Hey guys, just some general advice I'm after.

I have a site that is about music and I need to actually host some songs, however my hosting package at the moment will not cope with the kind of bandwidth this will take up. My funds are extremely low at the moment so I was wondering if there were any cheap, or even better free, media hosting sites.

Just to give you a little more info if you need it. The site is a fansite for the music of the game Deus Ex. The songs I want to host will mainly be remixes and edits of the original songs - and possibly the original sound track too, should I receive the relevant permission. I'm guessing that as the songs are remixes some hosts may have a problem with this as they could be worried about copyright issues. Rest assured though I take a strong view against copyright infringement and the 'file sharing' problem so the songs will be credible at least!

Anyway, there's the situation, what's my best option?

If free hosting is what you are looking for, it inevitably means having ads on your site or posting on forums, is this ok with you?
Then free hosts don't usually offer cpanel. You may check freehostia.com as a free host.
As an alternative you may get a paid budget hosting plan plus a coupon code to significantly cut your expenses. You may research into marblehost.com, maxdedicated.com.

I'm guessing that as the songs are remixes some hosts may have a problem with this as they could be worried about copyright issues.

And they would be right to be concerned.

Anyway, there's the situation, what's my best option?

There should be lots of "file hosting" services out there, even free ones. If your budget is tight, you could try using one/some of those.

If you have a big community, you could try to see if distribution using bittorent works out. Linux distros use it all the time.

Hmmm, looking into it I may actually be able to afford to pay for a decent host. The site is obviously new so I don't need that much bandwidth, just more than usual...

I've had a look at the 'Hatchling' plan from hostgator. Do you think this would be a suitable plan for my needs?

If I were you I'd start with small VPS for such kind of content. The main featutres for you would be RAM and CPU. That's why VPS is solution for you to get started.

Do you think this would be a suitable plan for my needs?

It could do the job for a while, but I still think you're treading in a murky legal area. A remix is still heavily based on someone else's work. One DMCA complaint and you could find your site, or part of it, suspended.

Also, keep in mind that "Hatchling" only allows you to host 1 domain.

Originally Posted by ldcdc

It could do the job for a while, but I still think you're treading in a murky legal area. A remix is still heavily based on someone else's work. One DMCA complaint and you could find your site, or part of it, suspended.

There are strict rules about the usage of the melody while making a remix. If all is met I don't see much space for worries.

Copyright Implications

Because remixes may borrow heavily from an existing piece of music (possibly more than one), the issue of intellectual property becomes a concern. The most important question is whether a remixer is free to redistribute his or her work, or whether the remix falls under the category of a derivative work according to (for example) United States copyright law. Of note are open questions concerning the legality of visual works, like the art form of collage, which can be plagued with licensing issues.

There are two obvious extremes with regard to derivative works. If the song is substantively dissimilar in form (for example, it might only borrow a motif which is modified, and be completely different in all other respects), then it may not necessarily be a derivative work (depending on how heavily modified the melody and chord progressions were). On the other hand, if the remixer only changes a few things (for example, the instrument and tempo), then it is clearly a derivative work and subject to the copyrights of the original work's copyright holder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remix

Things are rarely black and white when it comes to copyright, and work based on someone else's creation.

ok well two points I should mention in relation to the legal side:

1 - I am seeking permission for this from the copyright holders, I know it's unlikely they'll cooperate, but we'll see
2 - Just in case they don't co-operate it will be a rather small community. I know that doesn't make all that much difference, but still!

Anyway, lets hope I get permission.

So, assuming I do this would serve the job ok? Do you have any better recommendations?

Basically I will simply register one domain name (eg www.mysitemedia.com, or something similar) and link to it from my other website...

ok, Eidos have just about agreed now to let me go ahead, as long as it's not for profit - which is fair enough.

So is hostgator a good idea? I was also looking into dreamhost.com - what do you think of them

Both providers mentioned have mixed reviews from my observations, but they're also cheap and provide you with a large amount of oversold bandwidth/space. It should work ok for now, but expect problems to start appearing over time (e.g. as the site becomes busier).

Originally Posted by damien_ls

Both providers mentioned have mixed reviews from my observations, but they're also cheap and provide you with a large amount of oversold bandwidth/space. It should work ok for now, but expect problems to start appearing over time (e.g. as the site becomes busier).

Fair enough, what should I be looking at once the site becomes more prolific then? Dedicated?

Originally Posted by Spud In Disguise

Fair enough, what should I be looking at once the site becomes more prolific then? Dedicated?

If you go with DreamHost they do have (V)PS systems which allow you to keep your bandwidth/disk space intact while separating your resources off from most other users - so they become much more willing to allow you to use up huge amount of resources as long as it doesn't kill their servers and vserver hosts. I know a guy pushing hundreds of gigs a month off one, so that might be workable for you - once you grow bigger.

Originally Posted by Spud In Disguise

Fair enough, what should I be looking at once the site becomes more prolific then? Dedicated?

In theory you could prolong the move to a dedicated and save some money by using a (big enough) VPS or a semi-dedicated hosting package. In practice, especially if the growth seems exponential, it's probably best to go for a dedicated once you're told that shared hosting is no longer a good fit for your site (assuming you trust the host's CPU and memory usage reports). These reports should help you get the right server configuration for your site too.

Agree ldcdc here. If you do not need dedicated server - never move. I guess web hosting provider you are with for now does not have VPS or Semide dictated and want you to upgrade and stay with them. If you are ok with your budget - go for the dedicated, if not - better to find VPS or Semi dedicated