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In accordance to the licenses' terms MediaServices pays license fees for all materials downloaded from the site subject to the Law of the Russian Federation "On Copyright and Related Rights"

http://music.allofmp3.com/help/help.shtml?prm=lega l&rnd=863407

These big companies write the rules as they see fit. Whilst they're busy globablising everything including giving our jobs to Indians and importing Africans and Poles into jobs that can't be offshored, they then place unfair national restrictions on music downloads.

I say buy ALL of your music in ogg format from http://www.allofmp3.com/ in Russia and stuff everybody else. Buy it from where you choose and play it how you choose.

Regards,
David Bowie.

... AllOfMp3.com?

First off, seeing as how hardly (less than 1%) of recorded music sales goes to the artist, a pure economist might think that if the market can bear it, then it is a valid price. Well, the prices of all goods and services have sharply increased because the cost of energy has increased sharply. I mean, it takes at LEAST 2 to 3 TIMES (if not more!) the amount of money to travel.

The next thing that will be blamed is that iTunes caused this price increase. As an aside, if a $13 cd costs roughly the same as a song on iTunes, where does all of the *extra* money go? I mean, if the price of a cd is wrapped up in transportation, storage, design, and packaging then I'd think the price would be much less.

Wait, that is what http://allofmp3.com/ is for.

Wait, I thought that eMusic didn't do DRM?

Did I miss something? I thought they were straight-up MP3 files, pretty much the only place aside from you know where that sells them.

If you do find the occasional pop chart hit to be enjoyable however, allofmp3.com has them un-DRMed and at very reasonable prices. Oh I agree, the indy stuff tends to be much better, but there is no need to be a musical elitist. It's okay to admit that 1 out of 5 of Britney Spear's songs are catchy and kind of fun to listen to. We won't judge you too harshly.

As long as there's Allofmp3.com I'm not worried.

Hey now, don't forget the Russian Mafia. Allofmp3.com has had The Beatles for a while now; though I'm not sure if a quasi-legal download site really counters your statement that they're not available through digital download. Allof is certainly doing it without permission, but that's a whole other debate.

Apple Computers signed a settlement agreement a few decades back promising they would never use the name Apple in the music industry.

Now, in hindsight, that looks like a really stupid agreement for Apple Computers to make. But at the time, it was probably a) costly litigation vs. b) reassuring the Beatles (who are way more popular than you, probably more sympathetic to a jury, if there is one) that you're not going to start selling records, something you have absolutely no intention of doing anyway.

So yeah, the TM claim seems ridiculous. But that's not really what this is about. The K claim seems pretty cut and dry for Apple Corps.

Until it's all settled, just have to stick with allofmp3.com.

Is this battle why the Beatles' catalog isn't for sale in iTunes?

Though I guess they aren't available in many other music services, either...

I guess that's why Russia has obligatory licensing.

http://allofmp3.com/

The average song downloaded from a online retailor is of terrible quality, usually 192kbps or less,

I recommend you this site, you can choose between mp3, ogg, wma among other lossy formats and you can also choose between a lot of lossless format including raw WAV.

I still buy CDs because I like having the "tangible" product (and my collection looks nice) and because I enjoy the booklet

You already can... http://allofmp3.com/

http://www.allofmp3.com/

there was this lot.

They were pretty popular in the 80's. A lot of their music was used for TV shows and documentaries. It had a sort of futuristic, electronic feel to it, even though they were all classically trained musicians. They did a great tocatta on the electric guitar.

If the price is right, the quality is good, and the convenience is there, then sharing will not be a problem. Why go through the hassle of file sharing programs if you can get the song you want without any hassle for a fair price.

Apple is the American retailer that comes closest to this model, but it still has DRM and a set quality level. Napster II has a long way to go -- clunky DRM and subscription based. The Russian retailer All of MP3 has the best model IMHO -- select the quality you want and pay by the MB.

The Recording Industry needs to get with the times and start competing in the marketplace. DRM is becoming a pain in the ass which is just going send people back to the file sharing arena. If they would give up on DRM and adopt an All of MP3 type model and price it so that the average FLAC file of a song goes for around $0.99 or so (based on size), then they would have a winner. There will always be some file sharing going on, but as long as there are good and fair alternatives, file sharing shouldn't be a serious problem. Unfortunately, the RIAA is bound and determined to alienate their customers and create as much ill will as possible, so I don't expect things to change in the short term.

Oh well, there's always the independent music market -- no DRM and new and exciting stuff to find.

Most likely illegally?

http://allofmp3.com/ acquired and distribute the music legally according to Russian law. This has been proven in a Russian court. A US citizen that buys music from http://allofmp3.com/ is not breaking any copyright statutes. You are toeing the legal line, but I do not have any moral or ethical problems with it. I do have moral and ethical problems supporting companies that employ a group to commit barristry to extort money. I also have problem with these same companies buying laws that twist our copyright laws into a mockery of what they are suspose to be.

http://allofmp3.com/ acquired and distribute the music legally according to Russian law. This has been proven in a Russian court. A US citizen that buys music from http://allofmp3.com/ is not breaking any copyright statutes. You are toeing the legal line, but I do not have any moral or ethical problems with it. I do have moral and ethical problems supporting companies that employ a group to commit barristry to extort money. I also have problem with these same companies buying laws that twist our copyright laws into a mockery of what they are suspose to be.

>Look fool,

"Fool"? Oh my, that lends credibility to your position...

>The relevant sections were already quoted to you, but if you don't trust it, then go find it yourself.

Snips of code, not necessarily in context, and with wildly different possible interpretation, are not proof of anything either way.

>The defining things are that http://allofmp3.com/ is technically legal in Russia.

Nobody in this thread has questioned the legality of allofmp3 to exist in Russia for Russian citizens.

>but probably will not go there as the RIAA would not want to risk it.

Yes, that is an interesting situation the RIAA is faced with.

>Russia is notorious for hosting credit card scams. I took the precaution of generating a temporary card number and still need to personally tell my bank to authorize the transaction. That would be enough to scare away many users.

Looks like using paypal would be even easier and safer, since each transaction has to be approved anyway.

Look fool, go read up on US copyright law. The relevant sections were already quoted to you, but if you don't trust it, then go find it yourself. Either it counts as importation of a phonograph and is legal for personal use, or else it is not classified as anything specific and basic copyright clauses ould apply and is legal.

The defining things are that http://allofmp3.com/ is technically legal in Russia. This has already been proven in a Russian court of law. It has not been proven legal in a US court of law, but probably will not go there as the RIAA would not want to risk it. Besides there is a barrier in place that will prevent the average Joe from using allofmp3.com.

Russia is notorious for hosting credit card scams. I took the precaution of generating a temporary card number and still need to personally tell my bank to authorize the transaction. That would be enough to scare away many users.

http://allofmp3.com/ is no more illegal than ordering a foreign produced CD.

You want a higher bit rate?
Then why don't you shop at http://www.allofmp3.com/ instead?

You get the Coldplay X&Y album for $1.76, you choose your own encoding format and bitrate and it gets encoded on the fly. It's legal.

But hey, 1 billion lemmings can't be wrong, right?

I'm not pimping AOM, I never bought anything there. In fact I never bought a single music track online in my life. Just a few CD's in the old days.

X.

http://www.allofmp3.com/

All Of MP3 offers MP3s ripped using LAME at a variety of bitrates, as well as Ogg, WMA and others. Pricing is very inexpensive and very fair, you pay according to the chosen file size. For me, the most important issue next to sound fidelity is compatibility. I want to be listening to my MP3s in 20 years time, on a variety of devices. For backwards compatibility, I see the MP3 format as being the one format which will always be supported by every device.

> How [sic] does legal music piracy look like?

Like this.

Downloaded tracks don't necessarily cost more than the CD version. Just take the Moscow based download service http://www.allofmp3.com/. There you can get loads of songs in virtually any format you could wish for (including lossless). It has been mentioned on /. before http://slashdot.org/search.pl?query=allofmp3.com

I believe you can backup the auido to a data disc of AACs or mp3s, however this does not remove the DRM from the files.

True, but this does.

So you still can't get the files to non-iPod audio devices

See above. I have an iPod now, but before that, I was playing iTMS downloads on a Palm Tungsten T (with AeroPlayer).

(The funny bit is that I don't think I've bought anything from iTMS since I bought my iPod. My most recent purchases were from these guys. 192-kbps AAC is nice.)

and if you hose your computer and reinstall and in the process appear to hose you iTunes account those DRM'd files on your backup cds might be worthless.

Wrong again. When you get your computer running again and iTunes installed, you authorize it and it starts playing your downloads. Even if you've used up all of your authorizations (you get five, IIRC), there's still a fix. You can free up all of your authorizations (including the one sitting on the hard drive that had a headcrash last week) and start over.

All of MP3 does offer FLAC downloads. For those unaware, FLAC is a lossless audio compression.

The only thing monopolistic about the digital music business is how the record labels, through their monopoly on specific artists' music, can use that leverage to enfore draconian licensing and protection technologies on the industry.

Fortunately, the Russians are hard at work on this problem.

Yes, it's legal, even for you and me.

AllOfMP3 does this. You can get music from them in Ogg or MP3 format for most of their albums, and FLAC for some of the albums.

http://www.allofmp3.com/

Luckily the good folks in the Russian Mob give you both!

that's allofmp3...

I just use http://www.allofmp3.com/

why pay a fortune when you can pay pennies and still be legal.

In GB and Germany, they all use http://allofmp3.com/ and http://mp3search.ru/

And so, since the servers are only operating under the laws of Germany or Russia, you are basically paying money for high quality mp3s. Should be caught with said files, it would be just as bad as if you had downloaded them using a P2P client for free.

In GB and Germany, they all use http://allofmp3.com/ and http://mp3search.ru/

Of course it makes sence, it's dirt cheap and a hell of a lot easier than P2P.

Try AllOfMp3. You can if you want get CD quality there but most people settle for MP3s at 192 Kbps. There is no DRM and they work out at least 5x cheaper than CDs.

This most likely will not happen due to the fact that the MPAA will charge royalties to google to export their good (in this case, the videos) out of the US. Of course, this works in both ways as evidenced by Russia's All of MP3, but cause it's Austrailia, I'm afraid you're going to be out of luck.

There is already an online music service that offers songs in mp3, aac (iPod), wma and flac formats, which is much cheaper than iTunes.

It's called AllOfMP3.com and is quite excellent. I've paid $20 so far for almost 1 Gb of music.

This is the RIAA trying to shut down All of mp3. Basically, the RIAA contacted the Russian authorities about allofmp3; the response they got was that allofmp3 was legal under Russia's copyright laws. So now the RIAA is trying to get the US in to changing Russia's laws. It would be wise for the US to remember that Russia still has all of those nukes from the cold war before thinking about doing an invasion of the country the way the US invaded Iraq.

these guys would it? Nah, they pay royalties to some other russian front who pays to ... well ... not the RIAA.

So buy from allofmp3.com. It works with Firefox; gives you a wide choice of DRM-free encoding formats including - for most recent releases - FLAC and Ogg; and it appears to be sufficiently legal that the Russian authorities have declined to let the international RIAA equivalents go after it.

Agreed. Personally I was looking forward to the PS3 and the Revolution. Granted that the gaming division of Sony has nothing to do with the Music label side, I still plan on punishing all of Sony because of this recent mess with their CDs. The big N will be getting my support from now on in terms of the console wars! And as for music, you still can't beat http://www.allofmp3.com/

First of all, it's 5 words. Second of all, have you ever heard the song? You would never know that they're saying "Motherfuckers." That particular lyric is so hard to understand that this song was even broadcast uncensored on CBS the other night during the Victoria Secret Fashion Show (Loud Annoying Music Warning). They must not have checked the lyrics before choosing the track... BTW, this track can be found here.

Dude, forget iTunes. I use AllOfMP3. You pay per # of bytes you download. For 128Kbps a song typically costs $0.10. And they provide songs in MP3 or OGG Vorbis format. No DRM and Legal! You can get 320Kbps quality songs too, an entire album for $2!

No, I'm not trolling, I'm not trying to advertise, I just don't understand why people don't just use this or similar services like MP3Search.ru.

Ultimately, the death of pirating shareware is going to be governed by the pricepoint more than anything else. Sure, free is always cheaper, but if you can get the music at the right price (and I certainly think allofmp3.com has got it!) then that's going to be a major player.

(And yes, I know there are questions about the legality of the service. But so far it's stood up the legal challenges presented, and it's got to be "more" legal than filesharing, right? :) Not that that matters twojots to the RIAA I guess :)

They don't necessarily need to be out of business. A large part of what they do currently is give small musicians the benefit of their hugeness. They give them "loans" so that they can record with good equipment and with professional producers. At home you can record with no producers and with, at best, ok equipment. They promote the band. Advertise its shows and its albums. Also very expensive and very difficult to do without a record company. And of course, they distribute the music, as well as band merchandise. This can be in the form of CD's, as currently, or it could be in the form of getting mp3s on Itunes or even setting up free distribution channels. This would also be very expensive without a record company.


If you take the classic distribution channels out, like getting the CDs to the big department store chains, there's nothing in what you describe above which couldn't be done by Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple etc.
It's done in smaller dimensions today already, but imagine Google or Amazon throwing their knowledge of datamining the behavior of individual users and using it to find "relevant" products (i.e. music titles) to this field in a big way. This combined with them offering mp3 downloads. The classic core competency of record companies (distribution) is not only totally made obsolete, but they also add something where Sony et al. have nothing to bring on the table.

I'd say if Amazon wasn't still dependend on good relationships to the legacy music industry and google wasn't busy targeting microsoft, one of them reviving the mp3.com idea could really hurt the music industry.

The nice thing is that all this DRM crap will lessen their chances even more in the long run, because makes their product less attractive and other big players with alternative offers will eventually surface.

What needs to happen is that a big star will have to surface who is not already bound with contracts to the record industry.

If you want to see the future, go over to allofmp3 dot com, look here for an example..

" I can't see how Apple can get away for long with charging $1 for muddy sounding 128Kbits lossy when something like MusicGiants [musicgiants.com] is charging only $1.29 for full quality, major label, lossless downloads [meehawl.com]. If the "premium" between the iTMS low quality and the "full" quality tracks is only 30 cents, then I am missing something. Either MusicGiants will be raising its prices soon, or Apple will be lowering its prices for 128Kbps or upping the quality.

My thinking on this is that if successful, it should prompt Apple to offer lossless downloads from the iTMS Service, if only because Apple likes to present a "high end" image, and having a competitor actively dissing iTMS [musicgiants.com] by lumping it in, quality-wise, with "pirated music from p2p networks" has got to hurt."

I'm wondering why more people don't take advantage of foreign distribution channels that aren't as tied into the RIAA cartel and sell music by the megabyte like allofmp3.com http://www.allofmp3.com/ .

As far as I can tell, there are no laws against buying from allofmp3, despite what the RIAA etc would like people to believe.

I hope the word spreads about such distribution outlets, as this directly impacts the RIAA/labels' bottom lines, and the less they get, the happier I'll be, and the less they'll have in their warchests to influence lawmaking as well as less market control to enslave artists and screw over customers.

Plus, the wide selection of file formats and bitrates that can be customer-specified seems particularly friendly to non-proprietary operating systems and software.

Strat

Is http://www.allofmp3.com/ a member of OSTG? I see it so often on slashdot I can't keep from wondering...

This is why I don't use iTunes. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out how to crack it, and your connection. I'll keep my MP3 buying simple: Just use a web browser. http://www.allofmp3.com/ No need for a program to do more than it should. iTunes should just play music. That's it.