SXSW OFFERINGS. SXSW's music is available for sampling through torrents. Cover art by Danny Novo off SXSW Torrents.

MANILA, Philippines - South by Southwest (SXSW) is a technology, music, and film festival that has been held every spring since 1987, and in recent years, the music from the SXSW events has been a big draw for many in attendance.

Those of you have no way of getting to SXSW any time soon, however, do have a way of getting some excellent SXSW-based music legally and without too much trouble: torrents.

Since 2005, SXSW Music organizers have been allowing people to find the music online, leaving them up for download. The practice was discontinued for a short while, however, when the songs were posted individually instead.

SXSW Torrents, an unofficial site that's seemingly been permitted to spread the musical love around, has been maintaining torrent files for all that music since 2005.

CNET notes that even though "SXSW has never officially endorsed the torrents, neither has it spoken against them." SXSW Torrents also mentions on its front page that the torrents are an alternate means to listen to the showcase samples provided for the events.

How much music can you expect to sample through this initiative, then? For starters, this year's offering comprises 1210 tracks, totalling 7.39GB. The total since 2005, however, exceeds 45GB.

For those of you who'd like to sample a lot of music and spend a day or two going through a few thousand tracks, this is certainly a means to keep yourself occupied. - Rappler.com