Making Money Selling Music Without DRM 383
phaedo00 writes "Ars Technica's Nate Anderson has an excellent writeup on the rise of eMusic and how they're suceeding despite their unwillingness to hop on the DRM bandwagon. From the article: 'The Holy Grail of online music sales is the ability to offer iPod-compatible tracks. Like the quest for the mythical cup itself, the search for iPod compatibility has been largely fruitless for Apple's competitors, whose DRM schemes are incompatible with the iconic music player. For a music store that wants to succeed, reaching the iPod audience is all but a necessity in the the US market, where Apple products account for 78 percent of the total players sold. Perhaps that's why eMusic CEO David Pakman sounds downright gleeful when he points out that there's only two companies in the world that can sell to them--Apple and eMusic.'"
Selling music online the correct way (Score:5, Interesting)
Also, eMusic supports indie artists. Really good to see, because some artists get less then half a cent [boingboing.net] per purchase from other online music stores.
Re:Selling music online the correct way (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Selling music online the correct way (Score:2)
Re:Selling music online the correct way (Score:2)
I am a former customer of theirs. I like the business model, but the search feature was frustrating. I heard a dance/pop version of "Time after Time" on the radio once. I thought that eMusic might have it. You can browse the "dance" category. You can search for the words "Time after Time". You apparently could NOT apply both criteria at the same time.
Well, I also left because finding good music takes time, and I don't have any. I paid $10 per month, and went
Re:Selling music online the correct way (Score:4, Informative)
Far more than two companies that sell to ipods (Score:5, Informative)
for techno fans (Score:4, Informative)
Re:for techno fans (Score:4, Informative)
Re:for techno fans (Score:2)
Re:Far more than two companies that sell to ipods (Score:4, Funny)
If only slashdot's submission form also used a lossless encoder...
Re:Far more than two companies that sell to ipods (Score:3, Informative)
Their flash interface is ungodly annoying though.
Emusic is cool but there are many great others too (Score:5, Informative)
I'm an Emusic subscriber and love them, but there are LOTS of legal services out there, these days, selling good ol' MP3s (or even FLAC/OGG) with no DRM
We keep a full list of them at cdbaby.net/dd-partners [cdbaby.net] (in 10 languages!). Though that list is meant mainly for our musician clients, it's a good permalink for a constantly-updating list of digital music sellers, with a short description of each.
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:5, Funny)
Correction, some of us couldn't help but think, "Oh, you mean like Emusic, only crippled?"
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:4, Interesting)
Until emusic fixes this, they will not go fully mainstream.
emusic cant 'fix' this unless they get in bed with the corrupt labels & become equally corrupt themseleves.
I think I prefer them as they are....
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:2, Insightful)
It's rather a startling point . .
. . . given how many people are doing it; and have been doing it for so long. Even more startling that Ars Technica seems to be uncritically accepting the marketing claim in the article and run with the ball. It's, well . .
It's even more doofey that Slashdot, which has run any number of stories about outfits selling/distributing unencumbered mp3s, should perpetuate the claim, but, we
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:2, Informative)
The rule is that it is legal to import stuff that you acquired abroad, if the production of that item would have been legal had it been done in the country into which you are importing it. allofmp3.com clearly fails this test.
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:2)
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:5, Informative)
I don't see any mention of Canada there, just a vague statement that it's up to you to figure out whether it is legal in your country. In fact, Canadians have a right to make copies for private use. [cb-cda.gc.ca] This is what the levy on blank media [cb-cda.gc.ca] pays for.
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:3, Informative)
All of MP3 may be "somewhat" legal in Russia but it is fully-non legal for Americans (or Canadians, Australians, and anybody else who is lives in a country that's signed on with international copyright laws) to buy music from them, as it says outright in their terms of service.
Actually, it doesn't say that at all in their terms of service. What it says is that:
"you should not download audio files from AllOFMP3.com if the Terms are in conflict with the laws of your country of residence."
Their FAQ als
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:4, Informative)
And now the shameless plug
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:4, Informative)
Well, it depends.
Pot is effectively legal in the Netherlands. But that doesn't mean that Americans can import it from there. That something is legal in one country doesn't mean it will be elsewhere.
Similarly, for people here in the US, American copyright law is in effect, and Russian copyright law is irrelevant. And the laws here prohibit downloading from allofmp3, regardless of whether they're legal in Russia or not. As I see it, if you're going to pirate music, you might as well not pay shady Russians when it's entirely possible to do it for free.
And in an effort to prevent people from replying with misinformation, if you disagree and wish to reply, please first consider and address the following issues:
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:5, Interesting)
Your own first links that you cite point out that phonographs, legally copied, are allowed to be imported. Then you point out that downloads are not physical items, and declare phonographs a "red herring".
This is the real point, that NONE of your legalese refutes:
These songs were legally produced in Russia; in Russia, downloading an mp3 and listening to a song are considered about the same thing; the reason the allofmp3 songs are so cheap is because you're basically paying to hear it on the radio (when you consider how many of us used to tape our favorite songs off the radio as kids when we couldn't afford to buy the cassette, this practice isn't that revolutionary).
If the RIAA doesn't like having its music sold at the rate of radio tunes in Russia, it's free to stop doing business with companies in Russia, free to stop accepting royalties, etc.
NOTHING in the links you posted implies that legally produced mp3s that are legally purchased and imported for personal use have been found illegal. Certainly, if you did something like share the files around with your friends on bittorrent, that would be a different story.
But thank you for throwing up that MOUNTAIN of irrelevant legal verbage to disguise the fact that you resent having to pay
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:4, Informative)
Actually, there are significant limits on that. What 17 USC 602 does, as you'd know if you read it, is it prohibits importing phonorecords unless two conditions are both met: 1) that, had US law applied in the place where the phonorecord was made, the making of it would have been legal, and 2) that one of the three exceptions in subsection 602(a) is applicable. Just satisfying one or the other isn't good enough; it has to be both.
So when you say, These songs were legally produced in Russia, that's not good enough. In order for 602(b) to not prohibit importation, it doesn't matter if it was legal under Russian law. It has to have been legal if US law had applied. And since US law doesn't have the same compulsory licensing scheme that allofmp3 purports to rely upon, it just doesn't work out.
But again, all of this importation discussion is a red herring. When you download, you are not importing. You are reproducing.
So to sum up, you said: NOTHING in the links you posted implies that legally produced mp3s that are legally purchased and imported for personal use have been found illegal.
And you are utterly wrong. It is impossible to import an mp3 by means of downloading it. This is because the statute deals with importing phonorecords. A phonorecord is defined in the law as a material object, such as a CD, or a vinyl record. If you can download one of those, as opposed to the information on it, I'll be impressed. For your next trick, you can download a sandwich. Furthermore, even if you were importing them -- which would basically have to be through the mail or via a courier or something -- that would be illegal because there's really just no way to get around section 602(b).
If you had bothered to read the relatively small amount of entirely on-point legal documents, you wouldn't have made a fool out of yourself. Let's hope you don't do so again.
you resent having to pay
Actually, I've never used iTMS. I think it's a rip-off. And I don't resent people who pirate music, whether it's on Allofmp3 or wherever. I think that it ought to be legal for people to download music for free.
What I don't like is people spreading misinformation about the law. If someone is making a decision whether or not to break the law, I think they should be fully informed. And I think that in order to rally support for changing the law to reduce the scope of copyright, people are going to need to have accurate information as to just how bad copyright is now.
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:4, Interesting)
17 USC 602 deals with "copies or phonorecords". Not copies *of* phonorecords.
And as you yourself just said, "When you download, you are not importing. You are reproducing." Reproducing is copying my verbose friend. And you are off again - sending something over the wire is also considered importing.
Or have you forgotten the old export controls on cryptographic software transmitted oversears already? You can't have it both ways you know, unless you are saying uploaded is exporting and downloading isn't importing?
Finally, quoting the statute,
"This subsection does not apply to--
(2) importation, for the private use of the importer and not for distribution, by any person with respect to no more than one copy or phonorecord of any one work at any one time, or by any person arriving from outside the United States with respect to copies or phonorecords forming part of such person's personal baggage; "
again, copies or phonorecords. If you the copy is just for yourself or part of your baggage if you physically came through the borders there is no issue.
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:5, Informative)
A copy of a phonorecord is also a phonorecord. Take a look at the definition at 17 USC 101.
And you are off again - sending something over the wire is also considered importing. Or have you forgotten the old export controls on cryptographic software transmitted oversears already?
I know them, and there are still controls of this nature. However, those regulations, which were enacted by an administrative agency, rather than Congress, specifically define exportation as encompassing Internet transmissions. Congress, on the other hand, has not so defined importation for purposes of copyright law. The agency definition isn't particularly relevant, as it's not of Congressional origin, and deals with an entirely different subject matter. If you want to argue about what copyright law says, you're going to have to do so based on copyright law, not something entirely unrelated. This might seem odd to you, but it's a fairly ordinary situation.
If you the copy is just for yourself or part of your baggage if you physically came through the borders there is no issue.
Except of course, that 602(a)(2) only applies to the ban on importation in subsection (a). It does not apply to the independent ban on importation in subsection (b), which you are still failing to address.
And of course, Allofmp3 has nothing to do with importation anyhow, as I've shown. That's why you had to resort to an example involving baggage, which certainly isn't involved in most people's transactions with Allofmp3.
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:4, Informative)
Actually, I don't have any idea what you're even trying to say here.
The question we've been discussing has been whether a person in the US who downloads mp3s from Allofmp3 has engaged in copyright infringement punishable under US law. Some uninformed people suggest that the various laws regarding importation yield the answer that such activity is not infringing. They are wrong, and I have shown this. On the other hand, I have pointed out that the laws regarding reproduction are directly on point and do in fact prohibit this downloading.
In order to contribute to the discussion, which you haven't done yet, you are going to need to either show, in light of the applicable statutes and caselaw, that it is infringing, or that it isn't. This means not dodging the reproduction issue, and not dodging the vast majority of the importation red herring (if you are going to waste our time with it). So far you've cherry-picked and misinterpreted. It all sounds great, if you don't know anything. But to those of us who are honest, and who really want to know what the law says, your brand of nonsense is pretty sad.
Now, if you are trying to talk about 602(a) and (b), you cannot neglect the fact that there are independent prohibitions on importing in both (a) and (b). The exception in (a)(2) only applies to the prohibition in (a). That is why it says 'subsection,' not 'section,' or 'title.' Thus, even when (a)(2) applies, you must still deal with (b). You haven't. You also haven't dealt with the overall inapplicability of importation anyway. You haven't shown that information being transmitted over a wire or through the air is fixed within a material object, as it must be in order to qualify as a phonorecord.
And it's a waste of time in any case, because talking about physical movement with baggage over borders is a non sequitur. We're talking about downloading, not traveling to and fro.
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:4, Informative)
Like I said, to import a phonorecord, the phonorecord itself must cross the border. But a phonorecord is defined as a material object. A vinyl record, a CD, an eight-track tape -- those can all be phonorecords. An Internet download cannot be.
But the material objects at either end of the download -- the computers, their RAM, their hard drives, etc. -- those can be. So, when you download, you create a new phonorecord at the receiving end. This is the act of reproduction, and it is infringing per 17 USC 501 and 106(1).
While I don't care for this result, the Intellectual Reserve case I linked to before does an excellent job of explaining this. This case dealt with people downloading (in order to view) a web page that had been put up unlawfully, but whether we're talking about a web page or an mp3, this analysis will come out the same:
Re:LIES - This guy is throwing FUD (Score:3, Informative)
Link?
In principle, I think what allofmp3.com is doing when they sell to Americans is no different than what WalMart does - move production overseas to evade US law (such as minimum wage) thus reducing production costs. But I'd be surprised to learn that that's widely accepted. For some reason it has become generally accepted that IP law is global (i.e. you can't import physical copies that would violate copyright if manufactured here), while labor law
Re:LIES - This guy is throwing FUD (Score:3, Informative)
Oh?
"This title" can only mean Title 17 of the United States Code. That is, the title those words are within. It does not, however, say "copyright law."
While it bothers me a bit to see you trolling or lying or whatever. But do you have to be so damn incompetent at it?
A
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:3, Insightful)
Because they are the most brilliant thieves.
"Good artists copy, great artists steal." - Picasso
Re:Emusic is cool but there are many great others (Score:2)
Any politician or government body that thinks that's a national priority has some serious accoun
Forums (Score:3, Interesting)
My only problem with it is there is no easy way to request certain artists and albums and get feedback when the albums finally do get added (this is even more true in the UK, not all the tracks are available to download just yet).
Re:Forums (Score:2, Interesting)
That said, for what you ge
Re:Forums (Score:2)
But saying that, one of the things I like is that I actually listen to all the music I download now, all of it.
Before with soulseek, I would often download so much stuff that I would listen to some of it only once, and never come across it again. I often put my music collection on random, and I lost track of alot of music that I liked.
Now I have a whole
Re:Forums (Score:2)
Don't forget Magnatune (Score:5, Informative)
But we should also give credit where credit is due and mention that Magnatune (http://magnatune.com/ [magnatune.com]) has been doing this for years. The buyer chooses what he wants to pay per album - in fact, if you're a cheap bastard, you may download a full album for as little 5$ in the format of your choice: MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC or AAC.
And I love their motto: "We are not evil." Now, where else did we hear that phrase?
Re:Don't forget Magnatune (Score:3, Informative)
if anyone knows if there is a way to get them with album art please tell me i havn't found it yet.
Classical music metadata (Score:2)
I've never really downloaded any classical music because I've been concerned that the tags wouldn't contain anywhere the information that I normally type in myself from the CD case. A lot of online services just try to match the usual pop-music fields of Artist, Album, Track Name, and that's really not enough information for classical recordings.
At the least, I'd want to make sure that I was going to get the composer, conductor, orchestra
Detroit Digital Vinyl (Score:3, Informative)
Message to the Majors (Score:2)
For a lot of us in underground music scenes like techno, rap and punk taking control of the means of production and distribution has been a huge goal - and slowly technology has enabled that vision. DRM schemes run contrary to this spirit and stores like iTunes may be hip, but they aren't nearly as benevolent as their fans believe.
Hopef
Re:Detroit Digital Vinyl (Score:2)
Re:Detroit Digital Vinyl (Score:2, Informative)
For more examples.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:For more examples.. (Score:2)
Re:For more examples.. (Score:4, Interesting)
God, it's just so much WORK to copy a CD, who in their right mind would do that?
No one remember pressing down that little record button to duplicate a cassette tape? No one remember renting or borrowing CD's and recording them to tape?
We've been screwed over. We've been accused of being criminals with absolutely no evidence presented. We now happily purchase crippled similies of products we once could use freely.
I went through my taping phase. Everyone that grew up listening to music knows that trading and sharing music is what generates interest in music in the first place. If I couldn't have had that access to music growing up, I never would have gone through the phase where I started a CD collection that grew over the years to ~1000 discs. I never would have spent upwards of $10g on music.
Know what I spend on music now? Fuck all unless it's an independant non-crippled product. Period.
Yep, Apple et al are really winning this one. Unfortunately, they are actually, but they wouldn't be if people would wake the fuck up and open their eyes to what they're actually spending their money on. The American carrot is simple: Make it so brutally easy for them to give money that they will gladly do so, without even glancing at what it is they are buying. America is selling itself out in the name of 'convenience'.
Quit it already.
Now to go find some non-converts to preach to
Not exactly accurate (Score:4, Interesting)
Emusic Linux (Score:3, Informative)
I ended up ditching it because it was so hard to download albums. Their binary file was linked to some
Their support was also less than helpful.
eMusic/J - Opensource Download Manager (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.kallisti.net.nz/EMusicJ/HomePage/ [kallisti.net.nz]
Re:Emusic Linux (Score:3, Informative)
I ended up ditching it because it was so hard to download albums. Their binary file was linked to some
Yes the download manager sucks, but it is easy to fix this.
Click on "Your account"
Click on "Change Download Manager"
Click on the button that Disables the eMusic download manager
Now you can download any song by right-clicking on the download button and select "Save as..."
Unexpected Success? (Score:5, Insightful)
*SHOCK* *AWE* You can make money selling music that people can freely copy? ZOMG!!1!
Businesses who think that selling unrestricted music that people can freely copy need only look to the bottled water industry to see that it's possible. In the west we have (effectively) free, clean drinking water, yet people spend billions each year buying it from stores. Sure, anyone can "turn on the tap" of the internet and get their fill of mp3s, but that doesn't mean stores can't make a huge profit selling those exact same mp3s.
Bottled water sells because of psychological tricks and convenience. MP3s can sell the same way.
Re:Unexpected Success? (Score:3, Insightful)
Does nobody remember the Cassette era, when purchased music was freely recordable and many players had two decks in order to facilitate copying? I don't recall any sort of music industry collapse back then. Sure we didn't have the internet back then, but people still traded music. A lot.
Few things
- I assume you had to make 10 copies of the cassette for 10 of your
friends - you would have spend a few hours doing it - with digital files you
could email it to 10 of your friends in 10 seconds.
- There was
Re:Unexpected Success? (Score:4, Insightful)
The largest content torrent that I've seen had about 750 leechers on it.
The *typical* large torrent has bout 120 seeders to 120 leechers. This is usually anime or a 1st run television show that was just shown.
However 99% of content torrents that I've seen has 1 to 2 seeders and 8 to 20 leechers.
It costs money and time to store downloaded material- and there is *always* a chance you will lose it.
There is a *solid* market for a copy (Vongo perhaps?) that sells me a lifetime license to a song/show/movie/book/etc. and stores a copy on their end.
They then charge a *reasonable* re-download fee (say 10% of the minimum wage), a reasonable annual storage fee (say 2 cents per gigabyte- a typical 400 movie library is about 1600 gigabytes- but they only have to keep 1 copy of each for "N" users) and allow me to re-download the song/show/movie/book/etc. a reasonable number of times per year (say once per year) with a small number of floating downloads which allow me to download twice for when things go wrong (an exceptions for cases where I can show them a police report).
But seriously--- most torrents are very small and it takes days (weeks...) to download things. There were a few things on emule (not a torrent) that took literally almost 3 month to download. I think almost anyone would pay some money to get it *now* vs getting it 3 months from now (or 12 days from now).
If the media cartel had not driven prices up so high (-- $20 mil for an actor? Should be more like $500,000-- with similar reductions all along the food chain with movies costing $5 to see as a result). However, they have raised their prices so high that people are finding many other less expensive forms of entertainment.
Re:Unexpected Success? (Score:2)
You are propagating the bs stance that the record companies want us to swallow hook line and sinker: Because it's so easy, EVERYONE will obviously be a criminal, how could they not when it's so easy?
Do you have trouble walking past a candy rack at the variety store without slipping one in your pocket? No? Why not?
Now, you get a file sent to you in the mail. It's a song. It doesn't ha
OT: Bottled Water (Score:2, Informative)
Actually bottled water sells because a lot of municipalities chlorinate their water, making it taste like shit.
Although it's true that marketing and convenience play a large part too (people buying bottled water even though they have good-tasting tap water, or well water), but it's not always purely marketing.
I drink bottled water only because the tap water in my office tastes like it came from the shallow end of
Re:Unexpected Success? (Score:2)
Actually, I buy 5-gallon jugs of it as drinking water to avoid getting the fluoride [fluoridealert.org] that is put in tap water in the US.
Further, likening the sale and marketing of a human necessity to something as trivial and ethereal as popular music is doomed to be a poor analogy.
Re:Unexpected Success? (Score:2)
Re:Unexpected Success? (Score:3, Insightful)
Not siding with the industry here, just playing a bit of devil's advocate.
Re:Unexpected Success? (Score:2)
Most people made quality cassette copies from vinyl. You would get together with friends and make copies of each other's LPs. It was all very social, unlike to day, where geeks sit at home, alone in their parents' basements or attics and download tons of digital music (most of which they won't ever listen to) whilst masturbating...
Re:Unexpected Success? (Score:2)
The point was that the state of the industry today with digital music copying is NOT the same as it was 25 years ago with cassette recordings. And furthermore, that the easy copyiong of dig
Good on him! (Score:2, Funny)
P.S. watch out for ghosts.
Re:Good on him! (Score:2)
The tone of the article is a bit biased (Score:5, Insightful)
This article makes it seems that Apple compatibility is holding back companies from selling music online. An iPod will play MP3s. The problem is that the studios will not allow anyone to sell music online without DRM. FairPlay was Apple's solution to this problem. Apple doesn't want to license it, and that's their choice and right. So these companies don't have many choices, but Apple wasn't the one that created the problem. They found a solution that works for them.
E-music URL (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.emusic.com/ [emusic.com]
Bleep (Score:2)
'indie' versus pop versus ? (Score:5, Informative)
They also have live stuff. Interested in Colin Hay's solo takes on 'Men at Work', or (back to Deep Purple) live Deep Purple? And what they call indie, I'm not so sure-- Tom Waits gets a lot of media coverage and movie deals for an 'indie'. He's there.
They also have a phenomenal jazz and blues section, which is yet another niche not served. Miles Davis or Charlie Parker aren't "indy", after all. And there's folk, and celtic, and world. It's that 'long tail' model. Basically, emusic has a mix of radio stuff, and all the stuff you can't buy on CD at your local Walmart anyway.
I guess I'm tired of anyone not carrying the latest pop being labeled 'indie', particularly given pop's tendency to forget the past. I don't want this to be a commercial for eMusic, just a note that they are offering the kind of stuff that you can hear by dial-hopping on radio, but can't find in most big box stores. That's more than just 'indie'.
eMusic is a joy to use.. (Score:5, Interesting)
There's just something graceful about a service that surprises you with new bands all the time. I've been able to wade my toes into genres that I wouldn't have touched otherwise, like twee-pop. (Heavenly is a great band.)
It's nice to know that these guys are not only successful, but they're successful in all the right ways. I have a feeling that there'll be a point where eMusic gets so successful that the major labels have to start taking notice and talking to them more seriously. Beyond the lack of DRM, they just do so many things right.
Re:eMusic is a joy to use.. (Score:2, Informative)
1) At CompUSA, I was given a card that offered me 100 free downloads, over the course of 30 days. When I tried to sign up, that turned into 50 downloads/14 days. To their credit, after questioning them, they did offer me the additional 50 songs if I signed up, which I did. (But the trial was still for only 14 days).
2) My renewal date was listed on my account as April 14th. Being a good procrastinator, I still had a large chunk of that 100 songs on my account on the 14th. I scanned thr
Robert Fripp and King Crimson (Score:2)
emusic is great (Score:2)
The new emusic with the download restrictions isn't as attractive to me because I like to download entire albums, but I see they've added a 90 downloads for $19.95 a month option, that's not too bad. I might subscribe again for a few months.
They're so close! How to get 1 million users... (Score:2, Interesting)
TFM mentions that EMusic used to have a subscription with unlimited downloads, but that since it cost them around 8 cents/download the revenue model didn't scale up for high-volume downloaders. Thus they adopted tiered rates and limited downloads.
They're oh, so close! They just went the wrong direction:
They need an E-Music file-sharing application! It could be just like (the original) Napster, run off their own servers, checking a custom ID3 tag to verify that shared files on the network are all legi
Why the concern with "exact digital" copies? (Score:2)
I've also thought, quite seriously, that a good way out of the DRM impasse would be to retain all the technical garbage and lockdown of current DRM systems, with one impo
Adding to the gushing (Score:4, Insightful)
Everyone else in the thread has already said it, but I just wanted to add to the chorus of people urging emusic virgins to check the service out.
In addition to picking up new music from old favorites like Sufjan Stevens, The Decemberists, and The New Pornographers, their insightful reviews and helpful, music-lover-friendly emails have led me to find a bunch of new music I love. Calexico, Tarkio, Gomez.. A bunch of random electronic tracks... Oh, and a bunch of B-3 jazz / blues, like Tony Monaco, Jimmy Smith, Joey DeFrancesco, et al.
Seriously, it's great. It's like Christmas every month when the downloads renew and I can go grab a couple more albums. I dig it
Barenaked Ladies (Score:5, Interesting)
I attended a concert in December and purchased a coupon I could redeem at the website for a live recording of that concert. I finally got around to downloading it last week. No DRM, various formats I could download in (either tracked or two huge mp3s perfect for burning)
as well as PDFs of CD covers and inserts that could be printed.
I could also purchase any of the other shows they've done, as well as some other things.
Couple that with the fact that they seem to be a major force behind: http://www.musiccreators.ca/ [musiccreators.ca]
and you've got one great band that hasn't let me down in 15 years.
Its nice that a retailer is pushing no DRM, but I think its more important for the artists to get together like they have here. This should be a more important message because its what the artists really want, the retailers are just middle men and their opinion shouldn't hold that much weight with the lawmakers and standards.
money? (Score:3, Interesting)
Last I heard, eMusic was hemorraging money. I guess they're suffering the same fate as many dot-coms - great idea, great service, losing money big time.
The Holy Grail of online music sales? (Score:4, Insightful)
My big regret is that Fraunhofer gave up the fight and MP3 became the de facto standard, rather than the technically superior MP4.
"indie" and eMusic (Score:3, Informative)
Not everything off of these labels are on Emusic, but quite a bit of it is (Fugazi for example).
They have their target market down (Score:3, Interesting)
I was amazed to RTFA and find myself accurately described by their CEO. In college I spent all my money on music, and when I started working full-time, I dumped a lot of cash on CDs. After I had kids, I stopped going to clubs, I didn't spend much time hanging out with friends listening to music, and I lost touch with current trends in music. I rode out the electronic/lounge/trip-hop wave of the 90s, and found myself bored with my discs but unwilling to drop $20 to try anything new. I all but stopped buying CDs about four years ago.
I tried eMusic I think around 2000, when they were an all-you-can-download service, and I didn't find much that appealed to me. I came back about two years ago, and now I'm on eMusic's biggest subscription package with 400 items in my save for later list. At my subscription level, albums cost under $3, so I don't hesitate to download anything, and I find it to be an aging indie rocker's dream come true. Probably half of my iPod is filled with eMusic, and I'm happy that it's not taking up any space in my apartment.
I really only have a few complaints about eMusic:
I can't recommend them enough, and I hope they continue to succeed.
Re:Allofmp3.com (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Allofmp3.com (Score:2, Informative)
Guess they did whatever they had to do.
Re:Allofmp3.com (Score:3, Interesting)
Either way, if you go to re-charge any time soon, check to make sure you're not being overcharged. I'm not too confident in their business practices after my recent experience.
Re:Allofmp3.com (Score:4, Informative)
Nah - that $257 was 257 roubles. I just attempted a refill for $10, and it said 297 RUB = $10. I don't think anyone was trying to cheat you.
Put another way: They're making boatloads of cash as is - why put all that at risk for the sake of a few hundred bucks, which they'll earn normally in the space of a couple of hours?
--NgRe:Allofmp3.com (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Allofmp3.com (Score:3, Informative)
Oh... and I check today and they just added 30 albums... so I jumped to the wrong conclusions. Long live AllOfMp3.com!!
Re:Allofmp3.com (Score:5, Insightful)
RIAA and MPAA want crackdowns on the real pirates that are selling bootlegs produced in quantity. Legal manuvering can take care of allofmp3.com by making them cough up more and through a bit of treaty work that makes the copyright cartel in Russia pay up.
allofmp3.com is like a fly compared to what is going on in Russia to the RIAA. a non entity when there are bigger problems to deal with. They probably have another 3-5 years before any real changes occur that will matter.
well, it is legal (Score:4, Informative)
allofmp3.com violates the spirit of the law, if not the exact wording. It is like saying that identity theft was legal because when it first started happening, there was no specific law against it.
no be sure to tell me how legal it is and how paying money to the russian mob is better then downloading via P2P.
If you are going to steal music, just fucking steal it and get off your high horse. I personally hove no problem gettign ALL of my music from P2P, and honestly, having spent time in Moscow, see no need to further fund the terrorist organization that is the russian mafia.
Re:well, it is legal (Score:5, Insightful)
"Many people", including the Moscow Southwest regional prosecutor.
Allofmp3.com let off the hook [arstechnica.com]
allofmp3.com violates the spirit of the law, if not the exact wording. It is like saying that identity theft was legal because when it first started happening, there was no specific law against it3/7/2005
Why don't you just say it's "like pedophilia" or "supports terrorism" if you're going to use absurd analogies. As for the "letter" and "spirit" of the law; the mechanism AllofMP3 is using is basically the same as applies to radio stations; they don't have to negotiate with every label for every song, they just pay a lump sum to a collection agency. If AllofMP3 isn't making these payments, they would presumably have been prosecuted.
Re:well, it is legal (Score:3, Interesting)
ISTM if this were the case in America, firstly the RIAA cartel's distribution monopoly would cease to be such a flog on P2P, and second, it would encourage P2P affiliate sales, which would make everyone who cared to host files a little money, and probably make the cartels more money than they ever imagined
Re:well, it is legal (Score:4, Insightful)
>they just pay a lump sum to a collection agency
I think you misspelled "regional prosecutor".
Re:well, it is legal (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:well, it is legal (Score:3, Insightful)
If identity theft were legal when it was done, it was legal. The US Constitution explicitly states that anything that isn't already illegal due to a law is legal. Trying to punish someone for an act that wasn
Re:Allofmp3.com (Score:3, Insightful)
You may be able to justify it to yourself that allofmp3 is legal but I'd like to see how you could justify it as being morally or ethically correct. You
Re:Allofmp3.com (Score:4, Interesting)
Step 1) borrow from the library a CD - any artist
Step 2) make a copy of that CD onto levied media for personal use
Step 3) return the CD to the library
This is legal.
Note optional step 1: buy a CD from a store, and then return for a refund in step 3. This is still legal - for obvious reasons, many stores will not give refunds on CDs, only replacement on defective CDs.
The $0.21 levy from a blank CD goes to a copyright collective, which distributes the money to Canadian artists. The similarity to allofmp3 is that there they pay a Russian copyright collective (ROMS) not a Canadian one.
In neither case, if I copy or download an American artist, does the artist get any money. The artists/labels know where the money is going - its up to them to make a deal under the national laws that apply.
My understanding is that the U.S. labels asked the Canadian copyright collective for their cut. They were told that a reciprocal arrangement was a great idea, so as soon the labels could arrange for levies on U.S. blank CDs, the Canadians would be happy to do a deal. It wouldn't surprise me to find that ROMS has a similar arrangement - should the labels actually want to bring income for their artists, rather than just grab all the control they can.
Re:Allofmp3.com (Score:2, Insightful)
Why would you pay for quasi-legal music?? Just fucking download it for free already. Don't try to justify it being "right" because you're paying "less".
Re:ipod compatibility? (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, you can. In fact, I've never bought a single tune from ITMS but my iPod Nano is packed solid with music (haven't had to go to ITMS - I ripped my entire CD collection to mp3 a long time ago, and continue to do so - much cheaper to buy a used CD in many cases and use it as a 'master copy' of sorts).
You simply import the music into the iTunes library, make a playlist from it, and transfer it to the iPod.
Re:ipod compatibility? (Score:3, Informative)
The iPod was announced in October 2001.
The iTunes Music Store opened in April 2003. The 3rd generation iPods were also announced at that time.
If it were really true that you couldn't but non-ITMS music on an iPod, the first and second generation iPods would have been, shall we say, much worse sellers than they were.
Re:ipod compatibility? (Score:2, Informative)
Let's get the "iPod Format" or "works with the iPod" or "the format the iPod needs" out of the way. Journalists say this when they mean the M4P AAC format; the one the iTunes Music Store will sell you music in. There is also the M4B AAC format, for protected spoken word files. Naturally, they both work with iTunes or an iPod.
However, the News Stories often implies you need to have that format to work with the iPod or iT
Re:Allofmp3.com (Score:3, Informative)