USSM number in Album field?

[shenkin]

For some tunes I find on Limewire, a string that begins with USSM is set in the Album field when I import to iTunes (on the Mac). "USSM" is followed by a long number.

All such tunes are damaged: The first 30 seconds of the tune repeats continuously. I've also found that, as far as I can see, if a particular download of a given tune has this problem, all other copies of tunes of the same name that I get from Limewire have the same problem.

Does anybody know what the source of these downloads is, or anything else about them?

Thanks,
-P.

[shenkin]

Thanks, Peerless.

Yes, they're fake, but where do they come from, and what does the USSM number connote?

[shenkin]

Okay. So if I understand you correctly, they're decoys put out there by the record companies to prevent people from downloading their tunes.

That's what I suspected, actually. Though I'm a little surprised at some of the tunes I've found that have this. These include some very early recordings from the 1920s that I wouldn't have thought there would be more than a dozen listeners for in the known universe.

Thanks,
"One of the dirty dozen,"
-P.

[shenkin]

By the way, I see that all the songs that have had this characteristic come from the same record company -- whose name will go unmentioned.

Regarding the artist you were referring to, she probably had nothing to do with it (though for all we know, she might approve). It seems this is a common or even universal practice of this record company.

-P.

Most files can be found to have a pattern in the file info. Our best answer is to use our power in numbers. Just keep deleting the decoys and share the good ones. eventually there will be enough good ones to make it a minor annoyance.