This section of the FAQ answers questions about posting MP3s on Usenet. This is one of the most important sections to learn from. Remember the Quick Reference Guide from the Home page.

Genre   Crossposting   Subject lines   Zero-file/.nfo   Segment size   Cancels   Posting cap

Where should I post my MP3s?

For maximum distribution you should post your MP3s to the main MP3 binary group (alt.binaries.sounds.mp3) with a crosspost to the appropriate "decade" group and to the appropriate "genre" group.

Web sites like www.allmusic.com have search engines that can help you determine the year when the song was originally recorded. If you don't know when the song was recorded and you can't/don't want to find out, you should just not post it to decade groups. By decade, we mean the decade that the song was originally released. If the song originally came out in the 1970s, but was re-released (unaltered and by the original artist) in 1998, the 1970s decade group is the place to post. If you are posting compilations or "best of" albums that span decades, please don't crosspost to a decade group. Stick with the main group and the appropriate genre group.

Please do not post MP3s or other binaries in the text groups: alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d or alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests.

Please post ALL MP3s to the main group.

What are the "decade" groups?

The decade groups are:

alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1950s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1960s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1970s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1990s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.2000s

There are some groups created with an improper hierarchy format. They don't exist on many servers and, even where they do exist, they get much less MP3 traffic.

What are the "genre" groups?

 

Some of the genre groups are:

alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.beatles
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.christian
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.comedy
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.country
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.french
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.heavy-metal
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.jazz

There are currently more than 100 groups in the a.b.s.m.* hierarchy and more are created all the time. Many of the groups are unavailable on many ISPs

Why should I crosspost the files? Doesn't that eat up bandwidth and disk space?

No, crossposting does not eat up bandwidth or disk space. Crossposting does not mean making your post twice. It means that you include both newsgroups in the "Newsgroups:" header of your post. Each news server will only carry one copy of your post, but it will provide two separate "pointers" to that file.

How do I crosspost?

When crossposting the format is:

first.news.group,second.news.group

There is no space between the group names and the comma. There are some news servers that won't accept a crosspost if you include spaces. It is not a good idea to crosspost to more than 4 groups. Your post may be cancelled by a spam 'bot.

By the way, you probably can crosspost to a group that is not on your own server. Put the group in your newsgroups field and the header will propagate to the other servers along with your post. As long as your server carries at least ONE of the groups listed in the header, and you make that valid group the first in your newsgroups listing, it should accept your post and propagate it (and all of the header information) on to other servers. If other servers carry those groups, then pointers to your post will appear in all the specified newsgroups.

Certain ISPs may have filters set up to disregard messages crossposted to five or more groups, so don't crosspost to too many. Crossposting is a generally acceptable activity if it is warranted, and in this case it is only to 2 or 3 groups. ISPs have typically accepted posts made to no more than three groups.

What should I put in the subject header of my post?

You should put the artist (or author) name, the album name (or book title) and the file name. Many versions of popular posting utilities construct a good subject header for you by default. See the Utilities page for links to posting software.

Other subject options include: encoder, ebtrate, genre, yEnc (if it is a yEnc post).

Things to avoid: Avoid adding brackets, particularly with numbers in them. Avoid adding punctuation or odd characters. All may cause problems for some downloaders. Avoid adding announcements or requests to subject lines, post them separately or in your .nfo file. Avoid adding your nym to the subject line, it will post in the "from" field. Avoid beginning with <Attn: (requester)>. If you are filling a request or posting for a particular person, respond directly to their request with a heads up and info about what, where and when you are posting. Avoid starting the subject line with something like the track number, "Attn:", "yEnc" or other words that will cause your post to mix in with other posts when sorted by various readers.

However you choose to construct the subject line, please try to keep it brief. One of the most widely used news readers has problems with lines longer than 80 chars, keeping it below that will be helpful for many users. Scan through the groups and see how they sort, using odd characters or beginning the subject with anything aside from something specific to the post (author or artist for instance) makes many readers sort in a confused manner.

Most importantly, no matter how you decide to construct your subject line, post a file to the test group (alt.binaries.test) first and make sure it is going to go up the way you envisioned.

And if you use Power-Post, make sure the filename is the last element in the subject line. If you put anything after the filename, the segments will appear separately, sometimes as hundreds of individual posts instead of joined together as one. Of course, if you test post you will notice this, and you can fix it.

What about the zero-file (0/x) or .nfo?

A zero-file is a simple text entry in the body of your post to which the binary then gets attached. Most newsreaders will create it if you simply compose a text post and then include the binary as an attachment. The zero-file will then be part zero of the total number of parts and the first part of the binary will be part one, etc. The zero-file should contain  all pertinent information about the post. You should include information about how the files were created, what software was used, what album the song was taken from and possibly a full track listing (if it's a full CD rip.) You might also want to mention other files you could post and any requests that you might have. In the zero-file, the more information you give, the better.

A common practice in other hierarchies that is often used in the absm.* hierarchy is to include an .nfo file to describe the post rather than or in addition to a zero- file. An .nfo file is just a .txt file that has been given an .nfo extension to denote that it contains iNFOrmation about the posting. Open an .nfo file with any text editor. If you use Windows and know how, you can associate the .nfo extension with your favorite editor. At least one newsreader makes it hard for you to read the 0/x file, so those who use it would prefer .nfo. Some servers are configured to strip .txt files out of binary groups, so making the extension .nfo is a good idea.

When I'm filling requests I found in the .requests group, how should I alert the requestor?

PLEASE post a follow-up to the request WITHOUT changing the Subject header. If you add anything to the Subject header like "I'm posting your song NOW", your follow-up post won't necessarily be seen by the requestor because the subject change will start a new thread, not just show up as a follow-up to the requestor's original thread. The absm.requests group gets even more posts than the discussion group, so it's very easy to overlook a single post in there.

By posting a follow-up post informing the requestor that you are filling their request, you not only let that person know that they should keep an eye out for the post, but you also let other people know that they shouldn't bother trying to fill the request themselves.

So when you're filling a request, please post a follow-up message to the original request. In the body of that follow-up, inform the person that you are going to fill the request, and in which group(s) they can expect to find your post.

How many lines per segment should I use when I post?

Try setting your segment size to something between 460K and 300K (between 7500 and 5000 lines uuencoded). The higher setting is usually fine, but if downloaders are consistently complaining about your posts being incomplete, reduce your segment sizes a little. These settings are for uuencoding *only*, not for yEnc. Consult your documentation for segment size setting with yEnc posting clients. *Don't* use a setting below 300K. It will create far too many headers which puts a strain on news servers. If your ISP kills binaries larger than 300K, it means they don't want large binaries on their server, so you should subscribe to a pay news service. You should not put a strain on all other servers by trying to propagate a binary that your ISP is trying to prevent.

How do I post multiple MP3s at once?

By making multiple posts. Please don't attach multiple files to a single post. If you post like this, you can easily end up with a single post that has over 100 parts, and it makes it difficult for anybody to retrieve a single MP3 from your post without downloading the entire post. A post that won't be downloaded is a waste of server space.

I'm trying to post, but my server keeps timing out or I get disconnected in the middle of my post. Is there any way to resume my post in the middle or do I have to start over?

There are some software packages that will allow you to resume your post if you use a PC compatible. One is Power-Post 2000 by Chris Morse, a program that has become the de facto standard for Windows. The  yEnc version: http://powerpost.cjb.net is even more popular.

I just posted my MP3, but instead of a nice regular posting with 40K lines, my post shows up as 40 parts that are 3050 lines long. What went wrong?

You probably used the yEnc version of Power-Post and put something like [$1/$2] after the "$F" yEnc in the subject line. It is a good idea to avoid putting anything after the filename ($F) when building the subject line for your post. Another thing that will cause this problem is a space between the filename and the extension, e.g. filename .mp3 instead of filename.mp3.

Of course, if you did a test post to alt.binaries.test before pointing at the desired newsgroup there would be no harm done. This is especially helpful if you are using a new posting tool.

I made a mess that is cluttering up the newsgroup. Is there anything that I can do to clean it up?

Yes. Cancel your unfinished posts. Most newsreaders will allow you to easily cancel your own posts. Read the help file. The unusable pieces of your post do nothing but consume space on the news server and you should cancel them.

Just post a brief apology and cancel the post. Most newsreaders will allow you to easily cancel your own posts. Read the help file. Clean up your mess and free up the server space.

I *can't* cancel my misplaced/incomplete posts because my news server doesn't accept cancel messages.

You can (and should) still cancel your posts. It doesn't matter whether your server will cancel the messages or not. Even if the messages aren't cancelled on your server, you can cancel them on other servers by issuing your cancel. Not all servers honor cancels, but all accept and propagate cancels.

Somebody posted the same file that I posted; should I cancel their post?

You should NEVER cancel someone else's post. It is a severe breech of netiquette and could result in your ISP canceling your service. NEVER CANCEL ANYBODY'S POSTS BUT YOUR OWN!

Is there a daily posting guideline for absm.*?

There used to be. There is no longer a consensus on how much a contributor should post in the hierarchy.

While some claimed consensus in the earlier days of the hierarchy for what was considered a reasonable cap, other posters do not see the point of limiting the amount posted to absm.*. Some posters voluntarily limit their posting to the equivalent of one commercial audio CD per day. They believe this can make a difference in retention.

You need to make up your own mind. Look around. Look at who is doing the best job of posting and emulate their style. Learn from them.