The online music service MP3Sparks .com (FKA Allofmp3.com) is based in Moscow, Russia. The service started in 2001.

When we first discovered this site in 2002 we were convinced that it was a pirate site. Whole albums for less than a dollar is just too good to be true. But would pirates go through all the trouble of setting up high tech features like online encoding? Not very likely. As for the pricing, a dollar an album is incredibly cheap to us, but an official CD costs about 3 dollars in Russia. So according to Russian standards this service is not that cheap at all. That put Allofmp3 in a different perspective, so we started trying to find out more about this service.

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It turned out that Allofmp3 has signed agreements with a collecting society, Russian Organization for Multimedia & Digital Systems (ROMS). Based on Russian copyright legislation they can legally offer music by all artists and from all labels. If you would like to know more about the legal issue, check our FAQ.

Allofmp3 was one of the best kept secrets of the internet. It took until 2004 before Allofmp3 was discovered by the media. Smh.com,  The Register , G4Techtv , The Wall Street Journal  and The International Herald Tribune have published articles covering Allofmp3. Rising consumer popularity has turned Allofmp3 into an Internet success story, much to the dislike of the Western Music industry.

Awarded in Europe as the best Music Service
Allofmp3 has been awarded as the best Music Service by the leading German computer magazine C't. Even the official Consumers' Organization in The Netherlands has chosen Allofmp3 as the best place to download music. "The best service by far" was their conclusion after testing seven services available in The Netherlands.

Techcrunch: "The best service by far is AllofMP3.com"
The authoritative website Techcrunch analyzed several services that sell digital music:

The choice for best overall service is dead simple. The best service by far is AllofMP3.com. Music costs $0.02 per MB (about 9 cents per song at medium quality levels), and it can be downloaded in any common audio format and quality level. It is so cheap and easy to use that many people choose to download music from AllofMP3 in lieu of ripping their own CD collection. TechCrunch April 7, 2006

Read the entire article

No copy protections

Unlike most other legal services the files are not protected at all. You can do whatever you want with the music files. Burn audio CDs, transfer music to your portable mp3player, there are no limits. Completely DRM free, the way music should be.

Catalogue

Allofmp3 has one of the best catalogues if not the best. A quick look at their USA top 100 or European Top 100 just about says it all. They offer music from all major artists.  But it's not just recent music, you can download just about any Beatles' song ever released. The indepth of the catalogue leaves less to be desired. Their Classical music collection is extensive and of course contains some highlights of Russian recordings.

Prepaid downloads

Allofmp3 charges for the size of the file you download, not for individual songs. To be able to download you have to pay in advance to receive download credit.
The price you pay for a song depends on its file size.  Music costs $0.03 per Mb. The average song in 192 kbps mp3 is 5Mb, so that will cost you just $0.15.

Online encoding
Ever heard of Online Encoding? It's a unique feature that is only offered by MP3Sparks/Allofmp3.

Music can be encoded on request. You want MP3, MPEG4-AAC, OGG, MPC, WMA? Take your pick. That's an amazing feature already, but what is even more astonishing. You can also pick your desired bit rate and encoder.

High quality encoding methods like Lame alt-preset –standard/extreme/insane are part of the advanced features. 

All music is ripped from CD. When you order tracks they are transcoded on the fly to the format and bitrate you have chosen. 

March 1, 2004 Allofmp3 has introduced Online Encoding Exclusive. That enables you to download music in the same quality as the original CD! 

Online Encoding Exclusive enables you to:

Albums, that available for ordering through Online Encoding Exclusive service are marked with this label . Allofmp3.com has without a doubt the best sounding files of any online service. 

Pros
Cons
Conclusion

MP3Sparks/Allofmp3 could be your dream come true. Are you collecting all albums of major artists like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Queen, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd? MP3Sparks/Allofmp3 has them!

The online encoding feature is amazing. We have not found such a feature at any other service.

MP3Sparks/Allofmp3 sets an example for every other music service and truly is the best service by far.

Users are reporting that they have stopped using KaZaA once they had discovered Allofmp3. That about says it all. Here is a quote from an interesting article published by P2Pnet about paying for music: 

Now, what I've discovered is: if I buy it from AllOfMp3.com, I don't even think about the cost. $1 per album is so low that I'll just do it. The end result is that I'm buying more music and listening to more music, and I'm actually spending more than I used to when buying CDs.
Julian Bond at p2pnet.net

In an article published by the Wall Street Journal Richard Wolpert, chief strategy officer for RealNetworks admits:

U.S. digital-music companies could learn a thing or two from the Russian sites, pointing out that Napster's early success persuaded record labels to open up to the idea of selling music downloads. Legal services should pay attention, for instance, to the Russian sites' higher sound quality and variety of file types. It's fair to say they might have some innovative ideas. In an odd way, that might help push forward the legitimate services.

The biggest disadvantage is that most Western artists do not receive royalties. As far as we have been able to find out the reason is that Western right holders so far refused to register with the Russian collecting agency ROMS. If this is the case, we can hardly blame Allofmp3.

The Music industry surely wants to bring Allofmp3 to court, but legal procedures in Russia are slow and the outcome may well be unfavorable for the big labels. They are trying other methods to put the pressure on Allofmp3. United States trade negotiators warned that Allofmp3 could jeopardize Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization.

An more easy solution would be coming to some kind of agreement with ROMS and MP3Sparks/Allofmp3. Many customer will feel a whole lot better knowing that the artist gets the money s/he deserves. We can only hope and wait.