Delicate Genius Blog

Lots of talk of late about Russian based music stores, most notably allTunes and AllofMP3.

For those that aren’t hip with it, they’re music stores run out of Russia that offer entire albums for download at a cost of less than US$2 per album. This kinda solves my Ben Harper dilemma, doesn’t it?

Most people cite their motivation for using these services as either that the music is DRM free and/or that it’s very cheap.

Apparently it’s all legal in Russia. I’m not sure what that means for non Russians. I doubt that it’s illegal to buy something from Russia and use it here in Australia. So, logically it’s not illegal to purchase music from these services – but I’m not an expert in the field so don’t take my word for it.

Check out this AllofMP3 FAQ on the legalities of the service. As well as this interview with the director of MP3Search.ru.

Legalities aside these sites raises ethical issues for me. Clearly, Ben Harper ain’t getting a cut of the $1.50 off the sale of The Will To Live for example.

Which raises an interesting point. It’s well known that most artists don’t make a living off record sales (especially if they’re signed to a major label). They cash in on touring, merchendise etc. So, the artist doesn’t really lose much when fans are pirating or “buying” music from these Russian services. If anything they may attract more fans.

The big loser/victim of these sites is the record companies. They stand to lose most. Do we care? No! After all, clearly they don’t and never have cared about us.

Interesting to think about isn’t it?

The internet has the power to change the traditional music delivery equation. It’s a cheap distribution vehicle. Artists can independently distribute their art and retain more from each transaction.

That’s half of the equation potentially solved, the other is more difficult.

Promotion – Promotion costs lots and lots of cha-ching. Especially in such a highly competitive industry. And that’s a big part of what the major record labels do for artists. They fit the huge bill for the cost of massive promotion campaigns.

Maybe sites like last.fm and dare I say, myspace can come closer to solving the promotion problem.

Ethically, I have an issue as it has the same moral and economic effect as piracy or stealing does. Politically, I don’t have an issue as it may actually drive change.

Who knows? In any case, it’s all worth thinking about.

Meanwhile, would you be inclined to use services such as allTunes and AllofMP3?

-dg