Sunday, February 27, 2022

A note on re-ups/dead links.

Alright, finally time to stare down the elephant in the room.  Roughly 80% to 90% of the download links on this site have EXPIRED.  Some five or more years ago.  My apologies for this. For a good six seven years I've been using Zippyshare as my file hoster. While they've been reliable on a short term basis, several of you have complained about dodging adware and porn links in order to get to what you're really after, the music. In a nutshell, Zippyshare links remain active until a file hasn't been accessed in over thirty days.  For years now I've been playing an endless cat and mouse game of responding to your requests by way of comments that I'm often very tardy in reading. There's such a backlog of dead links and perfectly well intentioned and reasonable requests that I simply don't have time to realistically address. In short, I need a more permanent solution, even if it means going with a paid file hosting option that will retain the links I upload provided I pay an annual or semi-annual fee.

By and large, the out-of-pocket expenditure is not an immediate concern (so long as I'm employed). One option appears to be MediaFire.  Their site claims to guarantee up to 1 TB of file hosting for what seems like a reasonable fee (about USD $50 for the first year), but can anyone attest to how reliable they are with hosting data (i.e. MP3s) that may be copyrighted (even if is completely out of print)?  If you're a fellow blogger who has used MediaFire, have you ever had anything scrubbed from their servers, particularly without warning?  Ideally I wish to make all previous links on Wilfully Obscure active again, provided that the content hasn't been made commercially available since I originally shared the files. I just want to ensure the next file hoster I opt to go with is copacetic with my overarching objective.  Any input would be helpful.  I will try to attend to some of your more recent requests in the near future. Thanks.  

12 comments:

Konrad Useo said...

You've done a great job with your hosting. Thanks again.
m-fire is a good host for much.
They closed my account long ago, but a friend has used them forever with no hassles.
Best wishes.

Rev. Dave said...

I know that PJ at Albums I Wish Existed switched to Yandex after another site (I think it was ZS?). https://albumsiwishexisted2.blogspot.com/

At first he tried just having everything available on Soulseek, but too many people were experiencing problems connecting or downloading from his computer, so now he's transitioning everything to Yandex but also keeping Soulseek available as a backup.

If you've never communicated with PJ, let me know, I have his email.

By the way, if people are experiencing popups on Zippyshare I HIGHLY recommend uBlock Origin, because it blocks basically all unwanted pop-ups and ads. I didn't even *know* Zippyshare had annoying porn ads until I saw what you wrote.

Failsafe said...

Media Fire do scan for copyright content. I've seen links to content blocked on their site.
I've had some recent issues with the zippyshare spam content, it wasn't like that a few months ago.
I'm wondering if Wetransfer is a good paid site.
Unpaid it allows for 1 week of downloads then deletes but paid it seems to be permanent. It's a good service. Not sure how they are on copyright material though. I've sent some files through to friends of material and it went through.

Matthew Schmeer said...

I'll echo Rev. Dave: Using an adblocker is a must on the modern web, and ublock Origin pretty much blocks all of Zippyshares's pop-ups and ads. I've NEVER had a problem downloading anything you've posted on Zippyshare as long as I'm using a browser with uBlock Origin installed.

Also, Yandex is a Russian company. Given the current state of affairs in the Ukraine, I can't advise giving money to a Russian company.

lucky said...

Back in the day when I shared files I used a free Media Fire account and never had any problems. I just looked at my account for the first time in a year or two and the files I uploaded 4 and 5 years ago are still there and available. Since you are uploading zipped files with cryptic names I doubt you would ever have an problem. All the best

Captain J.mo said...

I've used the free version of Mediafire going back to the very beginning of my blog, and have only had a handful of very easily identifiable DLs get blocked. I'm not really sure why anyone wouldn't use them.

Hermann said...

mega.nz gives you 50GB free or 2TB for 10 Euro per Month.
it does not like VPN.

Unknown said...

Actually now, mega has reduced to 20GB free I think ...but they are a good storage site. I've found mediafire files active from years ago. GoFile is good, Pixeldrain's alright, KrakenFile's okay. I recommend though uloz.to. it's the best. Searchable, shows recommendations/similar... Check out out.

spavid said...

Thanks for your input folks. Will be making a decision soon and hopefully start restoring the avalanche of dead links on this page. Cheers.

Rob-in-Brevard said...

Chiming in with a slightly belated comment: I use Dropbox on my blog (good for all-purpose file sharing needs), and I've never had any issues with takedowns.

jgmoney said...

that add blocker works really good on chrome.

Bruce Brodeen said...

Like many I use Dropbox and AmazonS3 but I also use a more obscure, solid and reasonably priced placed called mega.nz, which was mentioned above and can confirm it's GREAT.

Also, if price is a concern, don't be shy about mentioning it and seeing who would be willing support underwriting the cost. There's plenty of us that would be more than happy to help there. Consider me very much raising my hand to pay and support for a better, easier and more stable solution.