allTunes blows my mind

I've had people telling me about AllOfMp3 for ages but I'd never really checked it out until Nik Cubrilovic posted the news about their new service "allTunes" on TechCrunch a couple of days ago. This morning I've spent an hour checking it out and holy crap I'm blown away.

Imagine iTunes but based in Russia. Imagine that you can search through the 40,000 albums they have, preview any track, then click and download high bitrate mp3s for around $1-1.50 per album or about 9 cents per track.

Is it legal? According to Nik:

The reason the prices are so low is because AllOFMP3 and allTunes operate in Russia, where they claim they are complying with local copyright law and paying royalties back to artists and labels. The legality of the service is questionable, but they have been in operation for years now with no seeming threat to their existance.

Forget eDonkey. Forget XDCC. This is the smack for music. Cheap, no DRM, and high quality. You can preview and a full album will pull down in minutes.

Thank you Mother Russia! Now I finally understand the cold war! The Yanks were right to be worried about them after all. Imagine this kind of service but for TV. For DVDs. Imagine being able to pay $1 for a SEASON of your favourite TV show. For an entire DVD.

Comments

[Tony]

I used this a few months back to get something I couldn't find anywhere including iTunes and recod stores.

The process is simple and works a charm and if I had to choose a download service I would recommend them.

[Gary Wisniewski]

It's pretty amazing, I agree. The first time I looked and saw that every single Beatles tune was available I almost passed out. I also like the pricing model where you pay more for high quality and less for lower quality, based upon the size of the download.

I think it's pretty far from legally OK though. I did some searching a while back, and aside from typical negative response from IFPI, you do get a fair number of open-minded people questioning how long they can keep it up when there's doubt as to whether it's legal even in Russia. I think the problem there is that "they have far bigger problems" and this is so low on the list they'll be able to get away with it.

I sure wish such sites were an inspiration to people to do it right though. I want more services just like that, and would gladly pay them all.

[Rob Irwin]

Jesus H. Christ... I am looking into this, pronto. That's sensational.

[Rob Irwin]

My first stop:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allofmp3

A good read, right here.

[Ewan Spence]

The main reason on the price differnece is sending an MP3 over the web in Russia is considered to be similar to a RADIO performance, so they can get a flat fee of a few thousand dollars per year to BROADCAST the music from AllOfMP3.com. In the west, it would be considered PUBLISHING to send an MP3 to someone, which is why something like 80cents of your 99cents go to the recording companies. Been with AllOfMP3 for 3 or 4 years, never had a problem with it.

[Cameron Reilly]

Good thinking Rob, that's a nice summary.

[Scott Sherman]

The XROST service that lets you pay for your tunes using Paypal is down. Would you trust Allof MP3 with your credit card info?

[Cameron Reilly]

Scott as much as I trust any other vendor.

[Cameron Reilly]

Scott, they actually use Chronopay as their 3rd party CC provider (http://www.chronopay.com/). They seem legit and have a good track record. Based out of Amsterdam.

[Rob Irwin]

When I noticed the XROST service was down, I ummed and ahhed for a few hours then thought, "What the heck? In for a penny, in for a pound..." and just gave them the number. Even if banks didn't cover credit card fraud, the limited on this particular card is so piss poor, that a bad guy would get very little out of it/I'd be out of pocket very little anyway!!!

[Mark Grace]

I've been with allofmp3.com for a week and I am blown away by how good it is. I would not consider paying anything for music files that are sabotaged with DRM restrictions (itunes). And the idea of offering any format and bitrate you want was pure genius. It's nice to see something done right, and I hope this serves to raise the bar for the more mainstream services, although they won't learn from it, but will just try harder to kill it. I laughed when I saw that the record industry was trying to raise prices above the 99 cent price of itunes (too high already) and what did this get them? ...Being investigated by the justice department for attempted price fixing! Price fixing is when competing companies conspire to set the price instead of letting the free market decide. How funny!

[Johnny]

I too was blown away ..but its a "legal" way to rip off artists.. as of late aug 06 I was the one who ended up getting ripped off by ALLTUNES and CHRONOPAY ( site which takes your credit card)
I ended up w charges from some other Businesses in RUSSIA and all over the US
I guess what goes around comes around :))))
Be careful..
its russia......... enough said

[di]

I have been using AllofMP3 for a while and its been great. But now the payment system seems to have been taken over entirely by AllTunes. Having made my first payment, Chronopay took my $$ but I have not received a PIN to activate so that I can download. Either I have missed something, or have been conned? In any event, unable to download I have sent numerous queries to both AllTunes and AllofMP3 and have received no reply whatsoever. Anyone else had this problem?

[Cameron Reilly]

You get the pin from the Chronopay website when you give them your credit card details Di.

[TKH]

I also did not get any pin from Chronopay. If anybody knows where I can find the pin, help would be appreciated. Otherwise, I think we've been conned.

[TKH]

Never mind. Figured it out. You just go to you alltunes "balance" section and look near the bottom for the pin.

[di]

Ah! Sorted. Thanks Cameron.

[bobby_tee]

I have been using alltunes for a few months and it's been no problem. But now I find that when I go to try and add money to my balance, they no longer take any of the most popular credit cards. I used to use VISA, but now it's not one of their accepted methods. Looks like I'm done with cheap music, at least for a while.

[Sue Placey]

allTunes is only cheap if they deliver. I downloaded 2 cd's, no problems downloading, except they are nowhere in my computer. I have one empty folder with the correct name on it and one with 8 of 13 songs in it. I have tried every email address and help page and can not get them to respond. Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions? webblock

[Cameron Reilly]

Sue, make sure the songs actually downloaded correctly by checking the download status in alltunes. I've had absolutely no problems.

[mankka]

Its legal in Russia. Just because it´s not american don´t make it illegal. You buy phones made in China, too. Maybe. Are you aware of the legality of every corporation/manufacturer behind those phones (do they stretch laws in China e.g.) ?

Having said that, it might be illegal for an American based person to buy from there...just noticed a long legal story on allofmp3 frontpage.

[Russ]

Just so you know, the artists are getting paid their royalties. I have been working with major artists and asked them if they were getting paid and they said YES. So it is totaly legal and these are the bustards, American record insdustry, who try to portray All of MP3 as illegal, as they sell cheaper than anybody else. Artists still get their 10c per song, the only difference is that AllofMP3 takes 10c and iTunes 90c.......

[Jim]

Does anyone know what gives with the credit card selection? Diners and JCB?

[Cameron Reilly]

Jim it looks like allTunes is being shut down.

[Kip Jones]

Looks like I was late to this party; shame, shame. Would have been nice to be listening to the Beatles right now...