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Tale of Two Online Music Stores
Ever since I got my iPod Mini the Apple iTunes Music Store has really grown on me. I mean I get it now. I was able to get the new albums by Daft Punk and Moby on the very same day that their were released. I would have to wait for a copy to be mailed or shipped to my neck of the wood then i would have to find it, buy the CD, rip the CD and I would end up paying much more than the ten bucks per album from the iTunes Music Store. I love the fact that it uses the same login information that I used to buy my iBook and I can buy an album for my iPod for almost half of what a physical CD would cost. I can still burn an audio CD and then convert it to MP3 but so far I have not run into any major problems with Apple's Fairplay DRM. As long as it is done right I don't have notable problem with some reasonable DRM as long as the rights of the customer are respected.
When I went on my last business trip I took advantage of the Wifi at the hotel to try out AllOfMP3.com. This is a not quite so legal Russian digital music store that sold DRM free digital recordings of CDs in a variety of formats for a low price. The problem is that they are pocketing all the money and not giving a dime to the artists and music producers. I don't shed a tear for the RIAA record executives but I do like certain artists to get paid. This site is basically selling pirated music and I thought that their web based interface was a pain in the ass to use and I was initially skeptical in using my credit card to purchase a Grey market item. I mean if they are already doing questionable business practices do you really want to trust them with your credit card number?
I think that legitimate online music sales has a chance to become the next media format on the Internet that people are willing to pay for besides p0rn. I think the days of me buying new CDs is over. Used CD stores still rock harder than Metal Steve!
Jake at March 24, 2005 
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Comments
AllOfMP3.com do give money to the Russian equilvant of the RIAA, so it's semi-legit...
Posted by: Matt at March 24, 2005 12:36 AM
I agree that the web interface for allofmp3.com sucks, but the program you can download, Allofmp3 explorer, works pretty well. The last time I bought from there I used Paypal to buy some Xrost credit. That seems pretty safe. What I would really prefer is for artists to sell their music directly like They Might Be Giants does. They cut out the labels and RIAA and sell DRM-free music. So they get a bigger cut and the listener is happy.
Posted by: danny at March 24, 2005 7:15 AM
I can't remember the last time that I bought a new CD... I either head down to the used music store, or do without.
Posted by: Nick at March 24, 2005 11:12 AM
