Alltunes / AllOfMp3.com lives!
So if you haven’t checked out Alltunes.com / AllOfMp3.com, I think you should. Not because it’s a controversial site that involves possibly violating copyright laws, but because it’s a fascinating attempt at distributing music on the Internet for very low prices - that’s been HIGHLY successful. As usual, rather then embrace this model, music companies are fighting this firm (with millions of legal $s) in an effort to protect “their rights.” Fair enough. But aren’t these the same companies that are continuously failing to catch the public’s attention with their copyright-protection riddled downloading schemes? These guys are busy making millions with a wonderful system! BUY IT AND SET WHATEVER PRICES YOU WANT!
Now, because of all the controversy, you might have trouble getting started. So here’s what you can do.
1) Create an account on www.Alltunes.com and download the Alltunes player/store (it’s similar to iTunes).
2) Create an account on XRost - the payment system. This link will take you there. Create an account, and buy a credit for $20 or so.
3) Deposit the credit you bought in step 2 into AllTunes via this link.
4) Download $20 worth of music! At $0.14 a song or so, you can get about 140 songs or 11 albums ($1.80/album!)
If you want to read up on this stuff, check out these recent articles… A bit of background before you read:
1) The site uses a “loophole” of sorts to claim that all the music they distribute is covered under a russian distribution license that’s really intended for other uses.
2) The music industries have been trying to sue the company for years but Russia won’t have it. The RIAA has even used lobbiests to try and pressure congress to force Russia to comply!
3) Visa pressured a credit card processing company to ban payment processing by AllTunes. A Russian court overturned this ruling recently.