Comments on: The iTunes Issue

By: Wise Buddha - » the problem with iTunes

Wise Buddha - » the problem with iTunes — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 00:58:56 +0000

[...] Well in my view music downloaded from iTunes or any other ‘legitimate’ source is profoundly unfair and poor value for money. Music comes with a host of digital rights management (DRM) issues limiting the consumer to what they can do with the music. Check this forum which is just one example of many that supports this notion and also puts forward some interesting ideas. If you are interested in a non DRM site that allows you complete control check allofmp3 I use it all the time to sample a new album and if I like it I buy the CD. Agreed iTunes and the like have soothed music industry types who have utterly failed to embrace the change in consumer behaviour with any degree of pragmatism or imagination. BUT should consumers pay the equivalent of CD prices and receive an inferior sounding product and then be told what they can or can’t do with it. I am waiting for the backlash from some of the punters who have bought a billion songs from Apple. One day they are going to realize that they have spent a pile of cash building up an iTunes library and their PC is telling them that they have exceeded the number of copies they are allowed to make - they are then buggered and will have to go out and buy the CD which is a bit ironic. Plus for adventurous types you can’t even stream the ‘legitimate’ music you have purchased from iTunes around your house as the built in DRM software stops you. [...]

By: nick mp3

nick mp3 — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 14:35:52 +0000

why do you care if this site is legall or illegal. does anyone else besides you listen to the songs you hae downloaded? You download a song, listen to it several times and than delete, so why do you have to pay so much money for it if you download it from the internet source, that’s so stupid.

By: Phoenix

Phoenix — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 18:13:47 +0000

What size are the mp3s for songs bought off Itunes anyway? Is there a way to choose a high quality?

By: Artem

Artem — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 23:45:29 +0000

I left that comment recently on Fred Wilson’s blog entry about allofmp3.com:

IANAL, but from what I know Russian copyright law is kind of a backdoor for services like allofmp3.com and mp3search.ru. Not that I like it, but failure of music labels and their russian representatives to shut those sites down seems to prove the point.

So, strictly speaking, these services are legal, but your acquiring of music from them is not. You are an US citizen and hence subject to USA copyright law.

(End of comment)

If you want to go with this sort of things nevertheless, you way want to check out http://www.mp3search.ru (nm tld, it has English language interface) - sometimes it is even cheaper than allofmp3 and you may find tracks not found on allofmp3.

By: Mashable* - Pete Cashmore on Web2.0 » Why Online Media Should be Free (And Why We Should Embrace the Splogophere)

Sat, 31 Dec 2005 17:27:19 +0000

[...] Mike Arrington is once again repeating his prediction that music will one day be free and un-DRM’d. Recently he’s been praising sites like Magnatune (a record label with DRM-free music and a choice of formats) and AllofMP3.com, which charges $0.02 per MB for un-DRM’d music. But ultimately he thinks the business model needs to shift towards free downloads: I think music will be free someday soon, and money will be made on special edition cds, dvds, concerts and merchandise. And, labels could make a very small profit by allowing downloads with all the options of allofmp3â€¦sort of a quality guarantee over p2p. [...]

By: btocher

btocher — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 15:27:49 +0000

But what if the track can’t be bought on CD (therefore isn’t available on AllOfMP3) and can only be bought on iTunes?

By: Ralph Inselsbacher

Ralph Inselsbacher — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 22:20:24 +0000

The music industry will never or doesn’t understand that people care about the quality of their music. I also wouldn’t never buy a single song from either iTunes Music Store, MSN music, …

Why pay as much for DRM’ed low quality (compared to CD) files as for the original CD? I’m sure, i’m not the only one that has some nice higher priced speakers at home to listen to music on. So quality counts, doesn’t it?

That’s what makes AllofMP3 so attractive. They let me download high quality OGG- or even lossless files. That’s something one can listen to on a higher quality stereo.

If i download FLAC-files it’s still a lot cheaper then the original CD and i can convert it to lossy formats for taking my music on my iPod.

But if the mentioned portals would start to offer some quality for your money, you can bet, downloaded music would be even more expensive then buying CD’s.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 20:09:50 +0000

I have to say, I’m surprised you would mention support for AllofMP3. I wouldn’t say it’s arguably legal, I would say that it operates outside the legal framework we have here in the States. I’m not making a judgement, but I will say that I refuse to support it myself.

As for paying $1 per DRM’d song, I agree, it’s ridiculous. I much in favor of supporting models used by those at Napster and Real Rhapsody (my preferred player). I think as we become a more wireless society (think wireless IPODs, and wifi car stereos, etc), the subscription model offered by Rhapsody and others (especially the Rhapsody to Go) will become more and more attractive. Once music is available ubiquitously, through various networks(wired and unwired), models such as Reals will appear to be a steal at $10 a month.

Millions of people pay XM $10 a month for access to music they still don’t have control over, and listen to mostly in the car. I don’t see much of difference between it and Rhapsody, other than with Rhapsody, I have exact playlist control. Perhaps it’s not catching on as quickly because music chosen for you is easier, and has a sense of discovery to it.

Regardless, I wish Apple would just go ahead and open the IPOD to play any format of media, whether it’s WMA or not. Then at least I’d have a reason to buy an IPOD.

By: Mathew Ingram

Mathew Ingram — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 18:14:02 +0000

I can still remember when I first discovered AllofMP3 — it’s an amazing site, even if they have doubled the prices since I started using it (it used to be one cent per megabyte) And we can all sleep soundly at night knowing that we’re complying with all the applicable Russian copyright laws.

By: Jim Parsons

Jim Parsons — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 14:03:49 +0000

The music floating around on p2p file sharing networks has NEVER had acceptable quality. I agree with Mike, buy the CD (unless of course it contains, oh let’s say, an evil rootkit virus from a large Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer!) or try Allofmp3.