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They make all their money through screwing not only the customer but, it would seem, also the artist. If a person is willing to pay a buck for a single mp3 or 15-20 bucks a cd how much of that does the artist actually see? I'm not sure but it would be interesting to find out. I bet all the artists whining about piracy would have to eat their own words when they realized how much the RIAA's "protection racket" is really costing them compared to piracy or even backing up CDs. Here's a good woy to help kill the RIAA monster http://www.mp3search.ru/. My father found this site and has given up buying from anywhere else. $0.10 a hit. I'm not sure but I think they get around the RIAA since they're in Russia. Plus they don't have any of that disgusting copy protection or annoying license files to deal with. It's just a clean mp3. Long live the revolution!

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.

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.

pfsht..
http://www.mp3search.ru/
http://allofmp3.com/

Man, what a crummy selection. Is this the official PBS-sponsored music download site or what? I could get music like this down at the local library.

Try MP3 search, legal (as legal as it gets in Russia) MP3 downloads for $0.10 a piece, and no DRM, MP3s with VBRs exceeding 200Kbps.

No way I'm I downloading it from iTunes. I'm going to wait till they release it here or here. Save 80c on my silence.

for those people interested in a russian music service, club.mp3search.ru is another one you might consider, I've used it for a while and while it doesn't offer you the format/bitrate of your choice it does have high quality mp3s </shameless plug>

allofmp3.com? MP3search.ru?

That's where it all hits the fan - DRM. If the RIAA wasn't such a greedy bunch of pigfuckers, we could all trade MP3s and get dinged for each trade (say, a dime per trade), and everyone would be happy. Napster had a system like that under works, and were ready to roll it out, then it was reduced to a smoke hole in the ground over in Redwood Shores. Dime a Trade? I'd do it. Especially if a source got a rating (this way asshats who rip stuff at 64 mono, have clicky messy files, or are shills for the RIAA, can be avoided) like in EBay. You would have to use a specific client, and that client would be wired to your bank account. Everybody happy, and we could all use plain vanilla MP3s - no muss no fuss no chocolate mess. RS

That's where it all hits the fan - DRM. If the RIAA wasn't such a greedy bunch of pigfuckers, we could all trade MP3s and get dinged for each trade (say, a dime per trade), and everyone would be happy. Napster had a system like that under works, and were ready to roll it out, then it was reduced to a smoke hole in the ground over in Redwood Shores. Dime a Trade? I'd do it. Especially if a source got a rating (this way asshats who rip stuff at 64 mono, have clicky messy files, or are shills for the RIAA, can be avoided) like in EBay. You would have to use a specific client, and that client would be wired to your bank account. Everybody happy, and we could all use plain vanilla MP3s - no muss no fuss no chocolate mess. RS

Uhh, ::ahem::... (raises hand) I don't use iTunes. Maybe I will in the future, although that's doubtful. Basically when I got my iPod last month, I filled it up with the many thousands of MP3s I've downloaded over the years and never listened to. (I download MP3s compulsively and I probably listen to about 1/10th of what I download.) Canciones aleatorias/random shuffle has been a fun and enlightening experience, indeed.

Maybe it's just because I'm in college, but no one else I know uses iTunes either. And I go to Berkeley, where judging just by a stroll through campus, we have a higher iPod:student ratio than maybe any other school in America. Like probably 1/3 or something.

As a matter of fact, they are perfectly legal. The reason for this is that copyright law differs in different countries. Here in Russia there is an "anti-RIAA". This anti-RIAA is ROMS - "Russian society for multimedia and digital networks". By law they hold certain rights to all works produced and sold in Russia, which rights can be licensed from them for a very modest fee (determined by law and they can't refuse, basically).

Legal info on AllofMP3 and MP3Search says just that - the music is licensed according to Russian laws from copyright holders. It is perfectly legal as long as you have the right to download content from other countries. IANAL, but I think it is legal - just as legal as ordering a movie abroad, which was not released in the USA (or even after it was released in the USA). There might be some export legislation, but in general I think it is legal.

Another interesting fact is that all content produced (anywhere) before 1973 is public domain in Russia. So if you were to set up a free (or for a nominal fee to cover the bandwidth) download service in Russia with Disney movies made before 1973, you would manage to really piss off Disney, but they won't be able to do anything. :) Unfortunately, the current trend for "harmonisation" and forcing every country to agree to WTO rules or "fuck off and die" means that in the future there will be less such freedom. :( But while it lasts, enjoy it!

P.S. FUD spread by some people that these Russian servers would steal your credit card numbers and do other scary stuff is completely unfounded (like all good FUD should be).

Those who download MP3s are addicted to it.
That's not true. I am what you may call a hardcore pirate. Almost 99% of all the movies, music and software I have are pirated (but I go to the movies sometimes). I have friends who work in wholesale piracy. I've been translating movies for pirate releases. I am really put off the idea of buying media. However, I do buy it sometimes. A few days ago I really liked Blackmore's Night music. The group made a very smart decision of putting some mp3s on their site, further fueling my interest. I wanted to download all their music, but couldn't immediately find all full albums for download.

I don't have a problem with buying the album if it's more convenient and affordable. I can't get it from iTunes, because I don't live in the USA, don't have a credit card and don't consider 1$/track affordable. But I found it on AllOfMP3.Com, MP3Spy.Ru and MP3Search.Ru for tenth (or even 1/20th) of the price and legally (that's 0.5-1.5$/album), so I might just buy it today.

I don't see anything wrong with pirating media, but I don't see anything wrong with buying them either. If I earned enough (and not 30$/month I get as a PhD student now), I would definitely buy more than I do now. And thanks to the taste I developed through piracy, my demand for media is much greater now than it could have ever been without piracy. I am sure most pirates think more or less the same way.

Some places are cheaper still

is MP3 Search. They sell tracks for $0.10 and no DRM either. Worried about giving your credit card to them? That's why I use a Virtual Account Number instead.

> Because if they had no DRM, they'd have no deals with the RIAA members to sell their music.
>They'd be limited to indy and public domain stuff, which despite what slashbots will tell you, won't make them a dime.

That is incorrect. You can buy un-DRM'd mp3 format music from http://club.mp3search.ru/ for seventy to eighty cents per album. I don't know why anyone would pay the outragous prices at iTunes.

When I can purchase from a collection almost as large for a lot less at: club mp3 search dot ru? Most albums are under a buck. Oh, and they are pure mp3 format, so no drm :D

You might think that, but do you know of a hack for modern windows XP? I know old XP was cracked pretty easily, with keygens and changekey tricks out within a month of it's release. But I think you'll have to look VERY hard indeed to find a crack for XP that you buy in the store today.

In the age old battle between armor and warhead, one advances in capability and is capable of defeating the other, and then the other catches up. This continues until warhead advances to the point of achieving it's goals by making the warhead irrelevant.

When it's finally time, some EE wil release to the public a way to plug your speaker wires into your PC, and digitally record the sound that was going to your speakers. This method is undefeatable by definition, because the computer will certainly be able to decipher anything the speaker can. And I don't think even the RIAA will be able to force manufacturers to include DRM junk in speakers.

The only reason this hasn't happened yet is that is slows ripping time down to the point htat it equals playing time. and that IS the price that will have to be paid. But fortunately only once, and I don't mind if it's someone who profits from it a little.

I'm sure some RIAA exec is wondering why I would pay for that music, and not pay for a "legal" (your laws there Mr. Man, not mine) version of it. I'll never be able to explain it so that you can understand it Mr. Man. All I can tell you is that there is a price point at which you can get ME, the same guy who once advocated that it was people's civic duty to rip and distribute music, to pay for music. Your job is to find that price point, AND accept the fact that people will always be able to distribute. You have to find a way to make your content actually WORTH what you're charging for it to everyone, and then you'll get sales at the point that it seems a good value. Right now that music IS worth $15.00 a CD to some people, in fact the evidence proves that it is worth $15.00 to MANY people. Are you maximizing your profits that way? I don't know, maybe so. But once released into the public, the music is no longer in your comtrol, and you will never again be able ot change that. What you can control is what you will distribute, and how you will distribute as being the the person with the first and best copy.

Good luck, and you can count on me to make sure that you will always have to make sure you are providing the best value for the consumer by always being aware of my alternatives.

Yes, yes, I am glad I started paying for downloading music. From the Russians....

Here is another russian mp3 site i recently found they too sell by the mb which means songs for pennies. club.mp3search.ru

I've been using another service from Russia, MP3 Search Club with great success for some time now. Frankly, I'm surprised this qualifies as news. This service, too, is liscenced by the "Russian RIAA". As a Canadian, I find this site an invaluable compliment to my right to make personal copies of music to share with others. ;-P Given, though, that this other site lets you encode in your favorite format, I'll probably soon switch over to them.

MP3Search and AllOfMP3 offer music at 1 cent per Meg. They are both russian, but if you're worried about your credit card, you can pay them w/ Paypal.

AllOfMP3 also has online encoding. When you buy your songs, you select the format and the bitrate, they encoded it for you, and when it's done it goes in your download queue. Flac, Ogg Vorbis, MP3, AAC and several other formats are available.

In any case, I pay anywhere from 70 cents to $1.86 for an entire album. Which is about what most music is worth to me. There are very few really great artists out there, and I already have most of their CD's. One thing great about these two sites, is you can get very hard to find music and music that is not available in the US. True, some of it may be considered crap in the country it came from, but it's a refreshing change from the shit we get forcefed on clearchannel stations.

These guys are offering mp3 at ridiculously low prices: mp3search.ru. They do not have most things that I want but that might be due to my twisted taste rather than their selection. They claim that it is all legit. You decide. Their network speed has been good in the past and pretty much kept up with my cable connection speed.

I use mp3search.ru. They have a deal with the Russian equivalent of the RIAA, so these downloads SHOULD be legal where ever you are. They tend to have the CDs we in the US pay more for because there "imports". Lots of B side selections and remixes. Downloads are around 10 cents a song.

I prefer club.mp3search.ru.

Russian site, I haven't seen any evidence that it's illegit, pay per song, approx $.01/meg, and you get a non-DRM mp3 file-- You can do whatever you want with it. No limits on burns or anything like that. I've had good success with it, they've got a good selection (not everything, though, but I think they're pretty new, so I'm hopeful for a lot of new additions in the coming days/months).

About a quarter a song seems right. Five bucks an album.

Ok, here ya go!

Music doesn't want to be FREE. It just wants to be a lot CHEAPER.

It already is...

Mainstream artists. No DRM. Individual songs for 5-10 cents. Complete albums for 50-80 cents. 128-192kbps MP3 files. Accepts PayPal, Visa, Mastercard.

Some people are too cheap to pay a dollar per song, or something like that, and want to just get loads of music, illegally or legally.

Then go here

Mainstream artists. No DRM. Individual songs for 5-10 cents. Complete albums for 50-80 cents. 128-192kbps MP3 files. Accepts PayPal, Visa, Mastercard.

I have no affiliation with these folks, I just like to see the RIAA squirm :-) There is nothing the RIAA can do about this company because it's totally legal. Not every country is crippled by IP laws like the US.

no one will pay. DRM will drive us away. people want freedom, not cheapness.

Then go here.

Mainstream artists. No DRM. Individual songs for 5-10 cents. Complete albums for 50-80 cents. 128-192kbps MP3 files. Accepts PayPal, Visa, Mastercard.

I have no affiliation with these folks, I just like to see the RIAA squirm :-) There is nothing the RIAA can do about this company because it's totally legal. Not every country is crippled by IP laws like the US.

We just need people to work on a clean, honest distribution schema and create such a company. This is not gonna be the easy part.

Huh? It's already happened, it just doesn't seem to be very well known inside the USA...

Check it out. Individual songs for 5-10 cents. Complete albums for 50-95 cents.

Seriously, this is one of the best kept secrets around. There's a reason the RIAA isn't making a big fuss about this--because there is nothing they can do about it.

For 9.99 or 14.99 a month, I can get 2000 songs. This isn't a solution everyone, because most of what they have is indie labels. But if you're like me, into punk, techno and hip hop you should def. check it out.

If you want indie, use Emusic. If you want mainstream, go overseas. Less than $1 per album, and no DRM. (Take *that*, iTunes :)

Yep, once you're out of the USA and buying off foreign soil, the rules change.

Oops, forgot the link

Complete albums for under $1

USA simply can not compete in a global market.

So if for $1 per song I can access all of Nat King Cole or Frank Sinatra...

$1 per song!?! You're getting ripped off. Just buy from overseas, much cheaper, and no DRM:

Sinatra for 50 cents per album

If you don't do a lot of file sharing why do you need broadband? To have the convenience of never having to tie up the phone line? Forget it - I can wire this entire rural village with "broadband." We don't get any other form of broadband out here but if no one changed their online habits I could funnel every one of those wireless users through a 128K ISDN line and no one would complain.

File sharing is the only reason to have broadband. Well, actually, buying movie downloads would be a great application, but Hollywood refuses to go there. And legally downloading music would be another great app, but thanks to our antiquated legal system kept fat by dollars from hundreds of lobbyists, we won't have that, either. the thing is...

"Download all the music you like. And all the music you sort of, kind of, maybe even a little bit like. Go MP3 crazy. Try new music. Build a song library. Whatever."

I can point you to a half dozen russian sites where, for $20 a month, you can get on legal on-demand MP3 downloads of just about any popular artist. That includes lots of Russian artists you've prbably never heard of, but it also includes Britney and Madonna and Christina and all the rest. These sites are operated completely legally, paying royalties to the russian licensing agency (ROMS) responsible for copyrighted "multimedia" works. So, technically, the above statement is 100% true and can be done legally and in a very cost effective fashion (how about a dime a song for 256kbps?).

But you're not likely to hear about this from Hollywood. Doesn't anyone wonder why Hollywood isn't throwing giant canninption fits over these sites offering legal downloads (for years now) to anyone with a Franklin in their Paypal account?

Hollywood isn't going to mention these legal services because they would risk further losing control of the market. Imagine if word got around that you could go online and pick any CD you want, select the level of quality you want, and download it from a completely legal website!

It's the elephant in the room. The record industry zoots don't want to talk about it, the lobbyists and lawyers don't want to talk about it, and the only way they know to keep the discussion stifled is to throw around the red paint of piracy. You think the record industry wants this case to actually go to court? And have their entire case mooted when all this becomes a matter of public record?

There is a web site hosted in russia that allows legal downloads for a fee. The have all kinds of artists, including most of the US ones. If I pay for my membership and download the files off there, can RIAA still put their foot up my ass?!!

http://club.mp3search.ru