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WeStream: Streaming Music From A Torrent File

torrentfreak.com — WeStream is a new applet that allows you to listen to individual music tracks, streamed from .torrent files. The applet is developed by BitLet, has a great interface, and is compatible with all Java-enabled browsers.

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  • Reginald476, on 01/09/2008, -1/+18With Mininova's new Music section, this little applet would fit in nicely I think.
    • dinostabOMG, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Yeah! This is very cool, but a feature it could use is an easy search that would connect you up with a suitable metafile automatically. I want to just put in the name of an artist and/or track and start listening.
  • rix0r, on 01/09/2008, -0/+5I'm at work so I can't really test this out - can you save the files to your HDD after it has downloaded them? No point in downloading them first with this, listening to them, deciding you want them and then re-downloading in a "proper" client.
    • Reginald476, on 01/09/2008, -2/+1Not that I could tell, I am sure it puts them somewhere in temp files, but it doesn't find a location to save it. I look at this more as being able to Listen to the first 30 seconds or so of a song or two.
    • BlaenkDenum, on 01/09/2008, -0/+3Heh, I clicked on the example link and have been listening to it for a while now, I got hooked, but yeah the only problem is that I think I'll have to re-download it. But hey, it's still a great idea.
    • actorboy, on 01/09/2008, -6/+10Why would you want to save the file to your hard drive? This little app fills the try-before-buy void I consistently hear pirates use to justify their actions. It's fixed. A thing of the past.. Now happily point your browser toward a digital music store to make your purchase.
      • GeorgeStone2, on 01/09/2008, -1/+4Digg him down, but he's right :)
      • zongamin, on 01/09/2008, -0/+4An excellent point - the 'try before you buy' argument is peddled by liars who will use any bogus reason they can think of to justify not paying for music. There already exist plenty of places you can listen to new music - many bands offer full streaming version of their albums before release, yet still people moan 'yeah but I want it in flac' - ***** off and pay for it then.
  • duckyinc, on 01/09/2008, -10/+2When it takes 6 hours to download 100 mb at best, I doubt the streaming will work on most torrents.
    • elfprince13, on 01/09/2008, -1/+3i can easily get 600MB in 2 - 3 hours on a 1.5Mbps DSL line, streaming a 5MB song is a problem how? (unless of course you're on dialup, in which case you probably can't stream off of anything else either)
    • chrislee149, on 01/09/2008, -2/+7"6 hours to download 100 mb at best"

      ...What kind of internet connection do you have!?
    • Sabretou, on 01/09/2008, -1/+1I'm on a 256k and I can get a 100MB in 1 hour easily. You either have a stone age connection, download the most obscure torrents or download from the most obscure torrent sites.
    • duckyinc, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2erm it's called lack of seeders or did you guys imagine that a powerful server is currently seeding for your music?
  • tobyadams, on 01/09/2008, -1/+24what i see here is not a great applet that i will use all the time, but a proof of concept that i think could pave the way for the next five years of p2p development
  • Jerky1312, on 01/09/2008, -1/+6The player should be implemented into actual torrent clients, so that we can listen to the files as we download them. You would have to be able to change the settings so that it would download the files from the beginning of the file. Personally, I would rather simply download the files and if I don't like them, delete them.
  • 7012, on 01/09/2008, -0/+4Nice idea but if its a web application sitting on a central server downloading potentially pirated content via torrents, then redistributing the content using another protocol, its not going to last very long. On the other hand, if its an applet downloading torrent through the browser then playing it as it goes (which is more likely) then whats the difference between this and every other bit torrent client besides the fact it sits inside a web browser and plays as it goes? I tried it and it was annoying as bit torrent data packets don't arrive in sequential order, so you listen to only parts of the song at a time.
  • sasquatchcrotch, on 01/09/2008, -5/+1I think it's a good start but needs some touching up before it's a necessity.
  • simism, on 01/09/2008, -3/+2why not just download and then listen? Or stream off millions of sites that allow you to do so?
    I could see this being more relevant with video files, although I think something like that may already exist
  • Fatcheeseguy, on 01/09/2008, -4/+1I see more court cases coming with this applet... possibly..
    • tbeseda, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1wat?
      not for the end user... perhaps for Bitlet, but cheers to them for sticking their neck out
  • indiekiduk, on 01/09/2008, -1/+4Nice concept. An even better one would be nzb streaming movies for os x.
  • micklerlop, on 01/09/2008, -3/+1Is this gonna be SFW?
  • MCCULLAH, on 01/09/2008, -1/+1this is really slow and unless they change alot of it i prolly wont use it. I mean why if i can use www.seeqpod.com
  • fusen, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1this is pretty sweet
  • a10webb, on 01/09/2008, -1/+1I was about to digg it until that last phrase "compatible with all java enabled browsers." Damn you java. Eh what the hell, still a nice innovation, you got my digg.
  • DSizzle, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Why didn't I think of this?
  • EnderMB, on 01/09/2008, -1/+3I definitely agree that this is more of a stepping stone in concept rather than implementation. Imagine if 3 years from now we could all stream movies and music through torrents as easily as we watch something on YouTube from anywhere with Internet access. It could effectively end the piracy wars single-handedly if the implementation was correct. Who would actually buy music if right there and then you could open up a program and automatically listen to it just with a few clicks or keystrokes? Even more so, who would pay for movies if full HD quality movies were available the same way?

    Additionally, if this were to boost torrenting, who knows what else could come? Client-side applications running on-the-fly without installation, wireless ebook libraries, small wireless regional networks to share files, information and videos. Hell, with the right research and testing, perhaps a overhaul of torrenting and the Internet to create an architecture able to create this dream.

    It may only be an application to stream, but in concept it is far more. Remember how MySpace took off when you could listen to music on profiles without downloading, and how YouTube took off when you could watch videos without downloading them first. This creation could be the link to creating more innovations with torrenting.
    • tomwhughes, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2streaming torrent movies through some form of set top box into a TV would be a fantastic innovation. That would really make bittorrent appeal to the un-tech masses.
    • zongamin, on 01/09/2008, -1/+1So your perfect future is one where no-one pays for any content at all, simply because its possible to get it for free. You are an idiot.
      • EnderMB, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Where in my post does it say that people would not pay for content? It's always an option, but it would enforce those creating content to think seriously about pleasing their customers. Next time before you post anything as stupid as you just did, read the comment first.
  • downlowfunk, on 01/09/2008, -3/+0Kazaa had the ability to playback files while they where being downloaded. So nothing new here, other than the versatility of torrents. I second the nzb streamer, but would like it for all platforms.
  • grimward, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Even though the article mentions that it works in general as a bittorrent client, it seems pointless to stream (serial data retrieve) via bittorrent (which is random data retrieve). And if this client were to appear in any of the regular bittorrent swarms, we'd all have to start banning it as it's most likely to become a leech client. I'm all for using bittorrent the way it was meant to be used, not to force it's circular peg into the triagular hole like this.
  • nils, on 01/09/2008, -1/+1Okay am I the only one who thinks that "westream" is just way too close to scat jokes?
  • zongamin, on 01/09/2008, -5/+2wow - another torrentfreak article... ***** off
  • liquidmetalband, on 01/09/2008, -2/+0It's a good idea, but torrents are way too slow for this to work, methinks.
  • brasso, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2I would love to have this feature in µTorrent.
  • jmlane, on 01/16/2008, -0/+1Cool application. I suspect it only works with torrents that contain uncompressed music media, so anything archived probably won't work.
  • xy666, on 01/18/2008, -0/+0When people are bored they come up with new and newer tools
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