I think I would feel better simply downloading from p2p networks than supporting “AllofMP3″…unless they really are paying royalties to the labels. At least when I download from p2p networks no one is actually profiting from my piracy…

You have a good point, but allofmp3 does provide a good service. The options are great on quality and file format. I’ve written on techcrunch that 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 allofmp3…sort of a quality guarantee over p2p.

Music WILL be free. We can’t all be criminals.

Allofmp3.com rocks, and the do provide a very good service that the record companies would benefit if they paid attention to it instead of trying to shut it down (which they haven’t been able to do for years now).

The attraction of allofmp3 is the quality, reliability and accessibility. I can get the song I want, I’ll know it’s high quality because I’ll choose high quality and I can get it in a couple of minutes (don’t have to wait for hours/days on P2P)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

P

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.