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A Recap of the MP3 Scene, From the RIAA2013 Ruleset

Date

06 Aug 2014

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RIAA

The new RIAA Council (who have attempted to usurp the existing MP3 Council) issued a nice summary of the scene to date with the 2013 ruleset:

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Dear MP3 scene,

For much too long have we been looked down upon as being thoroughly inconsistent alongside highly retarded in what are known as our releasing standards. Now time as finally come for us to bid farewell to our collective ruling inability and embrace what shall forever be known as the most brilliant polished set of MP3 scene rules to ever see the day.

Consumerism evolves and so is the music industry. For the ones not knowing already, the purpose of the scene is for us, taxpayers, to have a way of trying before purchasing. Over the last decades digital assets expanded from softwares up to all of the various formats currently in circulation.

The MP3 scene should always remain the prime source of previewing commercial music but for it to happen we need to not fail to adapt with technology. With that being said, it is with great honour (and after many many moons of intensive work) that we are finally introducing the RIAA2013 AKA v4.0 which is what the MP3 scene had been demanding for far too long ago.

To the many ignorant people out there who claim to know the scene, in our infancy MP3 releases weren't packaged with SFVs nor did they contained a full set of tracks. No, the first MP3 singles that terrorized PC speakers were extracted at 1x and encoded with Fraunhofer at a breathtaking 112CBR. That process would be taking the full work day for 1 full album to be digitalized. Back then, releases didn't leave the group's HQ unless the demand for it was very high.

Some people then decided it would be best to add a SFV and also upper the encoding quality which sparked up the APC/RNS era. As the MP3 scene wasn't so vast back then, major groups upgraded releasing standards by teaming up together and work as "RIAA" in order to focus on music and the MP3 format.

In 1998, dupechecks were all issued on 1 central source. That source also supported the work done by the RIAA alliance, therefore helping it to strive. By then 160CBR was king and so were CDs alongside LAME v3.97. No doubt were we in the golden age of the MP3 scene and when MP3 Council arrived on the scene to release the much acclaimed v1.0 a couple of years later, the evolution of the format kept on being made and positive changes applied collectively.

Some years later, that central dupechecking system got buried for good and a lot of confusion then followed suit. With such a setback a lot of people got scared touching anything and started embracing the feeling of numbness which is still somewhat vastly inhabiting the whole MP3 scene up to this very day.

By then the golden age of MP3 was over and v3.0 was rushed out in order for MP3 Council to keep their grasp on the rules and keep the scene calm and orderly. But that didn't happened. That rule set was in fact the one that received the most controversy ever alongside nobody had still bothered to translate the full thing to English! Let's also mention that v3.0 failed to bring any sense of needed, nor requested, changes. As the errors were rolled out, again, all of the inconsistencies that plagued us were still very well present. At that point most of the serious players knew MP3 Council had failed us all quite miserably.

Over the courses of the next couple of months, many groups tried reopening the rules for discussion and debating but it came to no avail. MP3 Council just didn't cared anymore and FLAC was born out of the inability of MP3 Council to apply any true changes.

After that, individuals who genuinely cared for the quality of MP3 finally banded together and started rebuilding v3.0 from the ground up. For well over 18 months, we have asked every group, actives and/or experienced, to supply us with their feedbacks and ideas to improve the rules. For the first time in several rules revision, most of the seasoned rippers have over-challenged what was known as the suckiest set of rules in order to make it shine like nobody could have, but music lovers!

At this point we encourage you to get used to our work as we're sure that you will find them much more clearer, understandable and English than ever. Also, RIAA2013 brings the sense of frenchness we have been needing for a while now in our dear Underground.

Lastly, as we try not judging people living in caves, we will tolerate v3.0 compliant rips for 2 months after January 1st. And we are aware that even though some signatures might be missing, that it still doesn't change anything to the fact that this rule set is the most loved revision ever. Alongside serious.

Enjoy RIAA2013 as it's now time to focus back on music and bring respect back to .MP3!

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