget the name, lol). So, my wonderful money I make working at SSWAP, I will be purchasing 'Meteora' and I don't care how much it cost. The DVD was almost 35 dollars and it took almost half a year for it to come to our music store. Zellers doesn't even HAVE it. So, we're pretty vacant when it comes to getting things here in Nova Scotia. Including tours :angry:
same here, i buy the albums of peeps that deserve it, lp and so on. i also dl songs to see if the album is good, since i dont have a job, whatever money i spend, is hard to replace. so i get on kazza, dl most of the songs off an album i am looking at getting, see i its good, if it is, then i will buy it, if its not, i save myself the money! thats what i use kazza for, that and burning cds of released tracks on the radio, so since they were released i dont consider that wrong. for meteora though, i pre-ordered it, so even if idl all the songs, i will still have it! just because i could not hold my wadd long enough, and had to hear some tracks