[notrichenough]

Hey guys,

Last night another random idea popped in my head. I thought up an idea of providing a service of downloading (legally) MP3 from the net and burning on CD for individuals that have no means of paying for music over the internet.

I looked around the net, and I found www.allofmp3.com as a potential source, although their tracks seem suspiciously cheap +- 20 cents a track.

Anybody got any comments about this idea, or an alternative source of music.

Cheers

[jimmiejo]

I can't think of a "legal" way of downloading music for people other than downloading audio from an online store like iTunes, which people already do themselves. "Video killed the radio star", and mp3 players are killing cd players. I can't see a need for this service. Maybe you can tell us a bit more about your idea.

[notrichenough]

It plays on the idea that not many people at University(which is where i plan to market the idea) have credit cards to enable them to obtain mp3 over the internet. Also, if you are looking for a song that is not your typical MTV pop-y track, its a) almost impossible to find, and b) hard to find it in decent quality.

Hence people would email me a list of the songs they need, and I would then burn the music to CD for them.

[Sarafina]

Originally Posted by notrichenough

It plays on the idea that not many people at University(which is where i plan to market the idea) have credit cards to enable them to obtain mp3 over the internet. Also, if you are looking for a song that is not your typical MTV pop-y track, its a) almost impossible to find, and b) hard to find it in decent quality.

Hence people would email me a list of the songs they need, and I would then burn the music to CD for them.

What?! University students without credit cards? Heck they're the one's who are practically conned into gettting them. I would think you're target market are also the one's who fuel illegal mp3 file sharing and whatnot. People who can't buy music would probably just download it for free. This generation is sorta de-sensitized to the recording industries pleas. I just don't see your target market using this service.

[notrichenough]

Originally Posted by Sarafina

What?! University students without credit cards? Heck they're the one's who are practically conned into gettting them. I would think you're target market are also the one's who fuel illegal mp3 file sharing and whatnot. People who can't buy music would probably just download it for free. This generation is sorta de-sensitized to the recording industries pleas. I just don't see your target market using this service.

Maybe over in the US, but here getting a credit card as a student is a pretty rare occurance.

The thing is, as I said, the problem with pirated music is you either cant find what you are looking for or its crap quality.

Anyway, with something like this plan, fixed costs are almost 0, so I have pretty much nothing to loose except a bit of time and possibly a bruised entrepreneurship ego...

[skatewhale]

What? Why was this thing called MP3 Player invented again? lol To make it eaiser for us to download music online and take it with us.

P2P softwares allow you to download stuff from movie to MP3s. Few of these are limewire, bearshare, shareaza, Ares, etc. Just type in the song name, and tons of files comes up.
I know it's kind of illigal, but why would people pay for your cd instead of downloading free musics?
In our school, 60%-70% of people have MP3 players, if not IPODs.

Let's just say that you target people that only has a CD player. Is there a reason that they will buy your CD when they can get an MP3 Player for like $50? If they are so poor that they can't afford a MP3 Player, why should they pay for the CD? lol

I just don't see the target audience, but if you see it and you believe that this idea will work, go ahead a do it. We never know until we actually try it.
Just my suggestions.
Sweet Luck
Nick

[waveformpc]

Yeah, unless there is something more to this idea, I wouldn't go for it.

In the next year or two, things like iPod will even be obsolete... The devices will still be Mp3 players, but most of the music will be able to be downloaded via mobile broadband internet services (GPRS, EDGE, etc.). Heck, I'd be willing to bet that we will begin to see TV, movies, and music streaming across mobile devices (not cell phones, but dedicated devices). IP-based delivery is where things are headed, I bet that in the next 5-10 years, cable will be a thing of the past, as most services switch to IP-based delivery of TV and movies (unicast, giving you the ability to rewind without a TiVo AND choose your own TV shows). Move in that direction...

[miniminh21]

ok say you get your music cd burning business up and running, how would consumers know whether or not you actually payed for the songs or you just downloaded them ilegally, some consumers might want a peace of mind that they are doing the right thing.
and also i think you will find it hard these days to find consumers because of the technological advances like ipods etc.

well best of luck with it.

[cheng]

I did some research on AllofMp3.com. Its interesting you should read up. I am not sure whether a not one will end up behind bars for operating a business like allofmp3.com. I see that the fact that they operate in russia is to avoid the "legal issues", that would also mean someone could take this business and operate it in a third world country which dont really observe IP Copyrights. Just like how you operate an online gambling site outside of US. Here are some reviews given by others:

I e-mailed the EFF about AllofMP3.com a while back and here's what they had to say (You might remember Ren from appearances on The Screen Savers:

Thanks for writing and sorry for the late reply. Before I say anything, I should point out that I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. Unfortunately, the situation with AllofMP3 is, like many things, too good to be true. Whatever licenses or loopholes the site claims to have in Russia (which I would take with multiple grains of salt... or shots of vodka?), they don't extend to a U.S. citizen who downloads the content inside the U.S. That's where the copying takes place, and that's where the parties have to have a license to make copies. If they don't (and they don't), then you could be in trouble if the files were found on your computer. One interesting extra-legal thing to consider is that it's harder for the RIAA to get the names of people who use AllofMP3 in order to prosecute them, but that may not be true forever. Hope that helps!

Best,

Ren


http://blog.computeractive.co.uk/200..._on_allof.html

[nado]

I think the downloading services, especially with mp3s, are already flooding the market. And I'd say it'd be very hard to compete with all the big companies like iTunes and all the others already out there.

Then you also have all the P2P networks operating which allow people to download any content for free... and I think these networks will really take off in the next few years despite the efforts of organisations like the RIAA.

I think if you can develop a unique P2P or content-delivery system then maybe you could build a big enough following with a free service/program and end up like Skype or other freeware software companies which get bought out.

cheers
nathan

[GunshySlycat1]

Originally Posted by notrichenough

Hey guys,

Last night another random idea popped in my head. I thought up an idea of providing a service of downloading (legally) MP3 from the net and burning on CD for individuals that have no means of paying for music over the internet.

I looked around the net, and I found www.allofmp3.com as a potential source, although their tracks seem suspiciously cheap +- 20 cents a track.

Anybody got any comments about this idea, or an alternative source of music.

Cheers

Start a P2P.