Archive.org has been building a digital repository for websites and other cultural artifacts that are in digital form. For me the most interesting is the Live Music Archive which contains over 10,000 live concert recordings!
I have already downloaded 10 or 20 various concerts from my favorite jam and bluegrass artists like String Cheese Incident, Railroad Earth, Yonder Mountain, Grateful Dead, and many others. Most importantly they are all in a lossless format so there is no degradation of content (usually compressed into either SHN or a similar format). Just like the famous tape-traders of the Grateful Dead past, except you don't have to trade or mail anything....just a direct download to your computer.
For those of you not familiar with this concept, this is 100% legal recording and downloading. All of the bands here encourage listeners to record the shows and share them with others -- it's their way of getting their name out. In fact, I was involved with a Railroad Earth sampler CD that I copied and gave out to both strangers and friends to promote an upcoming tour - and every one of them was received with a smile and big thanks.
In addition, there are also a few MP3 or OGG shows available for streaming, which is nice to do while you work.
I give this site 5 stars for sure.
Posted by answerguru at June 5, 2004 09:22 AM | TrackBack