I have only been use public (for about 20 years), but I have been curious about private trackers for a while. I have a good grasp of the concept, seeding requirements, etc. What would be one or two recommended private trackers to start with? (for TV, movie, music)
Red (music) and MAM (audiobooks) have open interviews and have good invite forums that can get you into other trackers. Both are best in class for their categories. Starting with RED truly is a trial by fire with the hardest ratio economy around but it is definitely the most rewarding. MAM is super friendly and easygoing but it can take a few jumps and some time to make it to the bigger trackers. Getting in a good general tracker like FileList, Torrentleech, or IPT really opens up the amount of content available to you starting out if you can find an invite, just know you generally can’t make it to other trackers from them. That being said general trackers own their own can be enough to satisfy many peoples needs. Good luck with your journey, I’d be happy to help if you have any more questions.
For movies, the best is PTP. It takes time and effort to join. Some more accessible alternatives would be BHD, BLU, and FL.
For TV, the best is BTN. They are currently closed outside of personal invites, so virtually impossible to join at the moment. Some more accessible alternatives would be MTV, BLU, and FL.
For music, the best is RED. They have a hard economy, so if you want any easier economy and overall experience the best alternative is OPS. Soulseek is also a must if you are looking for music.
For games, the best is GGn. Nothing really comes close in the private tracker ecosystem. There is PxC, but they are light-years behind in terms of breadth and depth of content. More accessible alternatives would be in the public tracker space like 1337x and Rutracker.
For audiobooks, the best is MAM, which is also the easiest private tracker to join for someone who is not on any private trackers yet. Start here, even if you’re not looking for audiobooks. Seriously, this is the best private tracker to learn the ropes on.
For ebooks, the best is BIb. I may be wrong, but I don’t think they are recruiting at the moment. A far more accessible alternative would be MAM.
For literally every single person who has asked, is currently asking, or will ask in the future some iteration of “how do I join these trackers/where do I start/can you invite me to tracker x,” the answer stays the same: join MAM or RED via irc interview, increase your user class with time and a little effort, and then you will unlock a subsection of forums where other trackers offer recruitment threads. Read the recruitment requirements, make sure you meet them, message the recruiter asking for an invite, wait patiently, and you’ll receive an invite link to join said tracker. Congratulations, you are now a member of your second private tracker! Repeat this process on tracker #2 until you have accounts everywhere your little heart desires. You are now “climbing the ladder.”
What’s at the top of the ladder? The cream of the crop trackers, those best in class communities that everyone wants but very few put in the work to actually join: the “cabal” sites. They are called cabal because the staff from cabal trackers will reach out to each other if you get caught breaking the rules, and you’re likely to be banned across the board on all cabal trackers you are a member of if your rule violation is bad enough. There is very little slack given at this level, so you best know what you’re doing.
And once you’ve climbed to the top, diversify. There are best in class usent indexers like the ones that prefer to not be discussed publicly, there are ddl sites like SIG, wdma sites that live on like unicorns as the piracy landscape shifts with gains and losses, forums specifically for piracy and tracker discussion, and of course…magic sites (good luck, better pack a lunch).
It’s a fun ride, being a part of all this. But it isn’t for everyone. Just find whatever works best for you and enjoy it for as long as you can.
I’m a primary TV/Anime person and I totally agree with this. I’m working on BTN and I joined BHD recently.
I highly suggest BHD for anime alongside AB because of the ZR releases.
For those trying to get into trackers, make friends and chat everywhere. You get invites by being a good community member and having a stick up your ass.
I’d say I’m about 85% private, 15% public. I’m not in any of the top-tier trackers so there are times when I’m looking for something obscure and won’t find it on my few PTs, so off to the publics I go. Last night I found a DVDRip of an 80s show on TPB that I liked better (slightly better color quality) than the single WEBDL on TL. That doesn’t happen often, but it happens.
My favorite tracker is CRT. Cozy, and I love older media.
Interested in this topic, as having difficulty locating certain scene releases lately. Outside of public torrents (through the arrs), my usual fallback of xdcc and usenet trials for older stuff is failing me atm.
Now I’m wondering is it worth the extra effort and upkeep once again? Had TL back in '09 but let it get inactive, and darn missed the recent open signups fml.
I would suggest it, you can find scene stuff on trackers like TorrentSeeds which is pretty easy to join. TL is also a good general tracker, I also use it for some content.
For movies, the best is PTP. It takes time and effort to join. Some more accessible alternatives would be BHD, BLU, and FL.
For TV, the best is BTN. They are currently closed outside of personal invites, so virtually impossible to join at the moment. Some more accessible alternatives would be MTV, BLU, and FL.
For music, the best is RED. They have a hard economy, so if you want any easier economy and overall experience the best alternative is OPS. Soulseek is also a must if you are looking for music.
For games, the best is GGn. Nothing really comes close in the private tracker ecosystem. There is PxC, but they are light-years behind in terms of breadth and depth of content. More accessible alternatives would be in the public tracker space like 1337x and Rutracker.
For audiobooks, the best is MAM, which is also the easiest private tracker to join for someone who is not on any private trackers yet. Start here, even if you’re not looking for audiobooks. Seriously, this is the best private tracker to learn the ropes on.
For ebooks, the best is BIb. I may be wrong, but I don’t think they are recruiting at the moment. A far more accessible alternative would be MAM.
For literally every single person who has asked, is currently asking, or will ask in the future some iteration of “how do I join these trackers/where do I start/can you invite me to tracker x,” the answer stays the same: join MAM or RED via irc interview, increase your user class with time and a little effort, and then you will unlock a subsection of forums where other trackers offer recruitment threads. Read the recruitment requirements, make sure you meet them, message the recruiter asking for an invite, wait patiently, and you’ll receive an invite link to join said tracker. Congratulations, you are now a member of your second private tracker! Repeat this process on tracker #2 until you have accounts everywhere your little heart desires. You are now “climbing the ladder.”
What’s at the top of the ladder? The cream of the crop trackers, those best in class communities that everyone wants but very few put in the work to actually join: the “cabal” sites. They are called cabal because the staff from cabal trackers will reach out to each other if you get caught breaking the rules, and you’re likely to be banned across the board on all cabal trackers you are a member of if your rule violation is bad enough. There is very little slack given at this level, so you best know what you’re doing.
And once you’ve climbed to the top, diversify. There are best in class usent indexers like the ones that prefer to not be discussed publicly, there are ddl sites like SIG, wdma sites that live on like unicorns as the piracy landscape shifts with gains and losses, forums specifically for piracy and tracker discussion, and of course…magic sites (good luck, better pack a lunch).
It’s a fun ride, being a part of all this. But it isn’t for everyone. Just find whatever works best for you and enjoy it for as long as you can.
I have most of my bases covered with mid-tier private trackers. For books/audiobooks I use MAM, movies BLU, Shows MTV, and RED for music. I still subscribe to Spotify though so only go to RED for the rare artist (my music taste isn’t super esoteric) that doesn’t have their music on Spotify
I use both, the private tracker is used mainly for latin Spanish media I gave it the highest priority with Radarr and Sonarr, but sometimes they’d pick something from public trackers too.
Add comment