So I go from 5330 downloads of my recordings in August (about average for my monthly downloads) to 187853 downloads in September, 183370 of those of my rec of Brahms Op.118 #2. The remaining 4123 downloads are a typical monthly download rate for me without figuring in the usual 700-1000 downloads the Brahms rec usually recieves. In the past 24 or so hours there have been 81290 downloads of this recording, giving me a total of 81324 downloads for a difference of 34, again about average for me in the first few days of a month.

WHAT"S GOING ON? Who or what is auto-downloading my Brahms rec, or has the stats program gone insane?

It's a good recording, but.......

Of course not. I wrote that
But - it's a possibility we need to rule out. I'll check up on it tonight, but I suspect this is indeed
an auto downloader (we've seen them before though not as prolific as this time).

Who is auto downloading 80,000 copies of a Brahms Intermezzo in a day? It ain't me, babe...

"Muzak" services? Airlines?

What is an auto downloader and how does it work (ah am still a noob in many respects )

But mostly, I want to know why but I have a feeling we may never know...

Quite possible. We think someone may be using it for round-the-clock background music, straight off the site, so it downloads time and time again. Then again, this does not explain the ridiculous numbers - a 4-minute piece could be loaded max. 360 times a day. Could be the stats program miscounting, I'll need to check (it has been behaving strangely lately).


A piece of software that automatically trawls the web, grabbing anything you have told it you want. In this case it's more likely to be something else.


Why, obviously somebody out there LIKES your recording !

What is the point of downloading 800,000 times a day/week/month? Is it just to cause harm? Whoever invented that should be beaten with a sack of doorknobs.

I have a feeling that the recordings (and bandwidth) of Piano Society is used in purposes we do not understand. For instance radio shows where every listener streams a separate stream to their music player. I just cannot find where.

I have implemented a new feature. It is no longer possible to link directly to recordings but also not possible to write the url in the browser directly (or in WMA, WinAMP etc.). Try to write the URL http://server3.pianosociety.com/protect ... lbrand.mp3 directly in your browser and hit enter. It will not play the recording but take you to the main page. Click on the recording under Chopin/Etudes (or in this topic). It till load as usual. Neat right?

I see why you're doing it, but I think it's mighty inconvenient. I usually test all my new links this way. It also means that all the links we put in Audition Room (when records have gone up) won't work now.

Also, the person who invented wind chimes deserves corporal punishment.

The links on the forum still work. Everything with a refer server3.pianosociety.com or pianosociety.com works.