Requirements
There is no pre-requisite for membership other than giving us a short summary of who you are, where you live and how long you've been into IQ. Not only is this interesting for everyone else, but it also (thankfully, rarely) helps us weed out any nasty ebay traders (or similar) that any of us have dealt with before.
So....... if you're here for the music of IQ for free, we want you.
If you're here to make money....... then goodbye......... and don't come back.
We occasionally hunt down the odd rogue ebay trader and batter them with our favourite cheese.You have been warned.
We accept anyone!.... at least if you are prepared to abide by our rules.
some of our members have been following the band since the days of The Lens, or since the earliest IQ shows; others will have seen the band maybe once or twice because of the infrequency of touring outside Europe and the United Kingdom; and others have never seen the band play. We are all equal! There is no hierachy, no snobbery. You came here (hopefully) because you like IQ, and so do we.
How it works
Shows are usually distributed in two formats :
standard AUDIO CDs or lossless FLAC files on a data CD.
Some members prefer the standard audio CDs to copy, others prefer data files to convert.
You can apply for either. If you need help with FLAC, us mods can give you a guide.
Shows usually work in VINE format : a member takes a show from someone else, copies it and passes it on.
When a member has finished with a show, they will send an email saying VO (vine offer), show name, date, format (FLAC/AUDIO) with instructions on how to apply for it.
The show is then sent to the next person in the post : There are no plans to distribute the shows in any different way (download, FTP etc.) at this stage.
Usually the show offers are divided into regions :
UK/Europe is one, USA / Japan / Aus and Rest of World is the other.
You apply for the vines offered for your region. This means we can have two copies going round the world AND reduce mailing costs by keeping things slightly more local.
All shows (both existing and for launch in the future) are approved by Peter Nicholls. We have fantastic support from the band and there are very few 'NOs' - however it is Peter's right to disallow and for that reason only CU moderators are permitted to start new vines*
*we are always happy to accept new shows - it just means you have to contact us (the mods), send the show to Malc (in the UK) and let Malc get it approved and launched. Malc deals with getting the shows to/from and liaising with Peter Nicholls.
Sign up
To continue with an application :
Go to the Collected Underground Launch Page.
Click on the "Join this group" button on the top right of the page.
You can use your own email address, but yahoo will make you have a Yahoo ID, so you must choose one of these. (If you do not apply to become a member through Yahoo we cannot approve your membership!!)
There will be a small box where you only have a limited space to write an introduction.
However........ The group moderators would like more information. To achieve that goal we request that applicants tell us a little bit about themselves when applying. Without your more detailed introduction message, we cannot approve your membership. As we said above, this just lets us know if any of the members has dealt with any rogue ebay traders (or similar) and allows us to keep the group operating as freely as it does and with the continued cooperation of the band. Once we receive your detailed introduction, we will forward it to the list so that everyone can read it. So please do reply giving us some details on yourself:
*Your full name*
*How you found out about the group*
*Where you are in the world*
*How you came to like the music of IQ and what you enjoy so much about the music*
You can tell us anything else you like, for example your first IQ concert (if you have been lucky enough to see the band live) or your favourite cheese ... basically anything that lets us know you a little better and something more than "Hello, can I join, my name is Bob" etc.
click here to email your introduction to the moderators
We'll aim to process your application in a day or two..... all being well!