Torrent Sites (Apollo, Waffles, etc)

[Caveat Emperor]

I stopped stealing music after Oink went down, so I never got on What -- amazing they lasted as long as they did.

[SonofSuns34]

If something does fill that void and someone finds it please let me know...
there was so much awesome stuff on here... fuck

[batleon]

Damn that sucks. Though I admit that I haven't used it much recently. I think the last couple of times that I did it was to get DMB bonus/Warehouse discs in lossless

[SonofSuns34]

the last album I downloaded was the new Metallica album... I bet Lars had something to do with this...

[ThememanXX]

I buy vinyl occasionally; and also music from people I've seen live who aren't wildly popular, but that's about it.

[Tomacco]

This is going to sound like some serious excuse-making for stealing music, but the fact is that what.cd has actually made me GIVE bands so much money I otherwise wouldn't have. Albums I've downloaded off that site have led to me buying them on Vinyl and seeing them in concert, more times than I can count.

[roshea999]

Originally Posted by Tomacco This is going to sound like some serious excuse-making for stealing music, but the fact is that what.cd has actually made me GIVE bands so much money I otherwise wouldn't have. Albums I've downloaded off that site have led to me buying them on Vinyl and seeing them in concert, more times than I can count.

Without question.

[greykitkat36]

I've been using Spotify the last couple of years to discover new music, but what I'll miss about what mainly is being able to get stuff quickly before they're released. Livephish shows were up like literally 30 min after the show, and WH discs and Live Traxs would show up on the shipping date. the leaks will be missed most.

[greykitkat36]

Originally Posted by Tomacco This is going to sound like some serious excuse-making for stealing music, but the fact is that what.cd has actually made me GIVE bands so much money I otherwise wouldn't have. Albums I've downloaded off that site have led to me buying them on Vinyl and seeing them in concert, more times than I can count.

Yup. I really feel like artists need to embrace this rather than fight against it. Piracy and downloading is the future and it's not going away. People will find new ways to keep it moving.

[gweeps]

What.cd was always great for rarer stuff/music I didn't actually want to buy but still wanted around.

I never could keep a good enough ratio there though. Uploading was always hard as hell.

I've gone back to buying CDs. I also buy a lot of digital music.

You folks are right about this avenue of acquiring music leading to later purchasing it in various ways. At some point you want to hold something in your hands or have an experience that isn't just you at a computer. (That's what she said.)

[Mitch]

Ugh, so I might have to actually buy the Dave's Picks annual subscription??That's annoying b/c they don't even sell digital downloads of those and I don't even want physical discs anymore.

[ThememanXX]

Originally Posted by Mitch Ugh, so I might have to actually buy the Dave's Picks annual subscription??That's annoying b/c they don't even sell digital downloads of those and I don't even want physical discs anymore.

That's a good point, too. Most machines don't even come with CD drives anymore.

[JWood]

I'm still a physical disc kinda guy, but have always liked to have the early access from sites like What while I'm waiting for my discs to arrive.

LT40 is a perfect example, decided to not pay the extra $78 (or whatever it was) for guaranteed arrival on release date because I could pick it up on there on release date (hopefully). That backfired...

[Jack]

Man, the site ops at waffles must be working overtime to get their servers back up. This would be like if the feds shut down myspace and they are Friendster. "Mortimer, we're back!"

[Wildcats82]

guess I'm gonna have to download kazzaa again

[Poth Ead]

I can't believe this. That beautiful library is gone forever.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by Tomacco This is going to sound like some serious excuse-making for stealing music, but the fact is that what.cd has actually made me GIVE bands so much money I otherwise wouldn't have. Albums I've downloaded off that site have led to me buying them on Vinyl and seeing them in concert, more times than I can count.

This is probably more accurate than artists would like to believe. I feel like a lot of people buy the music they're going to buy and d/l the rest. That may open their eyes to an artist and lead them to open their wallet down the road. IMHO shutting these sites down isn't going to have the desired effect. People aren't going to start buying Artist X's music, they just aren't going to listen to it. It's not like people are holding all this cash. Budgets are budgets for 20-40 year olds.

[JWood]

I have become a bit of an audiophile snob over the years as well. And with some outlets not selling lossless digital downloads in the U.S. (i.e. Qobuz), that really bums me out that my only choice now is Amazon or iTunes MP3s.

I am also a completist when it comes to my music collection. Some bands love to throw b-sides, alternate takes, mixes, etc. on singles and bonus discs that are not easy to obtain (unless you resort to eBay, which defeats the whole purpose of shutting down sites like this). And then there's my favorite bands like Zeppelin or the Stones that have had multiple remasters, pressings, etc. over the years for albums that were first released 40+ years ago... there's no way to get those albums anymore, so this was a great avenue for discontinued releases like this. And yes, I currently have 19 versions of Led Zeppelin I in my iTunes library.

[usfice6]

Waffles is coming back...

[Only registered users can see links.]

[Tomacco]

I was never a waffles member, never got an invite and because of whatcd, never really needed one. Was this site similar to What? Would love to find a way in once it comes back.