[CrecenS]

Has anyone here used http://www.mp3search.ru to buy music? At $1 per album, it seems like a great place to get music, but I'm looking for other ppl's experiences.
Thanks,

[Graeme_Smith]

Wow! That place is cheap!
I just tried to listen to the preview (30 sec) of a song and there is a "buzz" in the background. If have the CD so I know its not there on the real thing. That would be really annoying if its on the music you buy.
Edit: BTW, I wonder if you get any album art like on the iTMS?

[eyebum]

Hey there...
I found mp3search.ru about a month ago. It is pretty awesome. I have tried the preview of the songs, but it doesn't seem to work. So if I need to preview a song, I do it on IMS (iTunes Music Store), then I can buy it on mp3search.ru if I want it.
They have a pretty big collection, and I have found things that were not on IMS.
There is still a lot of stuff on IMS that you can't find on mp3search.ru as well. I spend money in both places.
When you download a song, you get only an MP3. Nothing else. They sound like typical MP3 quality to me-which means that I can't tell the difference between that and CD quality. The cover art is funny. They don't download anything when you download a song, but they do display, so you can ctrl-click, save to disk, and then point your songs to it in iTunes.
It has worked for me...
eyebum

[Jon Seff]

I have a hard time believing that this site is in any way legal. Tracks for $.10 a piece when legit online services sell them for $.99 each? MP3 files (which offer no protection) when every other site selling popular music uses some form of DRM? They also sell music they clearly label as bootlegs.
You might want to pay very close attention to your credit card statement after you've handed out your information to a dubious-sounding business in Russia.

[Graeme_Smith]

To good to be true then... Oh well.

[anshulj]

I signed up with macworld just so that I could reply to your post.
mp3search.ru works great for me. I was skeptical at first - but after having downloaded close to 20 albums from them.. I'm not any more.. I believe.. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
it doesn't break any local laws in russia.. and personally i feel that this is how much legal album downloads should cost anyway... or maybe 20p a song max.. what's the difference (Esp. if you're interested in entire albums) in buying 12 songs off Apple's service.. and buying a CD off the store shelf?
if you are an audiophile and mp3 just isn't good enough for you then try out allofmp3.com - they give you a lot more control over the final file format - and actually encode a CD version to whatever version you've requested in realtime.. it's very neat.. and you can try them for free - they give you 20 cents of credit when you sign up..
Basically, I just replied to tell you.. that in this case.. it's too good.. and it is true.. buy now before Russian laws change /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Cheers

[Rugby]

In reply to:

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it doesn't break any local laws in russia..

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possibly not in Russia but I seriously doubt that they follow international copyright laws.
If you were a musician, would you really approve of this service ? I am for cheap music but this sounds REALLY dodgy and unfair ....I really would like to hear how they compensate the artist

[rosiep]

Here is a copy of the answer I got from mp3search.ru in regards to legitimacy:
MP3Search.ru is registered in Russia and has the license agreement
01-17 with Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems (ROMS,
www.roms.ru).
According to this Agreement we pay copyright royalties.
ROMS is the Russian organization on collective management of copyrights.
ROMS is authorized by the Russian Federation Law on copyright and related
rights to issue user licenses on behalf of all Russian and foreign copyright
holders.
We ask our customers to make a pre-payment before downloading and we do
not charge customer's card every time customer downloads a track because the
expenses involved in the transaction are much more than the price of a
single track. Otherwise we would have to fix higher prices, such as by iTunes
or MSN Music (about 0.99 USD).
There is no monthly payment, all your payments will be on your account
till you spend them.
You are welcome to join us!
Does this help!!!

[Rugby]

In reply to:

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Does this help!!!

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yes it does!!!!
it would be more interesting to see how this is possible as all the other services (Microsoft etc) have to apply on country basis. If Apple would establish its iTunes in Nepal would they be able to ignore local laws? Just a question not an accusation /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
Jon,
could Playlist check this ?

[Jon Seff]

Just out of curiosity, I sent e-mails to a few bands whose works are sold on that site...we'll see what they have to say.

[Ott_Phenotne]

I did some poking around the site & looked at the Beatles selection that they have. It's a treasure trove of unreleased & bootleg material. There's no way it could be legit (legal) to resell that stuff...

[Rugby]

good man
I think it warrants an investigation and a short follow up blog and/or article.
After profit/cost of maintaining site etc what do they actually pay to artists ?

[jshifrin]

I couldn't believe this would be legal. If it is tell me, cos that's amazing.

[mikie]

Hi there...yes I have used this site for about a year...maybe just over a year.My feelings on this is,I dont distribute the music, it is purely for my ears only.Yes I guess there are people out there who will download then upload or burn discs for sale,this is a widespread problem not just on the site in question.I dont see anything illegal happening here,but ok if the Bands arnt getting anything then that is wrong,and I certainly wasnt aware of this.So as from today I will not be using the site.I saw the site as a cheep place to buy music and as in the UK mp3 sites such as itunes is expensive and to buy the discs from the shop you have to shell out on average 12 pounds which the band doesnt see much of anyway sites like mp3search will hopefully help to combat the price war and make it cheeper to buy and download.What do you think