The Demise of the Online Bootleg

 

Periodically, I trawl through sites that Aural Sculptors and other sites are linked to just to see what is out there and the results are very disappointing. So many sites have been removed by their owners or (even more frustratingly) the sites are still in existance but all the links on them are all dead. I was late to the party when I started this site back in 2011, mainly because I hadn't a clue how such sites worked, but even then there was a thriving community of file sharers willing to help a novice get on his feet with a new site. 

I am trying to figure out what is behind this slow depletion of such sites. It is time consuming for sure, often thankless (although the issues that some people have when trying to comment on a post is a contributary factor I think) and there is some cost associated with having a reliable platform on which to store files for a long period of time. These issues not withstanding I struggle with the idea that interest in live recordings is on the wain. This is especially so since the technology has moved on apace... no more tape flips or speed issues in these digital times. The quality achievable with modern equipment is also amazing.

I cannot believe that these type of live recordings are losing their appeal among music fans. Some of the definitive live recordings by any band are unofficial. For this reason, it cannot be that services such as Spotify are killing this 'scene'. Is it the case then that the teenage music fans of the 1980's who on a weekend would head up to Camden High Street in the hope of parting with a fiver to get mediocre recording of a gig they were at the week before have moved on? Maybe this is so.

Nevertheless, I plan to continue at least for as long as the old bands are out there playing! Many thanks as always to those who provide files, comment on content or contribute to the upkeep of the site.