Chasing Lions

SeeqPod: Bloggers Beware

SeeqPod began to reach out to bloggers this past week, inviting them to submit their site. What is SeeqPod, and is it something bloggers should embrace?

SeeqPod is a website that pulls from a large list of sources, from record labels to audio bloggers, searching for Mp3s around the web. Music that is discovered sifts down the PodCrawler, showing the nine latest songs, allowing users 17 seconds to add the song to their playlist. This real-time PodCrawler can be paused if you see a song that you want to listen to, or you can add the song by clicking on the green arrow as it floats down the screen.

SeeqPod pulls song information from the Mp3's Id3 tag, then automatically creates a link to videos on YouTube, ringtones, artist information, and recommendations to similar artists. Click on the artist information page and you'll find links to MySpace, Wikipedia, lyrics, Amazon, tour dates via Pollstar, and blogs via Blogger Search.

Combining the search feature and your playlist can be a powerful tool for bloggers. Query an artist and you'll find a list of songs from around the web, then add the songs you want to your playlist. You can share the playlist, either as a link, or embed the playlist with a player in your blog post (though this feature seems to still be in development). Log in and you can save your playlists.

From a consumer standpoint, SeeqPod is a gateway to finding music on the internet. Bloggers will use SeeqPod to dig for artists around the web that they may be unaware of… or use it to find rare tracks.

In spite of the intriguing features, bloggers should be wary of signing up until a few changes are made. Unlike Hype Machine or Elbo.ws, SeeqPod steals bandwidth from their sources. When you're listening to music on SeeqPod, you're streaming directly from the server that the file is found.

Puddlegum raised this concern with SeeqPod, and they responded:
"To answer your question, songs are currently streamed from the original source. If this poses any problems as far as overloading your server, let us know. We can then provide a solution at that point. Usually we will reference another copy of the same song that exists elsewhere on the web."

Essentially, they're stealing bandwidth until a solution is found. Their argument is that since most songs are offered in more than one location, they're splitting the load that may be placed on one particular server. If the SeeqPod traffic surges then this could become costly to blogs. Dreamhost, for example, charges $1 per gigabyte that a user exceeds their allowed monthly bandwidth.

Another concern is that the individual blogs that are providing the songs aren't included with the song information. The link that is provided takes you directly to the folder that the song resides. This alone may scare bloggers away from SeeqPod.

While videos, ringtones, recommendations, and artist information is readily available with song information, the websites providing the music has no immediate benefit. Accessing a Blogger Search result for the artist is two clicks away (artist info > blogs), one click too many.

Puddlegum brought this issue up with SeeqPod, and they quickly wrote back:
"We are looking at different ways to credit bloggers, and it looks like we'll create a featured bloggers page (in addition to or instead of our current blogs page) which would give exposure to bloggers and provide users with a guide to the music blogging community."

Several changes need to be made before SeeqPod will be widely embraced by bloggers. SeeqPod should learn from Hype Machine and cache each Mp3 so that the listener is pulling from SeeqPod's server instead of the blogger's server, though this may violate copyright laws. The link to the song should take you to the source website or the blog post that contains the song. Audio blogs keep eyes on their statistics and would notice right away that SeeqPod is bringing them traffic.

Ethical standards that the audio blogging community have generally agreed on is that you should never link directly to someone else's music file. Bloggers will link to the post instead, so that traffic is pointed their way, and so that they're not stealing bandwidth. The exception is if the song is available for free on a commercial website, which most see it as acceptable to link directly to the file. Our hope is that SeeqPod will make a few changes and honor the blogs. Until then, bloggers beware.

I would be remiss if I didn't credit SeeqPod for their quick replies to emails. Their eagerness to work with clients is evident. Since SeeqPod asks permission from blogs before adding them, bloggers shouldn't bitch too loudly. Keep in mind that SeeqPod is still in beta.

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1. This is an excellent post, and I feel very much the same way. Few people seem to consider that Seeqpod and similar sites drain the bandwidth of mp3 bloggers, who often go to personal expense to host the files.

   Anything changed with how Seeqpod works since you wrote this? I read earlier this year that they were being sued, but haven’t read any outcome as yet.

   I’ve read a few - not all - reactions to the story that seemed like a kneejerk response that assumes if a major label goes after you, you must be the good guy. But the way Seeqpod takes advantage of mp3 blogs and does not do anything in the spirit of music blogging culture means I don’t consider them the good guy.

   I’m glad you took the time to detail these arguments and I hope many have read this or will read it. I actually find it quite audacious they would court bloggers while not hesitating to steal from them.

   I find it, frankly, slimey that they won’t un-index files on request. Other crawlers I’ve contacted have obliged and one even told me how to create a robots.txt file. I also find their FAQ about where the music is found deliberately obfuscating. They wax enthusiastic about how the Internet is such a vast amazing place to find music. A sales pitch for the wonder of the net instead of a straight answer! I just don’t like the vibe from Seeqpod.

   I find any site like this that asserts it’s entirely legal and doesn’t CLEARLY let users know it’s up to them to find out whether the music they find through there is legally available to be deliberately, self-servingly misleading.

   I think your points are excellent on why Hypemachine is a much better service. At least they are willing to take the heat by caching the music. And of course, they support music blogging culture and help you discover blogs.

   Comment by sc — October 12, 2008 #

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