Allofmp3 Pissed Off At Credit Card Companies; Plans To Fight Back

from the no-surprise-there dept

Yesterday, we mentioned that Visa had dumped Allofmp3, saying it would no longer process credit cards for the site. Today, Mastercard followed suit. This has Allofmp3 a bit angry, saying that they will do whatever possible to get credit card processing turned back on. They point out, once again, that they have never been convicted of any illegal activity, and previous investigations have shown them to be legal. Of course, just because you’re legal, doesn’t mean that a credit card company has to process your transactions.


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Comments on “Allofmp3 Pissed Off At Credit Card Companies; Plans To Fight Back”

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70 Comments
Anonymous Coward says:

if the major credit card companies don’t want to allow me to do business with allofmp3.com that is their right and I do not begrudge them of this right.

At the same time there is only one reason I have a credit card and that is convenience. It is nice to not have to carry cash and struggle to figure out what to do with that collection of copper pennies that I don’t wish to carry around as change is made on my purchases.

I do not have a discover and american express card simply because these cards are not as univerally accepted and visa and mastercard.

As visa and mastercard start censoring who I can do business with their value to me declines. As their value to me declines I look at them much as I do as cash, I want a better alternative.

All visa and mc have done have given me reason to look for alternatives. I only need one credit card and it looks like neither visa nor mastercard will be it in the future.

What I need is a ‘same as cash’ alternative to cash. I could care less who is behind it, as long as I can use it anywhere, same as I can cash and it must impose the same degree of censorship as cash, that is to say none.

I don’t know who will step up and provide me with this, but to the extent Visa and MC impose restrictions the market simply opens wider for an alternative.

Dumb move on the part of visa and it’s wannbe MC.

long live the USSR says:

alternatives?

paypal, neteller, are 2 obvious incredibly easy and convenient alternatives that come to mind.

seems like an easy way to get around the CC companies checks.

listen, honestly, an artist is going to pull at least 2-3 million dollars cash in pocket out of a hit record.

That’s more then you, I, our neighbor joe, his sister jan, and their dog markus, make in a decade+ .

Boo hoo about you not making 30 million.

Get real, this isn’t ever going to be stopped. NEVER. Ever ever ever ever ever. And a secondary point lies in the fact that IF this does get stopped, there was way too much attention by the feds on this then on serious issues.

Really guys, sure artists deserve some money, and they get it, they also get their music delivered globally, to a much larger audience then one that would have purchased it from a Target or the like for full price for a CD.

I just think this whole debate is silly tbh, they won’t be stopped, russia can laugh in the US’s face. what are they going to do? after iraq invade russia for oil?

cg0def says:

asking for it

looked at the payment options listed on the site and here is what it says:
The minimum one-time payment by credit card for the service is $10.
If for some reason the site is unable to provide you the service, you will be refunded the remainder of your balance within 7 business days after you apply for such refund.

This is EXACTLY why the company got banned from credit cards and any business that has practices like these should get banned. Minimum payment for something that I NEVER got? Are you people insane? I can only guess how many complains both Visa and Mastercard got from customers that never got their refunds back.

Sorry but allofmp3.com was just begging for what happened.

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: asking for it

That’s not so different than other businesses, eMusic for example, handle their services. And while I’m sure AllofMP3 has their fair share of problems, I’ve not really heard much but positive comments (for the most part) about their service. The music industry is just pissed because sites like All ofMP3 and eMusic make a total farce out of the RIAA myth people won’t pay for music and are mad others have a better business model than they do.

Mike Klepzig says:

Re: asking for it

The payment plan is perfect. You put $10 of credit in your account and then pick songs you like and keep downloading until your account is almost empty. Then you can make another $10 deposit of credit into your account. Since each song is about $0.20, $5 of credit probably would be too little and $20 would be too much, although you can certainly put $20 in your account if you suspect you’ll be downloading a bunch of songs. Can you imagine doing a credit card transaction for each $0.20 song? That’s insane.

If you wanted to pay for the song only after you received it, you’d have to be charged after each song downloads, producing a credit card statement with 50 $0.20 charges and that’s insane.

Anonymous Coward says:

to #4

To #4,

Example: I pay for the service, and then later for whatever reason I am unable to use it. e.g. I lose my internet, I decide I don’t want it, I have technical problems (Turns out I can’t download songs at work after all), etc. What they do is return the prorated amount to you. This is perfectly reasonable and what thousands of service providers do.

Brummie says:

allofmp3

I think its about time music companies woke up to the fact that though punters will pay for music we aren’t gullible. Albums like @bat out of Hell’ made their ‘production costs’ back in spades years ago. To still sell the album for £13 that costs 50 pence to produce even as a CD is paracy in itself. Time to learn to charge realistic prices, high for new, very low for old !!

Wizard Prang (user link) says:

Re: Two words... "Public Domain"

Copyright laws were intended to protect public domain from
“artists” (read “mediacorps”).

NOT the other way round.

These laws are in place to provide sufficient incentives for producers to produce – not to allow ANYONE to possess the frouts of their – or anyone else’s labor – “for ever plus fifteen years”.

Pixel Rider (user link) says:

Excelent Customer Service

I have been using AllofMP3.com for 6 months now, and I have had NO problems what so ever. The majority of problems people have had with the site has been the fault of the credit card companies. Mastercard stopped processing the transactions for a month earlier this year, but started up again.

Now with VISA and Mastercard acting like idiots, I hope AllofMP3.com will think about paypal for loading an account.

Kazolar says:

VISA and MC in the pocket of the RIAA

This is efing ridiculous, how much money is RIAA paying to get this done? I think some lawyer should look into this and sue these asses for collusion. This is strong arm tactics. Who is the godfather here? I think an allofmp3 ceo should call a russian mob friend of theirs and teach the RIAA a thing or two about strong arm tactics.

Anonymous Coward says:

OJ has never been convicted either.

As for charging regular prices for Bat out of Hell, get a clue, production costs have very little to do with what a product costs.

You cheap ass people want everything free. Well, guess what, things are not free, so get over yourself. I wish I could get a Mercedes for the price of a circus clown car they drive in Europe, but that ain’t happening either.

Its pretty funny, people bitch about the $3 pill they take to help with their cancer, but still go out and buy a $5 a day pack of cigarettes that gave them the cancer.

What does this have to do with music? Not a whole lot, but its Friday, raining, and sometimes I get tired of cheap a-holes who think the world owes them something and if they don’t get it for free or near free, they believe they have a right to steal it. If you don’t like the pricing of something, don’t buy it. Quit your crying about this and that.

greyst1crash says:

Re: Annoymous Coward's Comment

You do realize that its individuals like you that drive people to look for alternative means of getting media? If the damn movie or recording industry realized that ‘we’ (those who use sites like allofmp3) don’t mind paying for something as long as its not .99 a song or 14.99 a cd, then maybe they would come up with a better business model to bring in this available audience. People are not going to keep paying high prices for stuff they can get cheaper or free. It’s time that the business model changes, and they stop whining about piracy and sites like allofmp3. They could actually make more money if they addressed the growing crowd of people that are venturing away from the traditional way of buying.

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re:

greyst1crash, so price causes stealing, right? You are ok with that? I want to drive a Lombraghini, but hey, they priced it too high, so I have a right to steal it.

Its mentality like yours that is the problem with this world. Thats ok, you cheap a-holes will turn the music industry into something that is not profitable for the good artists, and guess what, they will stop producing their music. You won’t like what you are left with, although Britney and Jessica are giving you a preview of what that will be like. Maybe something you want to bang, but not listen to.

Wizard Prang (user link) says:

Re: Re: Re: Missing the point

Er… people PAY to use AoMP3. You do know that, right?

They could just as easily use other methods to get content without paying, and have been doing so since (and before) Napster.

“I want to drive a Lombraghini, but hey, they priced it too high, so I have a right to steal it.”

Oh, please… stop comparing physical goods with experience goods. Every time we say “I’ll wait until the movie comes to DVD/TV”, we determine the “value” of the product and your comparison breaks down.

“you cheap a-holes will turn the music industry into something that is not profitable for the good artists, and guess what, they will stop producing their music”

No.. the music industry is doing that all by themselves; backing cookie–cutter artists, sticking to obsolete business models, disincentivising the artists through pathetic royalty structures, suing the next generation of customers… the industry needs the public and they seem to have forgotten this.

For the record, I don’t do P2P, and do not “share” music. I believe in paying for my music. But it seems to me that the music industry wants to have their cake and eat it too.

AoMP3 has shown that there there is a significant and lucrative market for reasonably-priced high-quality non-DRM music. If Big Music could offer a similar service for 25-50c/track I would be there in a heartbeat, and they would get at least $10/month out of me for very little work on their part, without any problem at all.

Wizard Prang (user link) says:

Re: Justice was done

“OJ has never been convicted either.”

Actually he was. While he got off the criminal charge he was found guilty of the civil one – remember?

I believe that had he been convicted the first time around he would have been out of prison in a couple of years and would not be the pariah/laughingstock that he is now. He would also have kept his money and be enjoying life.

So perhaps justice was done after all

“…production costs have very little to do with what a product costs.”

His point was not about manufacturing costs, but about the sunk (production) costs, which have long since been recovered.

Personally I am of the opinion that all music should become Public Domain at the age of (say) 25. The idea of copyright being some kind of ownership is ludicrous and may be unconstitutional.

xxl3w says:

Re: Re:

you said if we don’t like something, don’t buy it. GEE, isn’t that the reason for this new thinga-ma-jig called piracy? are you a moron or just ignorant? seriously, that’s the most stupid thing i’ve ever heard. “i hate piracy. if you guys don’t like the price, DON’T BUY IT” man, i can’t think of anymore ways to make you look stupid. it’s friday. my supervisor just quit. i aint got sheeyot to do. hopefully i cannot be fired at a time right now?

RHOPKINS13 (profile) says:

Is AllofMP3.com even legal in the US?

This has been a question I’ve had for a long time. I’d love to use AllOfMP3.com for downloading my music, but is it legal to use in the US? I’m tired of not being able to download a plain mp3 file from Yahoo or iTunes or Wal-Mart. Isn’t downloading music from Russia comparable to importing alcohol from Russia?

greyst1crash says:

Are you serious?

High pricing causes people to look for other ways to get it. Look at DRM; the more stupid copy protection corporations try to put on music/video, the more people will come up with programs to strip it. If it wasn’t for streaming music, or the vast catalogues that exists on sites like allofmp3.com, I would never have even heard of, let alone bought the music of certain artists. If I like an arist, I’ll try to go and see them in concert when they come around. This is where musicians make their money, not from selling cd’s. It’s these new ways of finding artists and music on the internet that will prevent people like ‘Jessica and Britney’ from being the only thing heard.

greyst1crash says:

Wizard Prang

I totally agree with your comments. I was trying to something along the same lines. I do and have used the itunes music store and all ofmp3.com. I do not use bit torrents and P2P. I am more than willing to pay for music. But not at the current prices that exist. If the music labels realized how many people would be willing to cough up loads of money on non-drm, cheaper music, they’d be making profits left and right. Instead, they load up the music with DRM and piss people off, who then go and find it elsewhere. Change the business model, and they’d be amazed at the results.

Anonymous Coward says:

people want stuff for free? this is new to you???

of course people want things for free, it’s greed.

it’s simple supply and demand. @a certain price, a certain number of people will pay for the product. when supply is reduced, prices go up. as supply increases, price decreases. since digital media is virtually infinate, the price drops down to zero. so of course it’s easy to get something for free.

now, what if i sit in my basement, and (like google) create every combination of ever “digital note” possible. because all digital music is, is just a bunch of 0s and 1s arranged into bits representing waveforms.

ugh…i wish there was no thing as money. everything was free.

Rob says:

Funny, i had no problem refilling my Allofmp3 account with $15 last night with my MC. People can complain all they want, but Allofmp3 offers the right service at the right price (my choice of compression and no strings attached to the mp3 file). The music industry can complain all it wants. They’re just pissed because their business model of gouging the public and the artists for their own personal benefit is dying. Get with the times i say. Say goodbye to the days of taking all of the money for your fancy offices and fancy cars. All the while lying that they are protecting the artist. I will continue to DL from allofmp3 and supoort the artists by going to their live shows.

Spiffman says:

Past Statue of Limitations

I’ll admit it. Years ago, I did use Napster and Kazaa (RIP). But remarkably, what made me stop was AllofMP3.

What is it that drew me away from the free download? I can assure you that it wasn’t the threat of legal action. That’s just ludicrous. I’ve never believed that was going to have an impact. That’s just thinning the herd and removing the weak and lame.

It was access to a world of reasonably priced, non-drm music. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.

From an “end-user’s” perspective, RIAA/mediacorps (I might as well use one name for them) have been trying to limit my options to simply maintain their control of their market share. And in addition, limiting the artist’s options in getting their music heard. “If Jimmy John doesn’t go through us, he doesn’t get on the radio and can’t sell his music anywhere. “

In reality, the “stealing the car” analogy doesn’t hold water. First, as someone mentioned earlier, we are paying for product (I will get to the argument of money not getting to the artist in a minute). So, if we agree that we are paying, we are simply looking for a lower priced product (you know…free market competition).

Let’s look at a Lamborghini Murcielago. The high price range is ballparked around $200,000. If I bought that from AllofMP3 (a guy can dream can’t he?) I would pay around $40,000. While most couldn’t afford the insurance, anyone would choose that pricing over “retail”.

So, what about the argument, money doesn’t reach the artist? Why is it that AllofMP3 is located in Russia? The government supplements customer cost so that the art can reach the masses.

Art is what drives culture. Culture makes life interesting and worthwhile. Without it, emotions would cease to exist and history would be uninteresting.

In my opinion, it’s the mediacorps that are breaking the law. They are limiting cultural growth and stifling human emotion. That should be a crime in and of itself. To care so much about making money off of someone’s true soulful expressions is just wrong on so many levels.

If you ask a true artist what they would do instead of write music or paint or act or sculpt, they couldn’t answer. It’s all consuming. That’s art.

And that’s why I say DOWN with the RIAA. DOWN with Sony. Art should be delivered daily to everyone in the world at no cost because it helps the people grow.

(steps off soapbox)

xxl3w says:

haha.

I’m glad someone else picked up on that. I’ve read many articles where people said that, and today I guess my brain was stirring, because I said to myself “wait a minute, I don’t like the prices and I’m not buying it.” I quickly typed LOL in notepad about 100 times, sometimes randomly throwing ROTFLMAO in there. (I was at work and didn’t want to cause a scene by actually laughing)

techdirtReader says:

I've always wanted to say this

So long as everything is legal, which appears to be the case here, whatever happened to letting the market decide? Seems to be the motto of choice whenever companies benefit with unpopular practices (ie atm fees). Turnabout is fair play – Let’s let the market decide – not Visa – whether allofmp3.com is a viable online music store.

Wizard Prang (user link) says:

Re: Fraud or Stupidity?

So you used a $7500+ CC to purchase music from a Russian
company? With all due respect, use your head. I have a $500-limit card that I use for transactions with untrusted businesses. It’s not difficult…

Having said that, I have not heard of anyone else getting reamed like this. I would look at other transactions and whether the machine that you placed those orders on was compromised.

Raimundo Gonzalez says:

Angry at VISA and Mastercard for cutting off Allof

I wish I had a way of punishing VISA and Mastercard for cutting off Allofmp3.com. Unfortunately, I cannot think of one. We are sadly totally dependent on credit in this world today. If any of you out there can think of a way, please let me know. It is time for American Express or Discover to step up and realize that the people want to keep using Allofmp3.com and pronounce that they will process payments to this great website. Can you believe the hypocrisy of VISA and Mastercard? Tell me what is more morally reprehensible- downloading music affordably, with a far more extensive selection than the crappy American 99 cent a song websites, in a format that we can actually do something with or wrapping up millions of people in serious credit card debt like VISA and Mastercard are doing? The answer to that question is easy.

Ireland (user link) says:

Man AllofMp3 was great!
I spent years spending 100 pounds a month on CDs. It was all I could afford and I only got to listen to 1 tenth of the music I wanted to. Then AllofMp3 came along – spending the same amount I could get more music that I had time to listen to. Frankly I couldn’t give a flying Fu@k about the ‘morality’ or legality of it. The music industry was RIPPING me off for years – I give them thousands for very little in return. I will never pay so much for music again. Either the music industry can lower its prices or they can get stuffed. Now I must go, got to do some research in to private P2P apps.

Ireland Dude says:

Man AllofMp3 was great!
I spent years spending 100 pounds a month on CDs. It was all I could afford and I only got to listen to 1 tenth of the music I wanted to. Then AllofMp3 came along – spending the same amount I could get more music that I had time to listen to. Frankly I couldn’t give a flying Fu@k about the ‘morality’ or legality of it. The music industry was RIPPING me off for years – I give them thousands for very little in return. I will never pay so much for music again. Either the music industry can lower its prices or they can get stuffed. Now I must go, got to do some research in to private P2P apps.

Dave says:

My balance disappeared from Allofmp3

I’ve bought from Allofmp3 for about 6 months now. When Visa withdrew its services I refilled my balance via Xrost, using the “Click & Buy” option. So far so good.
A week ago my Allofmp3 balance went from $2.20 to – $42.80. $45.00 gone just like that. Repeated requests for explanation from Allofmp3 got repeated replies “we have recieved chargeback from xrost. Please contact with support xrost”. After I figured out what this message was trying to say, I contracted both Click & Buy and Xrost asking where my money’s gone – no reply, what a surprise. And I no longer have access to refilling my balance at Allofmp3, its been barred.
Very disappointed. I loved the site, its ease of use, its choice of music, its file quality. Now I’m wondering whether I’ve been ripped off. Though how being put into the negative with only a small balance remaining benefits Allofmp3 I’m not sure.

A Musician says:

Today – just as ever, musicians create music and people enjoy listening to it.

Tomorrow will not change this.

For thousands of years, a percentage of musicians have been fortunate enough to generate good financial returns from their music – through patronage.

This is not going to change either.

The recent advent of recording media has supported the evolution of something quite separate to music – the music industry. This industry has developed excellent technologies, starting with print, then phonograph, vinyl, tape, CD etc. It has made an unprecedented contribution by documenting some of the incredible musical achievements of the last century. It has also been a vehicle by which more and more musicians have been rewarded for their work through extended patronage. And the industry has profitted well for its troubles.

It is this music industry that has to change. And this is unavoidable.

The longer industry exponents try to hide from this simple reality, the more they minimise their chances of success in this rapidly changing field, and the more chances they open up for the Apples and other startups. I postulate that to indulge this kind of resistance is a last straw tactic – only worth trying when you are resigned to doing nothing else.

Musicians will not be the losers here; more of them are being heard internationally. Yes the price of a tune will fall – but production, marketing, and distribution overheads have dropped and sales must rise.

All we need is smart organisations who can take up the massive openings in the industry. Its happening right now.

Consumers can’t lose here. Of course, its a bumpy ride and you may find yourself cheated of a refund here and there – but you’re still $$$ ahead compared to before the arrival of mp3.

The CC companies are just trying to avoid legal costs and bad press generated in the turmoil of dying corporations. They’ll be back.

Kit Drake says:

I’ve discovered site iomoio.com, which I guess is analog of allOfmp3.com. Their pricing strategy is like $0.15 per track no matter what size and bit rate it is.
When you register you get $0.30 deposited to your account as they say “to check out the quality of our services for free”.
Also they give 100% bonuses on deposits made by Credit Card starting from 20 USD (pay $20 get $40 added to your balance; $30 = $60 etc.).
Other rather eye-catching thing is their “Daily Bonus” scheme, they say; make a payment for e.g. $20 and get $0.02 added to your balance daily, make another payment of $30 and your bonus amount will increase to $0.05 daily.
Concerning legality of this site: The availability over the Internet of the Iomoio.com materials is authorized by the license # 33/3M-06 of the Rightholders Federation for Collective Copyright Management of Works Used Interactively (Russian Organization which they pay Royalties to).
Ok, their services might be legal for Russians, but is it legal to use their services in US, UK and other European countries? Actually yes it does mean they are legal in the US and UK, in that music you download is considered legally licensed for personal use, and you can’t legally be prevented from purchasing in this way.
This is because of the Berne convention as administered by the WIPO, and WTO requirements.
I quote “…any country that is a signatory of the convention is awarded the same rights in all other
Countries that are signatories to the Convention as they allow their own nationals, as well as any rights granted by the Convention”
The pigopolist record companies don’t like it because it cuts them out of the loop – the money paid for licenses goes directly to artists! Therefore they do a ‘Bush’ and lie through their teeth even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary in the hope that you believe them and use their preferred overpriced and DRM crippled services.
l

Heidy says:

We should Pay Them Cash By Registered Post

Hi in order to stop VISA and Mastercard closing down a very good website is it possible for AllofMP3.com to accept Cash USdollars posted by registered mail.

They then top up our accounts.

Alternatively Allofmp3.com could accept cash payments and send out cd roms of the music in the post just in case isp are forced to block them

Last resort move their operation to China like CD Wow do.

What do you guys think?

Regards,

Heidy

Mikey (profile) says:

too good to be true?

hi folks.
while allofmp3.com is still rejecting card payments i found alternative one. it’s here: mp3skyline.com

they say there’s more than 2 million tracks online and guess what? looks like it so!! for real.

i’ve not erd ov them before and tried to surf for some releases (i’m a house junkie) and found almost all there. i do not know if they have such wide collection of other styles but whatever there’s tons of stuff.

by the way. no probs with credit cards there – i got my money on balance in couple of minutes.

take a look and letme know what y’all think of it guys!

darpde says:

mp3skyline.com is a ripp off!!!!!!

I’ve just bought $20 via Pay Pal on this site.

As soon as I’ve got confirmation from Pay Pal that
Kagi.com had received my payment,I tried to enter
mp3skyline.com and got an error message saying
that the http had moved to a new location.

Of course I tried to contact both kagi.com and mp3skyline.com thru their support and help adresses
but they never answered back.

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS SITE.THIS IS A BIGGGGGG
SCAM.

Once they get your money they either block your IP or change their HTTP.

I repeat DO NOT BUY FROM THEM even if it is tempting.You will NEVER get what you payed for and they will NEVER answer your claims.

nobody in particular says:

mp3skyline looks good but...

I’d quite like to use them but they don’t take paypal (paypal dropped them perhaps?) and I don’t have an appropriate CC.

Its really infuriating that there are only 2 choices
(i) use a site that doesn’t pay proper royalties and rips off the artists (and the record companies – I mean they deserve to make _some_ money) or
(ii) use a site that, absurdly, charges the same for digital with lossy compression, no art, no permanent media or jewel case, restricted playback (eg hardware specific) and no transport costs for the seller, as you’d pay for a cd?

The main reason I’d want to use Skyline is NOT the cheap price, its that it appears to have a decent size catalog, including digitised vinyl transfers that otherwise would require hunting around the web and then paying £10+£2p&p for 2 tracks on a bit of black plastic I have no means of playing.

Why is there no LEGIT site with a decent catalog, no silly playback restrictions, and a price, say, half-way between the dodgy Russians and the fully legal ones?

The current situation is ridiculous. Why is the invisible hand of the market giving us the finger like this?

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