BitTorrent, a brand that has been associated with providing access to pirated material online, is looking to boost its legitimate offerings to change the way it is perceived.
The Guardian reports that, at SXSW, representatives for BitTorrent showcased special tools to be hosted by its site, that have been created in consultation with musicians.
BitTorrent's vice president of marketing, Matt Mason said: "BitTorrent is a word that has been wrongly associated with piracy for many years. We don't control any of those piracy sites. It's got nothing to do with us.
“That's very much the old way of looking at BitTorrent, but we do feel we have a responsibility to point people to great content."
He noted the limitation of file size that some content creators face that effects their distribution, and the new tools introduced at SXSW should work to combat these.
Search function BitTorrent Surf has been improved to prioritise legitimate content sources and Beta-stage BitTorrent Live will host live streaming functionality.
Recent artists that have worked with BitTorrent include DJ Shadow and Pretty Lights who saw a 700% traffic increase to their website following a bundle deal with BitTorrent in 2011, which had a knock-on effect with increased ticket, merchandise and digital product sales, according to Mike Fiebach, CEO of digital marketing agency Famehouse.
Since its launch in 2001, it has harnessed a network that currently amounts to 170 million active users.
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