The basic "rule" is to disallow any link that makes AG complicit in direct copyright infringement. That includes music, yes.
That said, and regardless of whether we update the FAQ or not, there will always be some grey areas and therefore discretion needed. We're not looking to be militant, and we can't be chasing down every individual song link. So, links to an entire site of illegally ripped music? No. Links to a particular song of questionable legality? Maybe. Links to a YouTube gameplay session with music on it? Let YouTube sort it out, my head hurts. (See what I mean?
)
There can't be a policy against linking simply to
music, of course, as not all music sharing is illegal, just as not all game downloads are illegal. We won't always know in each case, but we expect those posting the links probably do.
As to whether the rule is new or not, I don't think the general rule itself is new, though once it started happening more and more with music as well as games, it became more important to enforce it.
