The MP3 Vault grew faster than anything the band had run: over 780 members by 14 January 2004, over 1,150 by 30 January, more than 2,500 by late March, 4,000 on 13 June and more than 5,000 on 22 August, with close to 40,000 log-ins since the start. On 22 October, at "5,600+", idle accounts were given 24 hours to update themselves; the rest were to be deleted. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
It ran on one machine. "For now the Server #1 machine is only a PII 400 running a regular sql, php, web & ftp server," Alexander wrote on 1 March 2004. In January the MP3 files alone had used 65 GB of bandwidth, for about 1,000 members and 24 files. [1, 2]
The listeners met its limits. "I have been getting mostly 'HTTP 403.9 - Access Forbidden: Too many users are connected' all day," one wrote that day. "Don't mind the slow download, but would like to at least be connected." The next day Alexander installed "a new un-capped webserver". On 26 March he apologised again: "Right now I'm on a 10Mbit connection and 2,500+ registered users will probably make that a bit slow." Another listener answered in April: "Don't worry about slow downloads, it's worth the wait." [1, 2, 3]
Ten megabits at home was rare. In Sweden Bredbandsbolaget had offered 10 Mbit/s for 200 kronor a month since 1999, when a 56 kbit/s modem was the normal way online, but dial-up still made up nearly 84 percent of Swedish internet subscriptions in 2001. The telecom regulator put the share of Swedish households with a fixed connection at 21 percent in 2003 and 28 percent in 2004, and those with 10 Mbit/s or more at 4 and 6 percent. [1, 2, 3, 4]
The guestbook beside the Vault kept 232 entries between February and July 2004. A listener wrote that the music was "known in Siberia situated in Russia"; another was "the one and only fan" in the Maldives; another had kept the first track downloaded from MP3.com years before. [1]
In June the paid part opened. "Due to intense pressure from people who scream for VIP Access" the VIP Vault pre-opened on 4 June 2004, at $12 a year. Alexander set out the arithmetic: a retail CD bought in a shop left the band about $1, a VIP subscription about $10. Bandwidth and servers, the band reminded those who asked, "actually cost money for us". [1, 2, 3]
CDs went to Ampcast. On 30 April 2004 MISSION 2002 Vol.3 went on sale there for $13, and Vol.1, Vol.2 and OUT THERE came out again the same day. "A CD via ampcast pay us 2-3 times as much as we would earn from a regular CD via a label," Alexander wrote. [1]
On stage the year was mixed: about 250 people in a hall for 4,500 at Club Sensation in Borås in April, and a float at the Love Parade that was cancelled with the whole parade, "Due to a lack of financial resources". The live set from Borås went into the Vault the next day. On 16 July 2004 a new trancecontrol.com went online, built around the agenda, the discography and the two Vaults; by April 2005 it counted 5,429 members registered for Vault access. [1, 2, 3]