ALLOFMP3.com is a very affordable music download site run out of Russia. They charge only $0.01 per megabyte downloaded and accept credit card or paypal. They have a massive catalog and some of the coolest features you'll find anywhere. My favorite feature (besides the price) is their Online Encoding (OE).

When selecting a song available through OE (which most of their catalog is), you'll be prompted to choose your desired format and quality level. Formats include MP3, OGG, WMA, and MPC. Recently they've added AAC (Apple's shite - .m4a) and one or more of the lossless formats (lossless is currently only available on a limited number of tracks). Personally, I like downloading in the MP3 format at 256Kbps using the LAME codec for standard listening. If I'm going to burn a CD from the downloaded music, I download in MP3 format using the 'insane' LAME codec quality setting.

Now, as great as I think this service is, I've always questioned the legality of it. They clearly state that they are legal, but I always wanted a better explaination as to why they're legal and how the Russian system works. I've done some research into their legality and found a little info, but today I came across something that cleared it up quite nicely. Reading this has firmly convinced me they are legal and should be for some time to come.

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I pulled this comment from a thread at www.ipodlounge.com. This is perhaps the best description of how and why ALLOFMP3.com is legal. The thread has a few other good comments (including the thread opener) if you're interested.

[Source: http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/archive/topic/20646-1.html]

Posted by: ronross

OK, here's the scoop on allofmp3.com. I have been a customer for over a year (before emusic went to a limited downloads model, I used them more.) I have never had a problem with credit card abuse: cyberplat, who handles the transactions, is a major player, along the lines of Verisign in the States, who have relationships with all the major credit card companies. Although you can use Pay Pal if you are really paranoid, there's no reason to, because Cyberplat does the same thing: allofmp3.com never sees your card info, just as when you buy something through Yahoo shopping or Amazon's outside vendors. You pay Cyberplat; they pay allofmp3.com. Payments are credited instantaneously, even if in the midst of downloading, and the site is remarkably stable and fast. Downloads average 1.5Mbs on a cable modem.

Regarding their encoding technology: they rip commercial CDs they claim to have purchased to 384Kbs vbr mp3. This is an unusual standard not supported by most players but it is as close to lossless as any lossless format can achieve, technically closer to a .wav file than even 320Kbs alt-preset-insane.

When you order your tracks, they are transcoded on the fly. While transcoding is normally a big no-no, the source files are so close to the original CD (iow, very few bits are thrown away) that their alt-preset-standard transcoded files sound just as good to me as those I rip from my own CDs using EAC and Dibrom's compile of LAME 3.90. Allofmp3.com has without a doubt the best sounding files of any online service.

Regarding legality: allofmp3.com has a license from the Russian performing arts society. It is the Russian counterpart of ASCAP or BMI in the US. ASCAP and BMI do *not* pay record companies or recording artists, per se. They pay songwriters and music publishing companies registered to them. Businesses that use recorded music for commercial purposes must pay for a license from either ASCAP or BMI (usually both) to broadcast on radio or tv, or to use a song in a commercial, or to play background music in an elevator or supermarket. When you hear the theme from the "Pink Panther" in an elevator, Muzak is paying Henry Mancini the songwriter and his publisher out of a pool that is then divided up among the "members" according to how many uses have been monitored. A top ten radio hit in the US will thus generate tens of thousands of dollars in income for the songwriter and publisher. However, the record company will not see a penny of that money.

In terms of income, CD royalties are the smallest revenue stream after song publishing, concerts, and merchandising. Lately, rights to use a recording in a movie or a commercial have also become significant sources of income. So when you think of allofmp3.com forget about recording companies. If Michael Jackson's publishing rep in Russia has given administration rights for public performances to the Russian society, then they have no say about whether or not the Beatles can be offered on allofmp3.com. Whomever distributes Beatles' CDs in Russia doesn't ever enter into it.

Allofmp3.com pays a fixed amount per year (for example) for the rights to music registered with the performing rights society. To keep the math simple, lets say allofmp3.com pays $1000 (or ruples) for its annual license. Further, Beatles downloads account for 10% of total downloads. Hence the Beatles and their publisher (in this case Michael Jackson), will be paid $100 from the pool of $1000. Depending on the terms on which the Beatles' catalog was sold to Michael Jackson, the Lennon estate and Paul McCartney would normally get $50 and Michael Jackson's company would also get $50.

What is unusual about allofmp3.com is that they have taken the basic performing rights business model that ASCAP and BMI have used uncontroversially for 60 years and applied the "broadcast" concept to downloaded recordings. This, of course, would never fly in the US and ASCAP and BMI wouldn't think of it. OTOH, I suspect that in Russia, the performing arts society has much more legal and political clout than do the local divisions/licensees of Universal, EMI, BMG, etc. They have seen a business opportunity for their members and apparently have the power to overrule the objections of the record companies.

So I am convinced that allofmp3.com is not only legal, legitimate and safe, but it is also the most cutting edge online service technologically. That said, re-distribution of the files obtained from allofmp3.com is definitely against US law (whether you burn a CD for your sister or offer them on Kazaa) and the site acknowledges this clearly.

Congress could also pass a law making it illegal to possess allofmp3.com files, as they have banning the import or possession of Cuban cigars, but they haven't yet and I doubt they will.

Now regarding the anti-Russian biases that always raise their ugly head in any discussion of allofmp3.com, it is true that a Wild West attitude prevails among their newly minted capitalists. But it is also true that Russia has many, many fine younger computer programmers who are often under-employed and would welcome turning their talents to a business that appeals to their love of music.

And finally, since Michael Jackson seems to be living off of the income from the Beatles' publishing catalog, rather than his CD royalties, if you find him to be morally despicable, you would do just as well to avoid buying "Let It Be Naked" to stake out your ethical position, as to avoid downloading Beatles' bootlegs from allofmp3.com where Paul McCartney also gets a few pennies from your purchase. Note, while it is illegal almost everywhere to distribute and sell an unauthorized recording, it is not illegal to own or broadcast one.

Allofmp3.com operates on a broadcast model not a CD sales model.

More info: http://3cx.org/item/24