Now allofmp3 is dead...sort of

So, one of the things I missed last week while I was working out at the U.S. Senior Open was the official death of allofmp3.com, the controversial Russian music download site that sold mp3s for as little as 10 cents a track.
According to reports, Russia shut down the service (which was once one of the most popular sites on the Internet) last week, in a move to gain entrance into the World Trade Organization.
My opinion on the global economy aside, I was not shocked to see it go. I do find it somewhat shocking that it was replaced by two services so quickly - two services that existed before.
Online reporters were quick to point out that the suspiciously similar mp3sparks.com and alltunes.com were up and running. Of course, alltunes.com is a service of allofmp3.com, and at one time was directly linked to the allofmp3 homepage.
As for mp3sparks, which now appears to be shut down, they appeared to have cut and pasted allofmp3’s user agreement and terms and conditions on its Web site, and had a layout that was incredibly similar to allofmp3. But again, that site has apparently been shut down as well, so nuff said about that.
So what now? It will be interesting to see if this one move will help Russia get into the World Trade Organization. And equally interesting to see what will happen after it is.
In the meantime, there are dozens of other Russian--based mp3 services online, none of which were as visible as allofmp3, but they are there. So, for those of you who are looking for inexpensive music sold by companies who screw musicians out of royalty payments (much like the publishing companies, record labels and unions representing American artists) there are options.
The best option is going out to see your favorite band play live. Then you know the band gets paid - after their manager, the club, the touring company and the pizza guy. Man, it’s not a good time to be a musician.