10.09
It’s been one year since we started PirateBeirut. This post will round up some statistics and comments from the scene.
Top Downloads
- Mashrou3 Leila (self titled) came in first by far. It totaled more than 3500 downloads.
- Soap Kills – Enta Fen. The mythical trip hop group who started it all came in in second place. over 1500 downloads.
- Y.A.S – Arabology. Taking part in both second and third place, Ms. WahadTnenTleteh seems to be the scene’s most appreciated artist.
- Lebanese Underground. A great compilation from underground-extraordinaire Zeid Hamdan came in fourth.
- 96.2 Modern Music Contest, featuring a variety of emerging artists also conquered the heart of our readers.
Site Stats
- Total views: over 103,000 (as we speak)
- Total downloads: over 9000 (meme much?)
- Top search engine keywords: pirate beirut, beirut pirate, mashrou’ leila, soap kills, lebanese music
- Most clicked links on the website: Fasateen, Ruptured (Ziad Nawfal), Raksit Leila, Meen, El Iqaa
- Highly visited pages: Mashrou3 Leila, A Perfect Day O.S.T., Meen – Live, Youmna Saba – Min Aafsh El Beit
In the media
- Piracy hits the Lebanese underground
- Link love (or hate): PirateBeirut.com
- Pirate Beirut Aims To Promote Independent Lebanese Artists By Offering Their Music For Free
- Omar el Fil - PirateBeirut: Arrr You Fucking Kidding Me?
From the Scene
(…) trivia: for a lebanese independent music act, one live gig anytime makes more money than 1 year of cd sales.. whether you’re alone, or splitting it over 5 people.. same ratio applies. — Nabil Saliba a.k.a Trash Inc. and owner of demo.
guys, the day the ministry of interior starts doing anything what so ever we can discuss piracy laws. in the mean time, we do make our money off of gigs [not that we make any money since it goes 9 ways]. CDs are expensive, china’s buying africa, the zionists are demolishing al aqsa, and hamed thinks he might be the second christ coming (on his own face that is). of all the problems in the country, the region, and the world, i think a little bootlegging wont do anyone too much harm. imagine what bourj hammoud and da7iya would’ve been like without rip off almodovars, labakis, rahbanis, and indian pornography. i suggest we focus on why the ministry of interior keeps dodging the palestinian crisis. yes?
- Hamed Sinno, lead singer of Mashrou3 Leila.
Ziad Michel Nawfal, radio host and DJ
George Zouein, photographer.
Elaborate comments
Simple thank you
“Much Love to Pirate Beirut! (A)” – Crass
“awesomness! thank you loads I’ve been looking for it men zaman!” – Yusra
“woo.. don’t know where you heard about and found that one; it’s sweet~ thank you.” – R
“Thank You For This Amazing Album :) Seriously keep up the good work guys :)” – EddyMattar
“This is a really good album, thanks a lot for the upload!” – CHRBL
“I want to buy the album, but can’t find it. just downloading it to be able to listen to this great music!” – alpingirl
“I live in the US and I’ve been trying really hard to get this album! So yes I support this website because this is the only way i can get my hands on any of this music.” – Shhhhh
“hey man you’re the best. Your stuff save me musically. great music taste. such Arabic music I’ve always been looking for. keep on….” – Tyrus
“Thanks for uploading this, I really appreciate all your efforts!!!” – Eden
You guys are life savers.. Thank you! – Adham
Finally, since you were patient enough to read the whole message, here’s a video of one of the members of PB diffusing a message.
Ha! nice post. Keep it smart and sneaky. :)
Another message of thanks. Some artists don’t realise this, but the only reason we’ve heard of them is because of this site. Welcome to the new digital age.