Soulseek

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Soulseek
Soulseek 156c screenshot on Microsoft Windows
Maintainer:	Nir Arbel
Stable release:	156c () _[+/-]
Preview release:	157 test 8 () _[+/-]
OS:	Microsoft Windows
Use:	File sharing
License:	Proprietary freeware
Website:	www.slsknet.org

Soulseek is a file-sharing (also called Peer to Peer or 'P2P') application and network used mostly to exchange music, although users are able to share a variety of files. It was created by Nir Arbel, a former Napster programmer. Like Napster, it relies on a central server. Soulseek is free of spyware and other malicious code. Soulseek is different from other file sharing programs as it allows users the option of downloading full folders instead of just single files.

The original Soulseek userbase was composed mostly of members of the IDM Mailing List, and most of the music first found on Soulseek was underground electronic music or music created by the users themselves. To this day, Soulseek remains the favorite of fans of Avantgarde and underground independent music.

The userbase has grown rapidly since its beginnings, and there are now some 120,000 users on at any given time, with more than 1,000,000 total registered users in early 2004. Soulseek's server once had a problem with crashing due to CPU overload, but this problem has since been rectified: a new server was set up in summer of 2004, and it is now rare for the server to be down for extended periods of time.

Soulseek hosts user-created chat rooms to discuss the various types of files shared over the network. Most rooms are dedicated to musical styles or geographical regions. For example, there are several Japanese music rooms, a Thai music room, and a popular underground music room that focuses on independent music. Some unique features include searching for files within a room (which is usually faster than a general network search) and setting a message in the room ticker. Users can also acquire "privileges" by donating money to the administrators, gaining in return the ability to download from other users faster by jumping to the top of their upload queue.

Many of the original Soulseek users are also music producers. Thus, it was only natural for them to take their community spirit one step further and form a record label. Soulseek Records was formed in 2002.