Pirate Bay wants to strike fear into recording industry with music site

By Molly McHugh January 24, 2011

The Pirate Bay struggles to operate while constantly being blocked, and the founders have faced numerous convictions, but still they are unrelenting. Just as the industry has formally waged war against piracy and may even be able to totally disseminate Pirate Bay, the infamous BitTorrenters are launching something new. It will appear on the domain fear.themusicbay.org, which is sporting nothing but a “comming soon” [sic] headline.

In an interview with TorrentFreak, Pirate Bay members suggest that they are working on a music distribution site – and of course, the music entertainment industry will be less than pleased with it. “The music industry can’t even imagine what we’re planning to roll out in the coming months. For years they’ve complained bitterly about piracy, but if they ever had a reason to be scared it is now.”

Members also revealed that the launch of “The Music Bay” could coincide with the anniversary of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which has been one of Pirate Bay’s most vehement challengers.

The Pirate Bay has owned the domain themusicbay.org for awhile, but it’s largely been an inactive site used to serve ads for thepiratebay.org. Now it could be used for its original intent – which was to become one of the largest catalogues of audio available through BitTorrent. With Limewire’s recent extinction, the site could easily succeed with free music seekers out there who have yet to find an apt replacement (that is, if the rebuilt, pirated edition of LimeWire didn’t cut it for you).

But first it will have to get off the ground. A recent study (conveniently timed as anti-piracy crusaders have reignited their fight) found that digital piracy sites account for 143 million visits a day and the US Chamber of Commerce isn’t very happy about it. Regardless of whether or not this number is accurate, the US government is intent on cracking down on BitTorrent sites violating copyright and trademark laws.

The IFPI’s birthday should be this April, so there’s a short wait until we find out what should terrify the music industry.

Topics

Music

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…

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