1. Uploading to the Live Music collection requires the use of an FTP client (File Transfer Protocol). Recommended clients include: SmartFTP (Windows) and Transmit (Mac).

2. FTP requires 4 items in order to log in to the servers.

• The servername: audio-uploads.archive.org
• Your Internet Archive username to identify you
• A password: (your archive.org password, also used to log in to the website)
• The port number for the server you are uploading to: 21

3. When you first log in to audio-uploads.archive.org, you will see no items in your upload folder. This is normal.

4. Before you begin your upload, please make sure that the audio files follow Etree.org’s Naming Standards. If the files do not follow that guide, the show will be frozen during the import process until they do. In addition, audio file must be encoded in either FLAC or SHN format. We do not accept any other audio formats at this time.

5. Please include a Text file in plaintext format which contains as much information about the recording as possible (Artist Name, Date of Performance, Venue, City/State, Recording Equipment, Transfer Equipment, Setlist with Tracking, Show Notes, Recording Notes etc...). If a text file is not included, the upload will be frozen by a curator until we have one. An example can be found here: http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=9837
(see the Sexton2004-02-02.txt file via a link from that page).
In Windows you will want to use Notepad to create this file.

6. You can now upload your recording to the upload server. Make sure that each recording is contained in its own folder. Foldernames should be named like this one: skb2003-10-31.sbd.flac16 This can easily be identified as a Steve Kimock Band recording on 10/31/2003 from the soundboard and the files to be downloaded are in 16 bit FLAC format. For more info and examples, please see Etree.org’s Naming Standards.

7. Please include an MD5 file for all of your uploads. Since FLAC tools do not have the ability to create one, you will need to use software like MD5summer to create one. Make sure the MD5 does not contain a line for any text files. The MD5 is what enables us to send automatic emails to you letting you know if any of the files fail their integrity test. If you use MD5summer to create your MD5’s, make sure you open the resulting MD5 and remove the top 3 lines so the fist file signature to be checked is flush at the top of the file.

8. Once your uploads are complete, you now need to import the concerts. Do NOT go to this step before the files are done uploading, as it causes problems with our automated Contribution Center. This page will have a wealth of information about your uploads - please read all the information carefully before asking for help (also please search the forums and FAQs as they have answers to many common questions). Provided your music files pass initial integrity checks (the band has given us permission to host their recordings, the directory is named appropriately, the recording is not already in the Archive etc.), you will be able to import the concert. Please fill out all the fields you can.

9. Once you submit the form, a red link will appear asking you to Describe the Files. You must click this link and then describe the files for your concert (song titles, formats, etc.) in order for your show to be processed. Failure to do so will result in your show being stuck "waiting for metadata". If you forget to click the link and your show gets stuck, you can enter the metadata by editing the details page, and clicking "File Options" in the upper right hand corner. The "Creator" field should always list the Musicians for sound files.

10. Once you submit the file description form, your concert will be queued for automatic processing. This entails running MD5 checksums and checking FLAC files. If MD5 checks fail you will be notified by email and you will also see a message on the contributions center page (you will have to visit this page to indicate that you have fixed MD5 problems, after which it will be reverified). It is a good idea to check the contributions center page regularly to track the progress of your imports. After MD5 checksums are verified, your import will be examined by a curator who will verify that everything is okay - specifically that the metadata is good, that the concert is really what you said it was, and that the concerts don’t violate the wishes of specific bands. When a curator "signs off" on your import, the concert will be moved automatically to its final destination and the concert will be made available to the community.

Thank you for your uploads - they are greatly appreciated!

If you have any questions about the above instructions, please search the FAQ’s and forum for help first - then feel free to post for information. Please include information about which step above is not clear for you.

Our Contribution Center is here: http://www.archive.org/contribute.php