AllofMP3.com

I just created an account on AllofMP3.com. I’m wondering why, after hearing about it ages ago, I only signed up now. Was it because of all the buzz surrounding it nowadays (it has been mentioned several times on the more popular tech podcasts out there)? It also seems strange that I should choose to “sign-up” just after the legality of the site has been put into question.

But after I heard that the hosts of Digg actually use the service… I thought “Hey, who cares if it’s legit or not!” Here are high(ish) profile American hosts who openly admit to using the service (among other things) and not getting arrested for it. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to partake of the benefits of using it as well. And to me, until it’s proven beyond any reasonable doubt that it is indeed an illegal operation (and promptly shut down); and as long as it’s not phishing my credit account info, I’m considering it legal no matter what other people say hahaha.

In all honesty, aside from the whole legality issue, I really believe that AllofMP3 has nailed music distribution for consumers perfectly. I’m definitely going to use it – and I’ll tell you why you should use it too.

Disclaimers

First off, I only speak for the consumers – the artists’ points of view are debatable (because different artists have different deals and different views on the whole digital downloading era). The labels, unless they treat their artists fairly (which isn’t the case most of the time), can kiss my shiny ass.

The first concern you, as a consumer, will have with the site is the credibility of its e-commerce – but not in legal sense. The issue is its capacity to use your credit info in good faith… or sell out to the phishing community. Ultimately this is a decision based on faith. And since that is the case, the very reason why I only signed up now is because the operation has been made more public than it originally was. If there’s one thing I know about the internet, it’s to never underestimate the collective power of internet users (anonymous or not). Despite the lack of physical/legal attacks we are capable of mounting against such services, word of mouth (if enough has have voiced) can be very influential. So should AllofMP3 start doing anything that displeases the majority of users it would be easier to rectify the problem – rather than you alone being some unknown user having an isolated case while using an obscure service. Again, it’s a personal choice. In my case, I simply believed in the people that use it and just took the plunge.

Now that’s out of the way, let me discuss how perfect this system is (as far as consumer distribution goes)

The price is right

First let’s just throw in the whole pay-per-download thing just to enforce the fact that it strives for a semblance of “legality.” I take this claim with a grain of salt, but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless.

The price-point is definitely worth mentioning because the only thing that makes this service dubious to “the man” ¹ The “Capitalist America” machine. is because of their ridiculously low pricing scheme. They sell individual tracks at such low prices that albums can range from a buck fifty to two dollars (or more). That’s what – 100 pesos average for a CD? Now wether or not they indeed have a legal contract that compensates the artists (and labels) somehow is not a concern of mine. So I’m just considering the price being cheap as a good thing. for the consumer.

Bye-bye DRM

Among the major flaws of iTunes (which is why I never use the service) is DRM ² Digital Rights Management. in itself – which entails a very LIMITED scenario for playback. I’ve always subscribed to the fact if you buy something, you have full rights to it – and can pretty much do whatever you want with the product. Destroy it, resell it, give it away – it’s all up to you. The only thing that makes that debate-able in the digital era is the lack of the concept of an SKU. ³ Stock Keeping Unit. It used to be the case that when you buy anything, you own that thing physically. You give/sell/destroy that thing, then you don’t have it physically anymore in your possession anymore. The transfer of ownership of that single item (or destruction of such) is easily reconciled. Now with digital copying, some products (music, etc.) can essentially be replicated ad infinitum and distributed… you start making a business out of that and you have problems.

Hence DRM was born. But DRM is so half-assed implementation since they haven’t come up with a good implementation. It may be a matter of time (or not) before they get it right, but DRM as it stands doesn’t take the consumer concerns as much as it simply tries to make sure the corporations get what’s theirs. This shift of focus, veering off of the concept of actually pleasing the very customers that sustain your business. And when they [the consumers] find ways to acquire that which these businesses can’t provide – they blame the consumers. I say “Why don’t you fix your business model (and methods) in the first place – then we might consider supporting you again.”

Lossy formats

Back to iTunes, another limitation of the store is a fixed bitrate for files which are lossy to begin with. We know using lossy formats is more practical because of the smaller filesize. That paradigm has always been for the sake of the consumer (and usually the consumer’s choice). The lossy formats (MP3, OGG, etc.) have been developed for the purpose of storage and distribution. You would be hard pressed if anyone would claim that lossy is better than lossless simply because of the technology it showcases. While the consumer is fine with downloading lossy formats, in a paying scenario, they should have the option of purchasing a lossless format.

AllofMP3 got it right once again with on-demand encoding with a variable pricing scheme according to the quality of the audio. So You select your CD, they have a lossless format at their end. And you can even encode to a lossless format (which is significantly smaller than your CD data ratio, but still considerably bigger than the other lossy formats. Still, it’s nice that they give you the option.

You select what bitrate you want and they encode it for you on the fly in a variety of formats – all without the DRM. My God, just saying those three points in a single sentence makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. For a consumer this is absolutely perfect. And for as long as we’re paying for it, their “means” of providing really shouldn’t concern any of us (that’s why they have their own legal teams to sort this thing out). To me, you sell a product for x amount of cash, I give you the cash, I expect to own the product I bought. Wether you sell your soul to the Devil, (or your body to some old fat lady) to be able to sell me these products at such a price is not my concern. As long as I bought them, I expect to HAVE them – capish?

And that’s exactly what AllofMP3 does, it sells you albums dirt cheap – with the encoding options that can satisfy even the most picky audio-savvy consumers. For me it has already helped me purchase albums which I could never find in stores here, but aren’t available in iTunes (not that I would get it from iTunes).

The way I see it: iTunes sells a song for about 99 cents right? That’s a dollar each which is more than fair as buying a whole album would mean you’ll pay about the same price for a CD. Only the big turn-off is the LOSSY, DRM-ridden file. At the same price then buying a CD (in the Philippines) would just be better since it’s lossless, and has the nice case and printed material. If you encode to a lossless format (FLAC, etc.) via AllofMP3, the price suddenly matches iTunes per album – which would make sense. If the price of a whole album is close to the CD already (which iTunes offers), then you expect at least the same audio quality. If ever the digital album comes out cheaper it’s because you skip the packaging costs – you don’t get your nice jewel case with nice printed material. And that’s fine – I’d even be fine if they did sell digital CDs at the same price of a real CD for as long as it has no DRM, and that it’s lossless audio.

AllofMP3 delivers non-DRMed, better quality files dirt cheap! So it really is a no-brainer. As a consumer, you’re paying either way so it just makes sense to get the most bang out of your buck.