AllofMP3, let 'er RIP

Looks like realpolitik finally nailed AllofMP3.

We mourn their passing....still, according to the Times article:

The site, Allofmp3.com, was quietly closed as the Kremlin sought to end criticism from the United States that Russia was failing to clamp down on music and video piracy.

However, an alternative site run by the same Moscow company has already emerged. MediaServices says that mp3Sparks.com is legal under Russian law, using many of the same arguments advanced in support of allofmp3.com.

Only one thing is going to stop this sort of thing and that is selling music at a reasonable price uncluttered with DRM

Its hard to feel that sorry for the music industry...of every $10 CD, the artist got about $1 if they were lucky, so there's a lot in there to arbitrage. In fact, this has been so extortionate for so long that bands try and make "their" money from gigs, t shirts etc etc....and this was true before allofmp3 et al

The reality is that allofmp3 shows how disintermediated the industry is - apart from them, an IP pipe and the customer, who else is needed now?

If a new site gave the $1 to the artist and kept $1 for themselves I'm sure most people would be even more willing to buy from them.


Postscript...also quite a good writeup on Ars Tecnica