Jane H. wrote:hey i got a question..................
Jane
Hi Jane,
I third the support offered by Belexes & Dknight16 for trading via the web using Bit Torrent. It's the only way to go for serious collectors of live music IMO. There really is no downside.
I used to be a fairly active trader via mail a few years back but since discovering Bit Torrent and sites like STG, Dime etc 95% of my shows are now obtained via the web. & My collection has blossomed accordingly.
Of course as with everything in life there is always a risk of having problems. But sites like Dime are in effect self-policing as there are so many self proclaimed "experts" around to jump heavily on any wrong doer. Any 'newby' can feel safe with the protection offered by the community.
I would say that in fact you are more likely to receive degraded quality via old fashioned snail-mail trades (especially 'weeds' were multiple copying introduces errors) than by this new-fangled internet malarkey. Indeed simply copying CD's without introducing errors can be quite a specialised skill; a skill not always possessed by the Trader sending you CDR's through the mail.
By using recognised quality live trading sites such as Dime, TDD via the web you now have direct access to quality, rare, low-gen, and master recordings from all kinds of artists offered up for free by all those kind folks willing to share their own collections & labours of love.
Access to master recordings was almost impossible in 'the old days' unless your mate was a Taper. & collecting Bootlegs/Silvers (as opposed to CDR copies) was, & still is, a very very very expensive hobby. Trees or vines were the only real option for obtaining quality shows, sometimes from the master recording. But these too have their problems and still include a risk of receiving damaged goods (and they are SO SLOW compared to the web!!!).
With quality recording gear being readily & cheaply available nowadays and many Tapers willing to share their recordings you now have direct access to virtually any new live music you want.
e.g. within hours of Cream playing their comeback gigs at the MSG in Oct last year (at a cost of $$$$ a ticket!!) you could download top quality (DAT) master recordings direct from the Tapers including details of how the show was recorded, artwork and the full story of the concert as well as sharing with the community, in real time, the buzz generated by the recordings. Via old trading methods you would have received your 2 CDR's about 6 weeks after the show with no artwork and the risk of clicks, gaps, poor quality CDR's etc.
GO FOR IT .. but beware .. it can become very addictive!!! LOL
Cheers - Steve
