FAQ

Q1: Why should I trust you?
A1: You are NOT obligated to trust us. In fact, you should not blindly trust us. Whether you want to trust us or not should be all up to you, and we will not pressure you. However, if you're still unsure, here are the facts: 1. We are NOT a darknet market vendor nor do we sell services and products of any kind. We are non-profit and completely reliant on XMR donations. None of us use banks and wire transfer services to convert cash to XMR, or vice versa. 2. We have operated for a long time about 1-2 years and so far there is no explicit evidence that law enforcement is tracking us. We could be wrong, but we're pretty sure we're right. LE doesn't really care about anonymous music groups that are not doing anything suspiciously illegal. They only care about the big guys that are far worse than us. We do take breaks whenever possible just in case, however. 3. We do not send physical mail due to the many inherent risks associated with sending physical mail. We only transmit zip archives and other files strictly online. We do not disclose any physical locations of anyone, not even our own, under any circumstances. 4. We have already managed to separate our activities, information, or identities in such a way that there is no connection or traceable link to our actual identities in the real world. (We are not disclosing exactly how) 5. We process all files, from audio to images, in a specific secret special way that does not contain noticeable fingerprinting, such as background noise, metadata, watermarking, etc. (Again, we are not disclosing exactly how) 6. We ensure that the websites we are on and upload our files to have little to no JavaScript.

Q2: Why have we never heard of you?
A2: The thing is, we are relatively private when it comes to sharing information about our activity. This cautious approach can extend to our marketing strategies, as we are very selective about the platforms we choose to promote our music. Part of our main focus is actually about maintaining a level of confidentiality that protects our group's security and integrity. In addition, we currently face financial constraints that limit our ability to invest in advertising campaigns, particularly on websites that require payment for promotional services. However, we are actively exploring alternative (preferably free and anonymous) methods to increase our visibility and reach a wider audience. We are committed to finding solutions that align with our values and do not compromise the safety of our group. But our options are somewhat restricted at this time, and we are working diligently to navigate these limitations while seeking opportunities for growth and outreach.

Q3: Why aren't you on Spotify, Bandcamp, Soundcloud etc.?
A3: Because there is a concern that having a mainstream social media presence may attract not only negative attention but also risk of doxxing and other forms of invasion of privacy, which is not good for us as a private anonymous group. Furthermore, management of multiple social media accounts can be insanely time consuming since our resources are very limited right now. What's more, most websites don't accept Monero and other anonymous cryptocurrency options. We know there is less chance of popularity and exposure on the darknet but it just seems more comfortable for us to take these measures.

Q4: Are you accepting any new members, requests, etc.?
A4: We apologise, but we are not accepting invites from other people who do not personally know us, and there is no way of knowing us. We are also not accepting music requests or collaborations either. We're a strictly private group and we would like to do our own thing.

Q5: What is the music production process like and what equipment do you use?
A5: So we have a pretty simple and collaborative production process. Since we’re all self-taught and have our own unique ways of approaching music, each of us will naturally bring different skills and influences to the table, making for a diverse sound. We usually start with a jam session to brainstorm some ideas, and from there, we develop our songs together. For recording, we primarily use a home studio setup. We work with multiple digital audio workstation software programs, all of which allow us to experiment with different sounds. We also have a couple of dynamic microphones for vocals and instruments, along with a condenser mic for capturing more nuanced sounds. An audio interface helps us connect our instruments and mics to the computer, ensuring good sound quality. Our instruments include a mix of electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, and drums, and sometimes we incorporate unconventional instruments or recorded sounds to add texture. And we also add various plugins for effects like reverb, delay, and distortion to shape our sound. The point is, our process is about trial and error, learning as we go, and having fun with it! Regarding privacy, we clean up the old metadata of the files and we try to remove hidden stuff like fingerprinting whenever possible.

Q6: How long have you been making music?
A6: All of us, about less than a decade.

Q7: Do you offer mixing and mastering services?
A7: We mix and master our own music; however we do not offer mixing and mastering services to the public. Sorry.

Q8: Don't you guys have real jobs? You know, like paying jobs you have to actually work hard for?
A8: Believe it or not, ALL OF US have jobs outside of ГОМК, and are paid livable wages, which is actually part of the reason why we are more present on the weekends. But we can't transfer money associated with our real life identities to our Monero wallet even though Monero is anonymous because there is a risk of that money getting lost or stolen. See, we live in an area where it is most likely for mailed cash to raise legal issues or attract unwanted attention. Besides, receiving donations has proved to be more convenient as it allows for quicker transactions and can be done electronically without having to deal with real life things that could complicate our situation. (P.S. we are aware of methods like Haveno, but we do not know or understand enough information about it to confidently use it)

Q9: I see you guys also do digital art. Are you selling any artworks?
A9: The reason we started doing digital art is because we aim to make art accessible and free for everyone. Therefore we do not sell artworks, or anything else for that matter, because, per the "What We Are Not" list, we are NOT "anything that involves selling. Again, we are non-profit and supported by donations." Here is our portfolio if you are interested in our FREE art: https://dump.li/album/c3dfb1fb249d6566

Q10: Do you sell or give away official ГОМК merchandise?
A10: No. Here's why: Because we believe that making your own fan tshirts/hats/whatever is far more preferable and recommended than us having to turn everything into a marketable object to be consumed. Besides, you can often find cheaper materials and make your own items for a fraction of the cost of official merchandise sold by some random company. You can also easily control the quality of the materials and construction by buying more high-end materials. In addition, when you make your own fan stuff, you can customise it to your own tastes and preferences, and create something unique that reflects not just your fandom but also your personality, if you'd like. We just believe that fandom is best expressed when it's the fans speaking for themselves, not us, or any other entity, for them. It's just far more authentic.

Q11: Will you ever have a public live performance or something like that?
A11: Due to the nature of our group it is highly unlikely it will ever happen. However it is technically possible to do something like that while anonymous, but it requires a lot of obscuring of personally identifiable details and not feasible to do at the time.

Q12: Do you plan to be for the fans or against the fans?
A12: It is not a matter of whether we are for or against the fans' interests. We always attempt to make our music accessible and listenable for all, or at least the particular audiences who might enjoy some of our music. We also listen to what our fans want in terms of music. However, when we do know what we want to do, our wishes may not always perfectly align with what our audience wants, and that's okay. We are also not obligated to fulfill every single wish that our audience has, and some of what we do may not be appealing to most people. As for other concerns, such as security, while we are not necessarily subject to security audits like other websites that focus on other things like software and file hosting, we do attempt to watch for unusual activity in our content and verify them when needed. We are not exactly 100% secure but we try to almost reach that mark.

Q13: Why no permanent onionsite?
A13: Because most onion hosting services require payment of some kind and the ones that are free just run smoothly one minute then decide to shut down randomly the next, kind of like hit and run drivers. We will get one when we have sufficient funds.

Q14: Why aren't files stored on a permanent website instead of shady file hosting websites?
A14: Due to limitations beyond our control we are limited to third party hosting at the moment. However, the hosts we pick tend to be secure and do not seem to have any bad reputation. The presence of any external link does not imply endorsement by us; rather, they are simply a result of the careful choices we make when finding a reputable host. The use of any external link is at your own risk. Also, we don't log the identifiable information of users, but there is a possibility that external links (especially clearnet ones) might, so keep that in mind. All our hosts do not require registration or payment or have any intrusive ads. They may however require Javascript, so try downloading from an external downloader or the command line. We also would like to encourage everyone to contact us should the hosts stop working for any reason. In addition, it seems that there are very few hosts on Tor that host more than 1GB of storage. They prefer to host images and smaller files instead, presumably because of how limited Tor Browser can be when handling large files. So we may prefer clearnet hosts that can handle larger files instead. Again, we only choose the best hosting websites. We add an onion host when we know it is long lasting and without connection troubles.

Q15: Why do archives come with a sig file?
A15: A .sig file, or signature file, is a type of file that typically contains a digital signature or a hash value used to verify the integrity sand authenticity of another file or piece of data. The signature files were generated when signing a file using GPG (GNU Privacy Guard). In this case, we signed the images and the README.txt file of the archives using Kleopatra, a software used to create, sign, and verify PGP keys. Recipients of a signed file can use GPG to verify the signature against the original file. If the signature matches, it confirms that the file has not been altered/isn't fake and that it was indeed signed by the person who claims to have signed it. Our PGP key is valid for a set time only up until 02/02/2026. That is two years from now. The reason for an expiration date is to limit the amount of sensitive information that can be decrypted with the one private key that we have. So in the event that we change PGP keys, we will let everyone know this by signing the new public key with the old key. In cases where for some reason our system gets corrupted or similar, we may not be able to retrieve our old key. So your sig files may stop working and come up as an invalid signature after this period. THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE IMPLIED THAT THE SIGNED FILES HAVE BEEN TAMPERED WITH IN THIS CASE, JUST THAT THE SIGNATURE HAS EXPIRED. All it is, in this case, is a validation of the authenticity of the files at the time when the files were first uploaded OR when our PGP key had to be changed for whatever reason. The files are left intact, actually. We may change download links when the PGP key has to be changed to reflect the new PGP key change for consistency reasons. But the audio files, images, and .txt files are fine by themselves, with or without the .sig files. The .sig files are for authenticity purposes only, but their expiration does not mean the rest of the files have gone bad, just that it expired. When the .sig files expire, you can disregard them if you want. So we apologise for any confusion this may cause.

Q16: On AnonBlogs, why doesn't my comment show up immediately?
A16: Because we have a moderation system in place to review comments before they are published. Your comment might be pending approval. Problem is we show up like only once or twice a week so we may not get to your comment in time. So it is recommended to make comments close to the weekends when we are most likely to show up and publish your comment!

Q17: How can I get permission to use your music?
A17: Permission is granted to distribute, remix, and modify our content as long as credit is given. All our content is “as is”. WE CANNOT MAKE ANY CLAIMS OR PROMISES THAT THE CONTENT WE SERVE WILL BE PERFECTLY GOOD OR WORK WELL, but if there is an error with our content, including our uploaded files, we will promise to fix or replace the faulty files as soon as possible. Any resemblance to existing works, regardless of copyright status, is unintentional and completely coincidental. We are NOT liable for ANY damages, legal or otherwise, caused in any way out of the use of our content, even if we are alleged to have done any via a notice or the like. Everything is subject to change and may not be up to date.