Music to Unblock: A Simple Solution for Restricted Websites

Global explorers and expats alike increasingly encounter a digital barrier that obstructs access to various online content – a trend known as geo-blocking. SoundCloud, the music streaming giant, epitomizes this by initiating a region-locking feature in 2017, effectively restricting song availability based on geographical location. Since then, most music sites have used this technology. It depends on the listeners whether they will put up with such a restriction or unblock music on online platforms.

Why are Regional Restrictions Needed?

The crux of the issue lies in copyright laws, which tend to be universally acknowledged. Nevertheless, there should arise a discrepancy where no mutual understanding exists, availability of certain media becomes restricted in some regions. Take SoundCloud as an example—instead of a full track, users might encounter only a brief 30-second snippet, or discover that a song is missing entirely.

This poses a significant problem for avid listeners who turn to SoundCloud for extended DJ sets, often spanning over an hour. In instances where even a single track within a mix is subject to stringent copyright control, the entirety of that mix risks being withheld from the audience. Compounding this issue, access to SoundCloud is outright barred in a number of countries, including Turkey and China, to the dismay of its many users.

Solution for Restricted Websites

When you’re online, your IP address reveals a wealth of data, including your location. This is how targeted ads can pinpoint your locality, such as suggesting “local singles in Iowa City, Iowa.” Similar geolocation methods limit music availability on platforms like SoundCloud based on where you access the internet.

However, with a VPN—Virtual Private Network—you can circumvent these geographic restrictions. How to unblock a website? By routing your connection through a server in a different location, you can essentially choose your virtual whereabouts. Technically advanced VPNs, like VeePN, can unblock websites and the content on them with virtually no restrictions. For example, if you’re in a country with internet limitations like China or Turkey, a VPN lets you connect via a server in the U.S., granting access to SoundCloud as if you were physically stateside.

How to Use VPN?

When prioritizing virtual private network (VPN) services, speed is paramount. Despite the plethora of benefits VPNs offer, they often come at the expense of your connection velocity due to the extra leap data takes via an intermediary server. It’s imperative for users to engage in due diligence when selecting a service. Cutting-edge developments in VPN technology have substantially mitigated this issue, making way for services that excel in speed without sacrificing security.

To assess the efficacy of a VPN’s speed, initiate a benchmark test of your current internet speed sans VPN. Subsequently, conduct trials with various VPN services. The cream of the crop in terms of VPN speeds will generally deliver a connection that hovers around 90-95% of your original browsing speed.

VPN speed often correlates with the breadth of the server network. Robust VPNs flaunt a vast array of servers and geographic diversity, enabling you to connect from countless global locations—even if you never intend to digitally traverse to places like Estonia or Argentina. A widespread server presence is indicative of a formidable and reliable VPN infrastructure.

Is Geo-Blocking Legal?

While geo-blocking may stir up feelings of frustration, it stands as a legitimate practice. Primarily, it serves as a mechanism to honor legal agreements and copyright laws that are region-specific, leveraging IP addresses to manage access.

Media entities frequently employ geo-blocking due to the unique nature of broadcasting and distribution licenses, which often differ across international borders.

Take Netflix as a case in point: it may have acquired streaming rights for a particular series in specific countries such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom but not beyond. Conversely, in Australia, broadcast channels might hold exclusive rights, whereas there might be no legal streaming service available for the series in regions like Thailand.

The enforcement of geo-blocking is multifaceted, not only serving to adhere to licensing agreements but also shaped by strategic business considerations. It is also legal to VPN add Chrome and bypass regional restrictions. For instance, Netflix might determine that acquiring streaming licenses in certain locales isn’t economically viable. Since the legislation of almost all countries of the world allows the use of VPN, this is a working and time-tested practice.

Dynamic pricing strategies, which set variable pricing for identical products in different countries, also fall under the umbrella of legitimate geo-blocking practice. Similarly, in nations where online censorship prevails, restricting access to certain sites through geo-blocking is considered lawful. The ethical considerations surrounding these practices open up a separate, more nuanced debate.

Conclusion

Geo-blocking will be with us for a long time and we have to look for options on how we will live with it. Some will be limited to the available songs, but those who are looking for more use a VPN. This way, you can listen to songs by foreign artists and freely unblock content on online platforms, and we’re not just talking about music.