allofmp3.com?

[jbsegal]

Anyone have any opinions about www.allofmp3.com?
Technical, ethical, legal, whatever?

($.01/MB mp3 download service. $.02/MB for custom encoded material, where available, including lossless.)

JB, back to the Great Vinyl Ripping project.

Comments

[cme]

My primary has bought a whole bunch of stuff from them and we've been quite pleased with the quality (we've been getting oggs). The only significantly irritating thing is that he says you have to select each song for download individually- you can't, for instance, just choose a checkbox that automatically fetches the whole album.

Some evidence suggests that micropayments to Russia are a good way to to trip your bank's "stolen credit card" heuristics, but YMMV. :)

[obra.livejournal.com]

Actually, there _is_ a checkbox that gets the whole album. Or at least there was for the two albums I bought that way.

[cme]

Hey, cool. Is it cleverly hidden? Or recently added? Or maybe not work on all platforms/browsers? (I haven't actually signed up myself, so the "there's no whole-album checkbox" was an assertion based on hearsay.)

[merde.livejournal.com]

based on the less-than-optimally-helpful info i was able to find via Google, it looks like Russia is not fully compliant with international copyright treaties, even the ones they've signed. in particular, it appears they don't honor any international copyright earlier than 1973, which was the year they signed the Universal Copyright Convention.

what it comes down to for me is this: i won't buy music from anyone unless i feel reasonably certain the artist will be properly compensated for their work. and my gut tells me there's something skeevy about this site.

then again, i'm Freakishly Ethical Chick. i may be the only person on the planet who's never even been to the napster website. and in a world where i've had a BMW-driving neurologist tell me he doesn't think people should have to pay for art (but of course was not the least bit receptive to the idea that people shouldn't have to pay for medical care), i try to stay completely clear of this topic for fear i'll explode and go on a tri-state shooting spree.

and of course, you know what my authority is to speak on the subject: i got scurvy for my art. twice. but i never made anything like a living at it; in fact, i don't think i ever made more than a hundred dollars in a month as a musician, and that's a high estimate. and meanwhile, my own friends were blithely pirating my stuff and reselling it, so oblivious to the reason copyright law exists that even as they listened to me complain about how broke i was, it didn't dawn on them that ripping off my music was in any way wrong.

i suspect most people view copyright law much as they view etiquette -- as arbitrary rules set down by some shadowy "them" that wants to Suppress Individuality and Control Our Minds. of course, stealing music so musicians have to turn to careers where they actually get paid could be said to suppress individuality as well, but let's not split hairs here or anything, even if they are as big around as the Alaskan pipeline.

ok, i have to stop now. i should never try to discuss this topic. it makes me foam at the mouth and consider tri-state shooting sprees.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

You're not alone, I fully agree with you.

I'm leery of the ethicalness of the Russian service. And thus I shan't ever use it. Of course, I have issues with buying music online anyways, as I want all the happy goodness that comes with CDs. Cover, artwork, liner notes and so forth.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

So, I don't want to start any tri-state shooting sprees, esp. as both merde and whitebird are in the /same/ state, but I have a what-if for you two. (And merde, I'll note that I bought 2 copies of You Are Here and have a standing order for any future output you produce...)

So, I started looking at allofmp3.com because I was wondering if I could find a better copy of an album I already own on vinyl.

If I process it myself or buy it from Russia, does that change anything?

If I'm NOT going to buy it on CD if it's available, does that change anything?

If it's unavailable new on CD, only used, does that change anything?

I'm really not trying to be combative here. I'm really wondering what you think.

(BTW, merde, someone here wants a copy of YAH. Do you have any to sell, or should I make them a copy and have them send you some money?)(This being the business practice I'd love to see.)(Bitpass.com, anyone?)

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

If I process it myself or buy it from Russia, does that change anything?

Okay, this question is easier because you're saying "Buy it from the Russians." If they're profiting from the exchange and not compensating the copyright holders, then yes, it's wrong to get it from them. Processing it yourself is fine, that's the same as making a tape copy for yourself, which you pay for with fees paid out of blank tape and cd-r revenues.

If I'm NOT going to buy it on CD if it's available, does that change anything?

Not if you already own it on vinyl and A) won't give away or sell your vinyl copy, unless B) you ensure you delete your digital copies if you do. Owning the physical vinyl allows you to make personal copies.

If it's unavailable new on CD, only used, does that change anything?

This is the same as above.

Now, in the case of procuring digital copies of works that you have on vinyl, with the caveats mentioned above about selling or whatnot your vinyl copies, I'd be more inclined to say that gnutella or bittorrent would be a better source of digital copies, because they are not charging for it, so an artist is not being prevented from having their cut of the sale. (This is different from used CD sales, as that's the physical medium, and not a copy, the artist has, in theory, gotten their cut for their copyright materials.)

I have one downloaded MP3 that I feel okay about having. It's Unfinished Song by Styx, and I have it on the Man of Miracles vinyl album. But it doesn't show up on either CD copy of the album that I own. I feel mostly justified in having a digital copy of the song because I have the vinyl which I don't have any intention of getting rid of, and I've made every reasonable effort to procure a copy of the song on CD.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

I have one downloaded MP3 that I feel okay about having.
Ok, that's just wacky.

There are hours and probably days of legal-moral-and-ethical-to-downlad MP3s on the net.

The IRate Radio project, some percentage of SongBuddy.com, and probably many other sites (RIP mp3.com, despite its lousy interface), are all designed to help you find free music online.

Lessee...recently, I've discovered
www.ridingshotgun.com and
www.yurodivyquintet.com
and there's been
www.platypusrex.org for quite a while now, too.

Richard Thompson publishes random things to download from time to time ("Dear Janet Jackson", "Pat Metheny Was Right" (Metheney?) are the 2 most recent I know of.

www.unclebonsai.com has 4 free songs available right now.

Why on EARTH do you only have one song you got from the net? That makes no sense at all.

(Hell, Merde's been known to publish stuff online from time to time... :)

Yes, though, I DO believe in giving the artists money. More money than they'd get from most record contracts, if at all possible.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

Well, that's all true. I've not really browsed around for legal stuff to download because of the stigma that MP3 trading has in general.

Plus, I'd still rather have it on CD if available. I haven't even bought anything from the iTunes Music Store, and that'd be supporting both the artist and Apple, and why wouldn't I do that?

So, I know in theory that many artists publish things that are okay to download, I'm just not that sort of fellow. I'm a Luddite with a PowerBook, for heaven's sake! Give me a break! :)

if you've ever bought...

[happypete.livejournal.com]

a used book or second-hand album, the auther received no compensation whatsoever; those sales are perfectly legal as noone has violated the copyright.

That said, I agree that when an artist, author, etc. should be paid, I'm against taking an action that results in them being denied compensation--or even the knowledge that their work has been sold.