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MP3.com Hastily Re-launches -- But Will It Fly?

macdaddypunk writes "Today CNET Networks unveiled the service that has taken them five months to build: the new (but not-necessarily-improved) MP3.com. The site offers free downloads and a place to upload music, but it lacks the extra features of the original MP3.com, and it has a meager selection of barely 2,000 artists. The best part: their charts are literally random (songs are sorted by number of downloads, currently zero for all songs!). Smells like a hasty launch, perhaps rushed by last week's news that the original MP3.com archive (1.7 million songs) has been resurrected by another free MP3 download site, GarageBand.com."

127 comments

  1. w00t by mastergoon · · Score: 3, Funny

    At least theres even more advertisements than last time, something to look at while I download right?

    1. Re:w00t by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      uh... what ads? I didn't see any on the site.

  2. Changed the name then... by REBloomfield · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It was http://www.mp3isback.com, which redirects, but they obviosuly though better of using it...

  3. WTF? by scifience · · Score: 1

    The layout is ugly, it doesn't work right in browsers other than IE, and is tied in with that stupid Download.com. Any day now they'll be wanting you to install some stupid (IE only) browser plugin to download anything just like they did with GameSpot (anybody remember that pre-CNET?) and with half of the listings on Download.com.

    1. Re:WTF? by REBloomfield · · Score: 1

      It looks fine in Firebird 0.5.....

    2. Re:WTF? by mastergoon · · Score: 5, Informative
      Yeah looks fine in Firefox. One thing I was actually impressed with was their use of CSS. In Firefox you can switch between the stylesheets, they offer multiple text sizes, and a layout stripped of most graphics. The button to switch them in firefox is in the bottom left corner.

      The color scheme may not be great, but the use of CSS is above average (though that is no use at all often).

    3. Re:WTF? by ischorr · · Score: 1

      What is it that doesn't work right exactly?

      If something doesn't, make sure you email them to let them know...

    4. Re:WTF? by scifience · · Score: 1

      Sorry, didn't test it in Firefox. I was basing it on Konquerer, and things that look right in Konquerer usually look right in Firefox and things that don't look right in Konquerer tend not to work too well in Mozilla either. Next time I'll be sure to check better. :-)

    5. Re:WTF? by `Sean · · Score: 1

      Already have. They're using non-standard comments in some of the CSS blocks that cause ICE and other embedded browsers to puke horribly.

    6. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm, I rather like the layout, in fact I have used that layout before, and very nearly the same color scheme as well.

      Works just fine in Firefox / Win2K. What did you see that was broken?

    7. Re:WTF? by martin_b1sh0p · · Score: 1

      Sorry to be such a noob, but I use FireFox and I don't have a button for chaning between CSSs...I though it was perhaps an extension but I don't see anthing like that on the extension download page either.

    8. Re:WTF? by martin_b1sh0p · · Score: 1

      Ah...my bad...turns out I'm using a different theme for FireFox (Nautilus 0.8) which uses a pair of sunglasses for the button (not a box of crayons). Thanks!

  4. Excellent live music site... by cTbone · · Score: 5, Informative

    People interested in downloading music might also want to check out the Internet Archive's Live Audio Archive which offers both mp3 and lossless shn compressed audio for free.

    1. Re:Excellent live music site... by thisissilly · · Score: 2, Informative

      People may also want to check out FurthurNet.com for legal P2P live music downloads, mostly jam-bands (Grateful Dead, Phish, CSNY), but some others you might not expect (AC/DC, Beastie Boys, Frank Black). I should mention it is concert-set oriented, not track oriented, so things are not set up to let you download just one song you are looking for. Instead, you download whole live shows.

    2. Re:Excellent live music site... by SphericalCrusher · · Score: 1

      Or. IRC/KaZaA/Morpheus/etc.

      But for downloading music legally, I recommend iTunes. I'm just a huge fan of Apple and Pepsi, and iTunes is a really good program.

      --
      "Instant gratification takes too long." - Carrie Fisher
  5. Mp3.com's archive by Nick+of+NSTime · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I am very pleased to hear that mp3.com's archive of songs has been resurrected by another site. I was blown away when I read that the mp3s were being deleted. It reminds me of those Dr. Who episodes that are forever lost because the BBC didn't think it important to archive them.

    1. Re:Mp3.com's archive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It reminds me of those Dr. Who episodes that are forever lost because the BBC didn't think it important to archive them.

      It wasn't.

    2. Re:Mp3.com's archive by Yaruar · · Score: 2, Informative

      Shame that they are charging artists an exorbitant fee to recover the songs and put them back up.

      99 dollars to resurrect the account then 3 songs recovered for free then after that 7 odd dollars every song recovered.

      One of my friends was a top selling mp3.com artist and he had hundreds of songs on mp3.com and it would literally cost him thousands of dollars to get them on there again.....

      --
      Working for the (other) man
    3. Re:Mp3.com's archive by clifyt · · Score: 1

      The difference is that the BBC wrote and produced those shows. They owned them and lost them.

      Mp3.com never owned those files. They weren't theirs to give to anyone else. If anything was lost, it is lost solely because the original author did not think to use a $0.10 CD and put it in a vault (and periodically back up the data).

      I was a little miffed when they took down the archives -- I had a few remix pieces I did for others and gave them all the media associated with, in which they put them on MP3.com and to this day don't know where the backups were. It was their stuff, so I can't complain too much (I look at remix work solely as hired hand -- yeah, it might require some creativity and otherwise, but the beginning and end products were someone elses).

      In the end, its the author thats the sole person in charge of making certain their content is in tact.

    4. Re:Mp3.com's archive by spoot · · Score: 1

      Geeze.. I'm glad they sent me an email that "the couldn't find my account." They want a hundred bucks to resurrect it. you gotta be freekin kidding.

  6. Re:in a word by Omni+Magnus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Uh NO. Itunes doesn't have near as many downloads as Imesh, Edonkey, etc. You cannot beat having millions of songs in storage and no DRM.

  7. Re:in a word by lukewarmfusion · · Score: 1

    You clearly didn't RTFA... or even the story summary. Did you just read the title and respond to that? Would you write a book review based on the dust jacket?

  8. MP3.com hasn't relaunched by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    MP3.com hasn't relaunched, you only have your splash page there along with a link to a separate free service provided by cnet as a part of download.com. Not the same thing.

    1. Re:MP3.com hasn't relaunched by Pranjal · · Score: 1

      Yup that's true

      From music.download.com's FAQ

      Q: What is the difference between MP3.com and Download.com Music?

      A: Download.com Music will be a free artist upload and download site that is part of Download.com. We are currently accepting submissions for this forthcoming site, which is launching in mid-April. MP3.com will evolve into a comprehensive information and discovery site for music fans, helping them enjoy the exciting world of digital music to the fullest.


      Is it me only or do both the sites sound like the same thing?

    2. Re:MP3.com hasn't relaunched by thehossman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I believe mp3.com will become a "Music Portal" for info about digital music -- without acctually hosting any music. Where as music.download.com will be a place to download music other people have uploaded (much as download.com is a place to download software, yad, yada...)

      --
      -- The Hoss Man
  9. GarageBand.com? by Paulrothrock · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Release the legal hounds." - Steve Jobs

    --
    I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
    1. Re:GarageBand.com? by PZona · · Score: 2, Informative

      Nah, he's cool. GarageBand.com and Apple signed an agreement to share the name back in '03.

    2. Re:GarageBand.com? by ps_inkling · · Score: 3, Informative
      Call off the hounds.

      Apple is paying for the use of the name "GarageBand" for their music compostion software included with iLife. The agreement was signed in April 2003, according to GarageBand.

      So, Apple was working on GarageBand in early 2003?

  10. Indies by platypibri · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I am completely in support of any system that supports local and independant artits. That is where the real musical soul of America is. (apologies to international users) I'm tired of just accepting what ever the industry decides is worth of my attention. Not that there is not talent in the industry. I just feel the industry squashes artistic development. Welcome back MP3.com. There is ALWAYS room to grow.

    --
    Yeah, I guess I'm funny like that.
    1. Re:Indies by ginwizard · · Score: 0

      It is possible that we as consumers are undermining the potential of local/indie artists. I find it interesting that records like Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band still charts after decades, even though you can P2P every beatles song ever for free. Perhaps we need to accept paying more for a record in order to give voice to things other than least-common-denominator radio-friendly meat.

      --
      You can't spell LOLCATZPURR without TROLL.
    2. Re:Indies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i prefer commercial artists like britney, being an Aussie, I would really like to see her down under!

    3. Re:Indies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      This is the internet, there is nothing "local" about this.

      And there is a LOT more to music than American stuff, and all over the world the same problem exists: musicians trying to get their stuff out there. Big record labels and struggling indies
      are a problem all over the world. And that was the great thing about mp3.com: it wasn't American-centric, it had TONS of music from all over the world. Everytime a story about mp3.com comes up people start posting links to other mp3 websites. The problem with most of these websites is that they're mainly American, or at best Anglophone. The cool thing about mp3.com was that it let me explore music from all over the world, not just the same rehashed Anglo styles.

  11. launch again? by Curly-Locks · · Score: 0

    I thought this happened a few days ago ...? What is going on.

    1. Re:launch again? by REBloomfield · · Score: 1

      No, that was the garageband site, the site that was formerly mp3isback.com. They managed to get a copy of the MP3.com archive.

    2. Re:launch again? by Curly-Locks · · Score: 0

      Thanks for the clarification.

  12. This might be a good thing. by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ye olde mp3.com was cluttered up with all of these stupid free songs from big commercial artists. While that was sort of good, it skewed all of the rankings and pushed all of the undiscovered talent down. Thats what used to be good about mp3.com back in the day. I think it would be a much better idea to seprerate the big well known groups from the indipendents. Hopefully, because MP3.com is nolonger owned by a record label it will just be a venue for discovering new independant artists. And that would make me happy.

    --
    Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  13. Can't fly, all artst material is at garageband by 192939495969798999 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Even though you have to pay to get it back, Garageband has the old material. Mp3.com got 99% of their old hits from artists like me doing stuff with their pages from their houses. Without that bedroom industry support, they will be lost in the sea of half-RIAA-sponsored shelac. Might as well use live365.com to listen to mp3 radio of whatever you want -- at least then you don't have to pay too much to get commercial-free radio in your favorite genre. I will continue to make music, but I will only link to it from sites like this (back to my own site)... i'm not paying money so that my hard work gets lost in a sea of RIAA red tape.

    --
    stuff |
    1. Re:Can't fly, all artst material is at garageband by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      and it sucks.

      IUMA.org is better, has better artists, and overall refuses to host any songs from anyone that is signed with anyone.

    2. Re:Can't fly, all artst material is at garageband by torpor · · Score: 1

      Better yet ... pitch in on community-owned server setups, such as ampfea.org which is kinda 'bbs-like in terms of support/financial structure.

      We all 'just pitch in' on the monthly bills, and since we know each other pretty well, whenever someone gets a hit and their bandwidth usage goes up, we all know about it! :)

      There's really no 'technological' reason these days for small bands of like-minded souls not to continue aimlessly roaming the plains, together ... if you know at least 4 or 5 other hobbyist muso's who can pitch in, then just run your own server ...

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    3. Re:Can't fly, all artst material is at garageband by celimage · · Score: 1

      If you selected the box for Trusonic when you uploaded your songs to the old MP3.com it still is available but if you did not it is gone. The revival of the archive is just a come on to get people to pay for hosting songs on Garageband that previously was free. I like the CNet Music download.com it is not jammed full of major label people. The also dont feed visitors cookies and then email them Madonna news. The music is screened for quality, something the Old Mp3 did not do. If all it does is increase traffic to my website, I will be happy.

  14. Re:in a word by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can guarantee you DC++ have more transfers than itms. And if nothing happens Apple will in the end have 3% of the market just by alienating themselves from all other companies. Like not licensing fairplay. They always want it all, they never succeed.

    All they have are loudmouth yuppie customers.

  15. There are better alternatives by GatorMan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Try other sites like www.myglobalsound.com instead. Everything MP3.com should have been the first time around. It was created by a couple geeks and runs on Linux, too! Think MP3.com value plus ITMS ease-of-use plus Google variety. I'm filling up my third custom music disc as I type. Always find something good (and new!) there.

    1. Re:There are better alternatives by DrWhizBang · · Score: 1

      This looks really good - thanks for the pointer.

      --
      Schrodinger's cat is either dead or really pissed off...
    2. Re:There are better alternatives by GatorMan · · Score: 1

      Nice post AC. There are over one thousand artists and the service only launched in March. Besides, it's not just for downloading cheap/indie music. It's also there to help artists develop themselves. The more it's used, the bigger it will get. Granted they don't have CNET money and you probably wont see their ads in PC World magazine. But you will see them in Underlined Magazine and Vision Music USA.

    3. Re:There are better alternatives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Global?! The search form has a separate drop-down menu for American states. Most of the music is American. There's nothing global about this. It's just more American-centered crap. Worst, it's American crap that tries to pose as "global." Fuck this.

      And if you think mp3.com should have been a collection of mainly American music, fuck you too!

    4. Re:There are better alternatives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Besides, it's not just for downloading cheap/indie music.

      In other words; it's a circle jerk which doesn't have anything to offer your average music listener.

      As I said before: move along, folks....
    5. Re:There are better alternatives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      mp3.com ran on linux you dope

    6. Re:There are better alternatives by GatorMan · · Score: 1

      Argentina, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy, United Kingdom and lastly United States. It's there in plain text. Looks 'Global' to me, especially for a new service. Want to see more folk music from Qatar? Tell a musician in Qatar about the site!

      I'm not going to fight a bunch of AC posters on something I don't make money from. But if you're going to attack me, at least have proof. I'm happy with what I've found, and so is the only other non-AC to post here.

    7. Re:There are better alternatives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      did anyone say it didnt? read much?

    8. Re:There are better alternatives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But it's not "lastly United States" it's United States first because there is a special drop-down menu for USA's states. How can it be global when preferrential treatment is given to one country?? I have proof, I've told you exactly what it is. What do you have? You haven't addressed the issue at all, just side-stepped it.

    9. Re:There are better alternatives by GatorMan · · Score: 1

      What are you talking about? Show me this 'special drop-down menu' and tell me why it is so profoundly insulting. I'm sure I haven't seen every page on this (dynamic) site, but everywhere I see a menu for "State", I also see a menu for "Country" and another for "Province". I'm sorry you're so upset that you go out of the way to check 'Post Anonymously' to save your outstanding karma points and come rant at me instead of the site owner/admin.

      PS: one half of the site staff isn't in/from the USA.

    10. Re:There are better alternatives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your fixation with my posting as AC is disturbing to say the least.

      It's also disturbing that you insist on calling yourself a user of the website when you clearly have a lot more than a passing interest in this site. If you're going to astroturf you gotta keep up with it beyond the first comment.

      Finally, news for you: most of us aren't hung up about karma points. Go promote your shitty little website in some other hole in the internet.

    11. Re:There are better alternatives by GatorMan · · Score: 1

      It isn't my site. But I'm still better than you.

  16. 2000+ artists by serenarae · · Score: 5, Informative

    My boyfriend is an artist on mp3.com, and the somewhat small artist count is due to the fact that they only let artists start signing up about 2 weeks ago. To top that off, if you were trying to sign up, you were going to run in to some sort of net traffic due to the other hundreds of artists trying to sign up. Give them some time, they're still rebuilding.

    --
    see sig. see sig run. run sig run.
    1. Re:2000+ artists by ezzewezza · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      You're just jealous of her boyfriend because he has a girlfriend.

    2. Re:2000+ artists by Jugalator · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      What makes you think his boyfriend is a girl? ;-)

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    3. Re:2000+ artists by serenarae · · Score: 1

      newsflash: that is his job. he makes quite a bit of money being a producer.

      newsflash: get away from your computer and get a girl and stop picking on me

      --
      see sig. see sig run. run sig run.
  17. The Free Alternative by poptones · · Score: 5, Informative
    iTunes Mac OSX Files Now available on Magnatune

    New format available: all albums are now available for download as highest-quality Apple Macintosh AAC files, compressed into a Mac-native Stuffit archive. All the meta-information (song name, artist, year, album) is stored in the AAC file so that you can just drop the files into iTunes and they're perfectly recognized. And unlike AAC files bought from the iTunes shop, these AAC files are as unemcumbered by DRM (digital rights management).

    If anyone here hasn't yet checked out magnatune, you should. There are some great acts and you can get exactly what most of us have been screaming for: un-DRM files of the highest possible quality and YOU set the price.

  18. Re:in a word by chegosaurus · · Score: 1

    > Would you write a book review based on the dust jacket?

    Or form an opinion on a piece of software without even using it? Oh, sorry, forgot where I was for a moment.

  19. The Crackdown on P2P vs. Digital Distribution by List+of+FAILURES · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I wish MP3.com well as they may yet provide another outlet for independent artists that are having trouble getting through the "old boys" network of the RIAA. Just because someone doesn't have a contract doesn't mean that they suck. And that's what the RIAA is afraid of.

    Being a musician in my own right, I've been considering the idea of using a P2P client for distribution of my music. Since *I* would be the copyright holder, it would be completely legitimate and get my music heard. In the effort to destroy the RIAA's stranglehold over the music business, I would encourage any of you with a creative bent to distribute your works via P2P. After all, fame is worth a lot more than money because fame can get you places that money can't. I have been experimenting with P2P clients like MUTE and the interesting new file sharing pardigm Konspire. Konspire has the interesting side effect of turning P2P around into something like what Usenet used to be, only it's a LOT cooler.

    My suggestions:
    -Try out MUTE
    -Try out Konspire
    -If you are creative, focus on getting your name known via P2P
    -Once you have an established reputation, you can keep your fans happy with some free tracks/videos/writing and some exclusive stuff that they would happily pay for. It's the best of both worlds.

    1. Re:The Crackdown on P2P vs. Digital Distribution by celimage · · Score: 1

      I started an artist forum on Grokster, then they allied themselves with one of those A&R services that are supposed to help people get in the music biz for a price. Suddenly, I became a non-entity there. P2Ps like advertising not artists. I dont mind people sharing my music on a P2P its a great way to become part of a persons share files that others browse thru. The hassle is people mess with the tags and just the popups and garbage that goes with the P2P. I think a lot of artists dont mind people sharing their music, just as long as they are not profiting from it.

  20. 2000 = barely???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    umm thats a ton dude

  21. Not MP3.com! It's CNET's music.download.com by turnstyle · · Score: 0, Redundant

    The recently launched service is not the revised MP3.com -- it's the new music.download.com.

    --
    Here's what I do: Bitty Browser & Andromeda
  22. Re:It might fly for awhile. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah kinda' like if you had an opinion, you wouldn't post as an AC, huh?

  23. Quick.. by adeyadey · · Score: 1

    Upload my song, it could make no 1!

    --
    "You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"
  24. Re:It might fly for awhile. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WTF is open source music!?!

  25. Alternatives by mirio · · Score: 1

    Sounds like a time to try some alternatives like GigaTracks. (I have no affiliation with them, I just like the service).

  26. new mp3.com not yet launched by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative
    From mp3.com:

    The all-new MP3.com will launch by late spring 2004. We're excited to unveil our new look for MP3.com users both old and new.

    There is a banner on that page for music.download.com, which has been there for a long time. music.download.com is another one of CNET's services, but it is not the new mp3.com! mp3.com will be relaunched soon by CNET.

    The story is incorrect!

  27. BTW by platypibri · · Score: 1

    Thanks to everyone else for the excellent links in this thread. I bookmarked them all.

    --
    Yeah, I guess I'm funny like that.
  28. Re:It might fly for awhile. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're right. What's an MP3?

  29. meh.. by mrelectricocean · · Score: 3, Informative

    my band used to have 2 mp3s up on mp3.com.. are all the old archives back up? here in the UK all the local bands started using www.acidplanet.com or www.purevolume.com as a substitue for mp3.com, purevolume is pretty good from what ive seen. example : www.purevolume.com/appease

    1. Re:meh.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What a cheap plug.

  30. Works in firebird 0.8 by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 1

    It does. What browser didn't work with for you?

    --
    Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  31. GASSSPP!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A reader submit incorrect information? A Slashdot editor not research and verify the content before posting? You gotta be kidding me! Stop the presses!!!

  32. Soundclick by Jack+Wagner · · Score: 4, Informative
    Soundclick is where all the cool kids hang out. It's FREE (like NPR) and has tons of Indie crap for you to listen to.

    Warmest Regards,
    --Jack

    --


    Wagner LLC Consulting Co. - Getting it right the first time
    1. Re:Soundclick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ...all the cool kids hang out.


      As a geeky old nerd I find this terribly intimidating.

  33. perhaps by VanillaCoke420 · · Score: 1

    Maybe if they bring back the entire thing that was there before, then yes. But why in the name of all that is good and pure did they remove everything? What was the bloody point of that?

  34. Are you sure they have all the old songs? by hpulley · · Score: 1

    Perhaps I was one of the few (out of millions of plays) who liked some Trance music bands like Lagoona but I don't see them there on www.garageband.com or several others I tried. PPK was the only one I found (sounds like Faithless and Scooter? I don't think so...). Is it there yet or ComingSoon(TM)?

    --
    $#!^ happens, but why does it always have to happen to me???
  35. Re:in a word by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Would you write a book review based on the dust jacket?

    I frequently pick my porn^H^H^H^Hmovies based on the covers. :)

  36. Re:It might fly for awhile. by poptones · · Score: 1
    example1, example 2, and example 3 of why this is a supremely antiquated notion.

    But then, what should one expect in a forum where someone touting the real world possibilities for self employment in today's job market is modded "troll?"

    Harrumph.

  37. Re:It might fly for awhile. by poptones · · Score: 1
    Let's try it again:

    example1, example 2, and example 3 of why this is a supremely antiquated notion...

    Yes, I replied to a troll... hype knows no boundaries.

  38. The short answer by Infonaut · · Score: 1
    "Will it fly?"

    No.

    --
    Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
  39. Re:in a word by the_mad_poster · · Score: 1

    No, the typical Slashdotter would probably write the review based on the excerpts on the dust jackets of other books on the surrounding shelves.

    --
    Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
  40. We only accept 192Kbps MP3 files in stereo with 44 by Forget4it · · Score: 2, Informative

    We only accept 192Kbps MP3 files in stereo with 44KHz sampling. and you get 50MB free space so that sounds like about half and album.




    --
    Artificial intelligence is the study of how to make real computers act like the ones in the movies.
  41. But what about the quality of the music? by alienprotocol · · Score: 3, Informative

    I realize that a concept like "quality of music" is pretty abstract, since beauty is usually always in the eye of the beholder... but being flooded with poor quality music was really the thing that caused mp3.com to eventually become a site i visited less and less.

    so now mp3.com relaunches. yawn. is this 1996 all over again? how long before they assemble a mountain of crap that makes the true gems even harder to find?

    i'm using http://www.mp3jackpot.com and http://www.mp34u.com these days to save time finding the "quality" free mp3's from those artists smart enough to give away a track or two in order to compete.

    and hey, i'm also helping to find songs for mp34u.com - and it has been pretty fun so far.

  42. Are you sure? by Dlugar · · Score: 4, Informative

    Maybe they've changed it ... according to this page, you can recover the account, plus three songs, for free, and get additional songs hosted for $6.99 each.

    Or, alternatively, you can simply pay a one-time fee of $99 to get all your songs back, no ads on your band's page, and unlimited hosting for all your songs for life.

    Well, so says the site, anyway. Can anyone verify if it's true?

    Dlugar

    --
    Computer Go: Writing Software to Play the Ancient Game of Go
    1. Re:Are you sure? by chimpo13 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yes, great idea there. mp3 never paid my band the money they owed us and they wouldn't answer email's asking about the money. At first it was "We'll answer within 5-10 business days" and months later it became "You need to pay us to answer your email".

      Will it be the same thing at garageband? Why should I pay them money so they can make money selling my songs? I was signing up with garageband and said, "ah screw this". Dang kids these days.

      As Sykes said in Wild Bunch, "Caught you didn't they? Tied a tin can to your tail. Led you in and waltzed you out again. Oh my what a bunch. Big tough ones huh? Here you are with a hand full of holes, a thumb up your ass, and a big grin to pass the time of day with."

      I've put the songs on my server with a donation box (not that I'm expecting donations). So if you're looking for free generic punk rock Star Trek songs....

    2. Re:Are you sure? by alienprotocol · · Score: 1

      i urge all artists who are sick of being duped by corporate-sponsored free hosting to post their songs at archive.org. it is free, you get a static URL that you can point to from your band's website, and you can even easily designate a creative commons music sharing license.

  43. SGAE (Spanish version of RIAA) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    About SGAE (spanish) canon on CDs:

    Ladrones

    Por qué ladrones? No se supone que velan por los derechos de los artistas?

    Creo que este texto extraído de FaqSincanon se explica por sí sólo:

    Según el artículo 155.2 de la LPI una parte debe gastarse en asistencia y formación de los socios de la SGAE, que según dice el artículo 39.2 del Real Decreto 1434/92, de 27 de noviembre es en la actualidad un 20% de lo obtenido. El 80% restante se reparte entre un 50% autores, un 25% intérpretes y otro 25% productores.

    Al final, de los 0,17 de un CD vírgen, los autores sólo ven 0,07 (11 ptas). Y esta parte a repartir entre todos los autores socios de la SGAE, que según su web son unos 66.000. Bien, supongamos que hubieran cobrado el canon por todos los 2.330.966 CDs piratas que según ellos han incautado en 2002 y que todos sus socios cobraran igual.

    2.330.866 CDs x 0,17 = 396.247,22

    396.247,22 x 0,20 = 79.249,44 para la SGAE

    396.247,22 x 0,80 x ( 0,50 + 0,25 ) / 66000 = 3,6 para cada intérprete o autor.

  44. Depends on whether they Opted Out by tepples · · Score: 2, Funny

    Garageband.com doesn't have songs by those bands that opted out of Trusonic's commercial background music stream service.

  45. Very alpha! by locarecords.com · · Score: 1
    It's not the most stable piece of software I've ever used. Pages randomly vanish (ie trying to get Pop selected, or infact most sub-sub genres causes problems) searching is screwed and the site is very limited. I would say that the software is way way alpha and really you can only upload individual songs to individual artists.

    Have experimentally uploaded a track by MEME vs XAN to see how it works but at the moment it seems the link is screwed. Maybe it'll work later.

    Not sure where they are going with this as it is extremely basic but I would have loved to be able to specify a Creative Commons license as I was adding the song...

    ps. If you are impatient to hear my track anyway you can get Meme Vs Xan - 24 - immediately from Loca Downloads

    --
    ---- The Open Source Record Label : : LOCARECORDS.COM
    1. Re:Very alpha! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think they are interested in the creative commons, musicians or anything else. Most probably this is a simple grab for ways to get people to visit download.com or other cnet sponsored stuff.

  46. Given their previous quality ratio... by Eric+Savage · · Score: 3, Funny

    Which of the 2000 is the good one?

    --

    This is not the greatest sig in the world, this is just a tribute.
  47. purevolume.com by clattymine · · Score: 1

    i go through purevolume ... there is a lot of indie crap, but it seems like they are picking up nicely ... and i like indie crap, so it all works for me!

  48. One humble musician's take: by Zenmonkeycat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Screw CNet. Sure, they've resurrected the concept, but I'm guessing they'll also resurrect the idea of paying 20 dollars to be permitted to show more than 3 songs. And maybe they'll even invent their own format, maybe CNP3, that will require you to download the appropriate codecs and maybe a player program from them. Remember, it's all "Free to Try, $99.99 to Buy!"

    --

    *****
    Dear Mary,
    I yearn for you tragically,
    A.T. Tappman, Chaplain, U.S. Army.

  49. .. But Will It Fly? by MP3.com · · Score: 3, Funny
    MP3.com Hastily Re-launches -- But Will It Fly?
    I'm not a pig, you insensitive clod!
  50. GarageBand is not an MP3 download site by haggar · · Score: 1

    ..unfortunately. We, who had an MP3 artist account, had all our songs converted to RealAudio. Because of the firewall setup in my company, now it's impossible to get RA streams through, even though it is possile with MP3.

    --
    Sigged!
  51. comments about mp3.com by tedtimmons · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Worked at MP3.com from the IPO until the beginning of 2003- nearly four years. Others were there longer and knew more, but some of my observations:

    * Too much crap. Free uploading means that anyone who thought they were an artist could upload music. No business model can support this. MP3 really needed to charge artists a few dollars a month. That wouldn't limit a real artist, but it might limit the guys that churned out crap.

    * No way to find good music. There were "top 100" charts, but that's about it. How about Amazon-style relevance? Michael Robertson hated anything that forced a listener to listen to something- why wouldn't people want to choose each and every track? Well, some people don't care, or don't want to take the time. Give me a stream and leave me alone.

    * No business model. Can't make money giving free uploads and free downloads. Subscriptions were ineffective, artist subscriptions pissed off the artists, and giving away hundreds of thousands per month was just silly.

    * CEOs that didn't care. Michael Robertson had some vision and enthusiasm, but couldn't save it.

    On the other hand, there were some great people and ideas at MP3.com. Trusonic is one of those- I'm sure they will continue to be successful.

  52. Has nobody heard of.... by glean · · Score: 1

    Besonic.com ? (global) iuma ? (global) electronicscene.com ? (obviously genre specific) These amongst the plethora of countless multitudes of indie music sites out there have continued to serve the artists forsaken by the majors. Canadians (and everyone else of course) out there might appreciate http://www.newmusiccanada.com And as a cheap plug, you could listen to yours truly.

    --

    //i have as many lives as people i know.
  53. Re:Soundclick, er CDGoRound by faust13 · · Score: 1

    Don't forget my favourite CDGoRound (http://www.cdgoround.com). While not as many artists as SoundClick, but CDGoRound has one terrific feature: an online CD Trading forum!

  54. Patience! by Jugalator · · Score: 1

    -snip- it lacks the extra features of the original MP3.com, and it has a meager selection of barely 2,000 artists. The best part: their charts are literally random (songs are sorted by number of downloads, currently zero for all songs!). Smells like a hasty launch, perhaps rushed by last week's news that the original MP3.com archive (1.7 million songs) has been resurrected by another free MP3 download site, GarageBand.com."

    *sigh*

    Well, doh, the few days after opening, a site *will* have lots of "zero download" songs and -- surprise coming up -- maybe few artists too.

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  55. site design by pmsyyz · · Score: 1
    They've gone with a nice Web standards (XHTML and CSS) based design, but they still have a few validation errors.

    It is always nice to see a site change when I hit my 0){var cs=!document.styleSheets[0].disabled;for(i=0;iTogg le CSS bookmarklet. Too bad Slashdot uses shitty fat HTML. I guess Slashdot doesn allow links that start with the javascript: pseudo protocol

    var i=0;if(document.styleSheets.length>0){var cs=!document.styleSheets[0].disabled;for(i=0;i

    --
    Phillip
  56. OP is BS - please mod down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    uh... what ads? I didn't see any on the site.

    Neither did I. 20 downloads, 2 separate occasions, no ads.

    I've been watching their boards for a while and people have been asking where they will get their revenue.

    I'm calling bullsh*t on the OP and request that he be modded down. I don't think he even UTFS (used the site). If he did, maybe he needs to get rid of the spyware/adware on his machine.

  57. In The Defense of MyGlobalSound.com by bensin · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm the president of http://www.MyGlobalSound.com and some people had some negative things to say about my company. I would like start off by saying you try doing the same thing with a $5,000 budget and a team of two. We recently launched in March and i know that in do time we will become a force to be reckoned with. I think the people that post on this forum should revisit their childhood before the start posting things If you don't have anythign respectable to say thing keep your mouth shout. If you pride yourself on making people feel little that only shows how big of a person you are.

    1. Re:In The Defense of MyGlobalSound.com by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No way for anybody to know if you really are the president, but anyway... The negative comments aren't about myglobalsound itself (although trying to pass American-centric music as "global" is typically arrogant crap), but mostly about the comment that your website is a better replacement to mp3.com.

      As you say, you have a small site with a small budget. Nothing wrong with that. But to go around saying "our site is better than mp3.com" and then when people give you shit you come back and say "hey we're a small site, give us a break"... That's stuff to make the weasel king proud!

    2. Re:In The Defense of MyGlobalSound.com by kryptkpr · · Score: 1

      you try doing the same thing with a $5,000 budget and a team of two

      Ok!

      If anyone out there is willing to give me $5,000 (USD), then me and a friend (I mostly code, he goes mostly graphics with a little code) will build you a customized LAMP clone of the site mentioned by the parent! I'd recommend a slightly less "sharp" design.. it really does kinda burn the eyes..

      E-mail krypt at mountaincable dot net

      --
      DJ kRYPT's Free MP3s!
    3. Re:In The Defense of MyGlobalSound.com by bensin · · Score: 1

      Please show me were i said that. I never said anything like that. Someone emailed me about the post so i came in the defense of my company. I never said i was better than MP3.com previous post said an alternative.

    4. Re:In The Defense of MyGlobalSound.com by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here it is:

      "Everything MP3.com should have been the first time around."

      It wasn't you who said it but your partner GatorMan. And don't even try to say GatorMan is not involved in your site, we're not fools. Come to think of it, in your original comment:

      "If you don't have anythign respectable to say thing keep your mouth shout."

      Sounds like you can't take criticism. That doesn't bode well. It sounds like you'll do whatever crappy thing you want with your website, use weasly ways to promote it and refuse to listen to anyone about how to improve it. You're free to do so, but please spare us the drama here at /. Also, If you really are that site's owner, going around calling your critics children won't gain you much popularity (notoriety doesn't count).

  58. garageband.com by orenzero · · Score: 1

    I followed their link, "resurrected" only three of my many tunes (that was the limit), and then got a followup e-mail asking me to test-listen their conversion to RealMedia! No thanks. Leave 'em off there if they're not in mp3 format. Real is a tool of Satan and all Beelzebublicans.

  59. www.OGG.net ?? by MBMarduk · · Score: 1

    All of a sudden something struck me; why isn't there a www.ogg.net (or .info or .biz) to push the better format? Sounds catchy too: "awg dot net"

    1. Re:www.OGG.net ?? by xYoni69x · · Score: 1

      (or .info or .biz)

      Anything that ends with .info or .biz is doomed to failure (or to being used as a spoofed source address by spammers, or both).

      --
      void*x=(*((void*(*)())&(x=(void*)0xfdeb58)))();
  60. your site hurt my eyes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    wow... I got a headache from your color scheme.

    This isn't an attack on you personally, but your page design is like a visual assault on my eyeballs. I literally have to squint to read the menu-bar on the left.

    I think it might have made me a little dizzy too...

  61. I'll Pass by VB · · Score: 1



    What MP3.com promised initially was very encouraging as a songwriter, independent producer of music, but got subjugated by processes very similar to how M$ has garnered it's software inventory: they made it somewhat successful and sold out, leaving the artists who'd invested tremendous time and effort into a project with no potential to gain any benefit from what they contributed.

    I'm sure the next model will be much less viable since these artists have been once bitten. There's always the potential for the next mp3.com to be usurped by some company linked to the RIAA. They won't get any useful content to build this site. Most artists I talk to are done with this futile activity. It's the same end result as sending CD's to labels so they can get thrown away by some A & R rep.

    Commercial music is crap. Indies need to take their units out to the clubs and present and sell their material there. That's the only place "The Institution" cannot compete on merits.

    --
    www.dedserius.com
    VB != VisualBasic
  62. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  63. oops ... by torpor · · Score: 1

    ... i should mention that the ampfea community is close to being 8 years old ... and still going strong. maybe we're only 'small enough' to cover it, though, but still, 8 years of internet up-time serving mp3's ain't bad ...

    --
    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  64. GarageBand.com by zeemster · · Score: 2, Insightful

    there seem to be some misunderstandings about GarageBand.com here. GarageBand.com *does* offer free MP3 downloads. if you are confused about this, just visit their home page, and click on the links for any of the songs. its true, they do also offer realaudio streaming as a second option, but that doesn't preclue you from using the sight purely as an mp3 download sight. interestingly, GarageBand.com claims to have 100,000 bands (not counting the additional 250,000 coming from resurrecting the MP3.com archive). in fairness to CNET, the original posting is slightly inaccurate, although essentially correct. today was not the launch of CNET's "new MP3.com," but their new music download sight ("music.download.com"). CNET has proclaimed that they intend to do something entirely different with MP3.com. however, the thing they launched today *was* their best effort to appease the disenfranchised MP3.com artist community, and it has clearly fallen short. they (CNET) have actually been trying to sign up artists for several weeks now, and the fact that less than 3,000 artists have signed up out of the 250,000 former MP3.com artists is telling. as a former MP3.com artist myself, i have been extremely pleased with GarageBand.com. unlike any other independent music sight out there, the charts on GarageBand.com really seem to find quite good music, and their collaborative-filtering system for determining the charts really seems to work.

  65. I call bullshit by RomulusNR · · Score: 1

    because none of the mp3.com bands that I can still remember come up in a search on garageband.com.

    --
    Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.
    1. Re:I call bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Me too. Our CD isn't on either one of them anymore. I had all 9 songs available for FREE download. Then MP3.com decided they would only allow 4 free downloads per albumn, then they shutdown. It didn't pay the bills, but I thought I could at least get lots of people to hear us play... I'm too lazy to go through the whole process again just to have mp3.com make restrictions on the downloads. I would post a link to them here, but I don't want to pay for the bandwidth of a /.'ing :)

  66. Truth Takes a Holiday by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    At least theres even more advertisements than last time

    Thanks for proving yet again that you can make up any lie you want and get highly modded at /.

  67. Mperia.com by jzellis · · Score: 1
    You could alternately check out Mperia. (Which I am the Creative Lead and co-founder of, so I'm a bit biased). We use the BitPass payment system to sell tracks for artists, who keep 70% of their profits. And there's lots of other nice features for both artists and fans of independent music -- like the ability to preview songs in either Shoutcast or Flash streaming formats, and to link up with friends and find out what they're listening to.

    Unlike C|Net, we don't have limits on the number of songs artists can put up. We don't have ads. And we're actually committed to making a great online place for independent music. Being a semi-professional musician myself, I wouldn't have it any other way.

    It's nice to have free downloads...but it's also nice to support artists whose work you enjoy, especially when you know that the majority of the profits are going to the people who actually made the music.

    Anyway, you might want to check it out. I think it's worth taking the time to look into.