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Beware of Legalsounds? [Yes, it is legal]

Wed, 07/18/2007 - 09:00 — hardmoon

My review of Legalsounds was removed so I will post my comments here on Legalsounds. I'm a signed artist who has released some work for free a few years back. It's available for free on the netlabel www.subco.org . However, Legalsounds is trying to pull off money from unsuspecting customers by selling it on their website.

I do understand that people rave about LS's low prices on tracks, but be aware that in some cases, you're paying too much and filling LS's russian pockets with money that should still be yours!

Great MP3-Downloader ›
Sun, 08/01/2010 - 05:03 — voodoo child

I wish

99 cents!!!!!!, I wish!!!!. Here in Australia it is $1.69 per song if you can even find what you are looking for. I cannot purchase anything from USA sites. It seems only Americans are supposed to listen to music not the rest of the world. As a result of all this bullshit I have no choice but to deal with legalsounds.
Fri, 04/09/2010 - 09:15 — Scott in Corpus Christi, Texas (not verified)

C'mon Rob, get off it. Try

C'mon Rob, get off it. Try this. What if you had fifteen or twenty bands come in and give you their opinion? If all music download shifted to sites like LegalSounds, what would the artists have? How about nothing. Most everyone is bothered by the issue to some degree; that is called conscience. Most people can sense that something's not right. From there a person either does the right thing or finds someone like Rob to tell them it's all O.K.
Sat, 05/29/2010 - 07:21 — Visitor (not verified)

Scott, if the artists find

Scott, if the artists find that such a problem they should stop recording songs. Nothing lost. I think it is about time we loose this get rich quick culture anyway. And believe you me: real artists will keep making music with or without pay. Besides, there are plenty more ways to make money than through track sales. Go do gigs, TV appearances, etc. But mostly: play for the love of it, not for the money. It seems that any old hag with a pairs of t*ts and a hand to hold a mike can make herself a multiple millionaire within months. Good for Legal Downloads, good for the consumer and in the long run good for music!
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 16:45 — War Sex Video (not verified)

LegalSounds is just the best way to go.

I've been using LegalSounds for many years, AND I'M PROUD OF IT. Firstly, I'm not obliged to question the legality of LegalSounds, as a simple consumer merely buying from a store. If they say it's legal, that's good enough. And I must offer my truly educated opinion, that Legal Sounds is the smartest method to buy AND SELL music FOR CONSUMERS, ARTISTS, RECORD COMPANIES, music download services too, and video, and printed matter, etc. Let me explain: LegalSounds accepts payment for downloads, only in pre-paid increments of more than $25. LegalSounds is earning interest on the unused portion of those balances. Directly, my point is, this permits LegalSounds to sell songs for 9 cents, and compensate fairly artists and publishers, BOTTOM LINE (I'll bet ya'). Right now, under Russian law (the only law governing Legal Sounds) the copyright owner of a work, can demand the work be excluded from the licenses which allow LegalSounds to sell downloads. On the same token, a copyright holder can demand a licensing fee, for the sale of the work. That fee, can be any amount, the copyright owner wants, for past and future sales. Right now, LegalSounds offers massive 'free song' downloads, if the user pre-pays more than $25. The larger the pre-payment, the more free downloads. While the LegalSounds user is downloading songs for free, the balance of their pre-payment remains unused, and collects interest. The user grows weary, and bewildered, from downloading (which is always at lightning fast speed) album after album for free, and/or at the rate of 9 cents per song (not being able to imagine another song or album in the whole world they want). And large balances remain unused, through many purchases, and after download binges. That is why the songs are cheap, and the 'free song' downloads are generous. The LegalSounds catalog is amazing. That is because copyright owners don't often demand files be deleted. And the user is encouraged to invest in the pre-payment, and pre-pay in larger amounts for the 'free songs'. Right now, on top of all this, Legal Sounds offers a free download for every paid download, of the same file, you can e-mail to a friend as a gift. Yet, we don't see the biggest stars in the music industry complaining on the nightly news (like they did when Napster ripped off everyone). You can buy their music at LegalSounds. And, they're 'on guard'. So, I think they know. I know, at 9 cents per song, I can afford ten times as much music, as the record store offered to me. That is 'the best' for me. The artists, and the record companies know it, and need exactly that. Long ago, retail vinyl and tape cassette recordings were the only way for the consumer to buy recorded music. The tremendous cost of the product, caused everyone wanting a sizeable recording library, to buy tape cassette recorders (that connected to record players via a wire, and/or housed dual cassette players [one to play, one to record]), and blank cassettes. Everyone copied the music they bought, again and again, and traded mercilessly. The artists and record companies, nary complained about it, for many different reasons (mostly the poor performance of vinyl recordings over time). But those reasons, and limitations, no longer exist. The attitude of ruthless tape trading, led to the mistakes of Napster, and other file sharing conspiracies. The MP3 revolution so shocked everyone (the consumer, the artists, and the record companies), the new options and possibilities to sell music, to buy and collect recordings, were unexplored, before the lousy atmosphere reached a breaking point [at file sharing], alas. I don't want to pay CD prices for MP3s, ever again. If a download service is charging retail CD prices for MP3 downloads, THAT IS THE BIGGEST RIP OFF EVER! If you hear of an artist, or record company complaining about LegalSounds selling music, for which they own the copyright, that artist or record company, probably doesn't pay, like $30 a month, for an attorney; is probably naive as a lamb, and frustrated five seconds after discovering the work for sale on Legal Sounds. So, we all have a way to learn. It's the huge amounts of bank interest LegalSounds is earning (AND TECHNOLOGY), that makes recorded music TRULY AFFORDABLE to the average consumer, finally; not Russian law, or some weird thing like that. And that's my educated opinion. I don't hear any people, I NEED TO LISTEN TO, trying to change it either. You don't need to search further for an answer yourself. Every complaint I read about this company was wack, compared to what I just said. Some nut said, you can send a dollar to the artist for every album you download.
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 10:07 — Visitor (not verified)

legal Sounds is not legal

This is only a legal site in Russia. Why don't you bother to read the Terms of Service at the bottom of the website where they cover their wrongful selling of this music by making you responsible. (iii) You agree with the fact that you are not able to use or to download audio materials from LegalSounds.com if it is in the conflict with legislation of your country. LegalSounds.com is unable to control all LegalSounds.com users, therefore you are responsible for usage of the materials represented on the LegalSounds.com website. My husband found a lot of his music on this website and when he approached the company, they removed his tracks....why would they do that if they had the tracks legally. He makes his living out of selling his music and they have no agreement with the artists, they just rip the artists off and don't pay them a penny for the usage. According to their website, it is the responsibility of the user to pay the owner of the music. I don't imagine you bothered to read that, nor have you bothered to pay the owner for using his music. it is no different to walking in to a shop and walking out with items without paying for them. It is stealing and stupid people like you, are stopping people from earning their living.
Sat, 04/17/2010 - 21:48 — Visitor (not verified)

"I don't need to confirm if

"I don't need to confirm if something is illegal. I can put my head in the sand." Where were you when our country needed you?
Thu, 03/18/2010 - 18:59 — Visitor (not verified)

The thing that seems most

The thing that seems most ridiculous about all this to me, is the fact that although 99c for an album might seem like a bargain, all this music is available for FREE through torrent and p2p. In this day and age the only reason to pay for music would be bcause you want to support the artist who made it and/or want to own the original physical cd with artwork etc. If these considerations do not matter to you, why the hell would you want to pay for your music at all, when it is available for free? I produce electronic music and recently released a track on a compilation cd for a tiny non-profit label, only 500 copies printed and sold worldwide, although we knew full well that many times more than this would be downloaded and shared through soulseek ect - this is the norm and everybody does it, so we recognise that we are effectively relying on the goodwill of people who want to support the artists and the scene, in order to sell any copies at all. the real problem i have with a scam like legalsounds is not that they distribute our music without paying us (slsk and bittorrent have been doing this for years, it even generates publicity for artists), i also don't care that they con suckers into paying money for illegitimate downloads that they can and should get for free. the problem is that legalsounds' claim that artist recieve money for the distribution of their tracks, this is a barefaced LIE and morally repugnant whatever your stance on file-sharing and piracy, with the risk that people buying their music here may be duped into believing that they are supporting the artist. In conclusion, if you care about supporting the artists you listen to, buy your music from the artist or label. If not, you can get your music for free - no big deal. Just don't be a sucker and give your money to the likes of legalsounds, who dont support the artist and who dont offer anything that you can't get for free
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 23:33 — Visitor (not verified)

Legalsound.com is absolutely not legal

Not even a penny goes to any artist from the income these Russian crooks make selling art that is not theirs. They do not have any single agreement signed with any musician, music producer or music association. If you download music from this site you may one day be accused of violation of Copyrights. Then, it is not fair to the artists and producers to buy from such thieves. In court you will not be able to say that you didn't know that they were illegal. The lack of knowledge of the law does not release you from violation of the law. It is simple! :)))) I am worning you, do not participate in it. Also, it is not ethical to buy from theves.
Wed, 01/20/2010 - 13:26 — Visitor (not verified)

Legal Sounds Review - using for 5 years

Hello,

I've been using LS for over 5 years now and cannot fault it one bit. Personally I only buy well known song and they've got enough bloody money for me to care. I prefer this site because I hate downloading from those other sites because you're downloading from other peoples computers and I used to get a lot of VIRUSES!!! With legal sounds you download from them directly and it's almost instant. Hate Itunes- complete rip off, the music companies should start trying to be a little more competitive than they are now.

Thanks :)

Mon, 04/12/2010 - 23:20 — Visitor (not verified)

Well then you're an idiot

Well then you're an idiot then! You've taken tracks for free and don't be surprised if you get a copyright fine or worse, turn up in the mail! There are loads of sites out there which are free of viruses, at least you could use those instead of giving money to crooks!
Fri, 12/18/2009 - 19:13 — Visitor (not verified)

Legalsounds is awesome

I started with Legalsounds a few years ago. Regarding the exchange of money with Legalsounds, I never had any problems. Here's my take on it. I am relatively poor. If I relied on Itunes for music, I would never buy any songs. Why should I? If I want to hear a certain song, I can download it from an illegal U.S. site or even find it on Youtube, Myspace or Facebook. I use Legalsounds because I can afford to download entire albums. The download time is extremely fast and I have never gotten a virus from Legalsounds. To be honest, most of what I have downloaded is older albums that I purchased long ago in vinyl form and on cassettes, and I don't enjoy being forced to buy the same CD's over and over again every time the electronics industry finds a new method of playing albums. One might say that Legalsounds is immoral. As a former musician, I understand this opinion, but I disagree with it completely. I believe it is the recording industry and MTV that have ruined opportunities for up and coming musicians/bands. The "music industry" has spent the last 20 years pushing certain types of "music" that I cannot honestly even classify as music in my own heart. I feel that at least half of the music that has been released by record companies in the last 15 years has no chance whatsoever to become "classic" music. Most of it is forgotten in 15 minutes. Most of this "music' was shoved down the throats of an entire generation of young people who have no concept of what music truly is. I believe they were more or less brain-washed into thinking that this talentless crap was actually worth listening to. There are still some bands, i.e. Tool, that are actually great bands. I purchase all of their CD's at stores. I perceive the main problem to be the fact that unknown bands that are actually good bands, are no longer signed and/or promoted by the music industry.
Thu, 03/11/2010 - 02:06 — Visitor (not verified)

LEGAL SOUNDS ROCKS!

That comment was BANG-ON!!! Major Record labels = MAJOR GREED................'NUFF SAID....... .......That's why a handful or artists are starting their own record labels...so people buy them. anyone with any sense of the value of a dollar (or a pound) know how overtly over-priced new music is. Remember, the most expensive CD, DVD, or ALBUM produced is the FIRST ONE off the lot. As soon as the distributors buy them from the record labels, they are paid for. Now for the mark-up!! As soon as department stores buy them from the distributors, they have been paid for 100 times over. As soon as people buy them from the department stores they are paid for about a 1000 times over. That's just plain economics, not rocket science........ .....CUT THE OVERHEAD....REDUCE THE PRICE.....OR DEAL WITH ONLINE PLACES LIKE THIS.
Fri, 01/15/2010 - 05:11 — scott (not verified)

Re: Legalsounds is awesome

I agree with Visitor (not verified). The comments are right on the money.
Fri, 12/18/2009 - 18:56 — Nova (not verified)

Woah!

The problem with the internet is the anonymity of it all; you can say all manner of horrid, extremist things, and all you get are a few nasty comments in return. But RogerRoger isn't what this topic's about, eh? :P So here's what I have to say about LegalSounds - and essentially, the age-old legal/illegal - music debate.

Support.

The.

Artists.

While we all sit here raging on at each other about what's right and what isn't, there are fantastic artists going under because people aren't buying their music. So instead of focusing the argument on the (even moral high-horse old me has to agree) ridiculously greedy record labels, let's look at it from the artist's perspective.

If you buy from legit sites, royalties - however small, however reluctantly - go to the artist. The bottom line is that LegalSounds (whether it tried and failed or simply didn't try at all; I don't think we'll ever really know) don't give royalties at all, however much you hedge it.

LegalSounds do not support their artists.

I know it sucks that the big guns like Amazon and iTunes take a lot of the cash for themselves, but a tiny royalty is better than a non-existant one, hey? :) And it doesn't hurt to find out which sites which give their artists the largest percentage.

Buying directly from an artist - from their website, during gigs, etc - is another good way of making sure they're getting what they deserve. After all, at the other end of all of this, the music we're Limewiring, Youtubing or LegalSounding is someone else's work. Hours of time, promotion, stress, and bloody hard work; all poured into one three-minute song we've taken a shine to. It's mental.

So if we have it on our iPods or CD players, I think it's... almost common sense to pay the £0.79/$0.99. Or if not common sense, common courtesy. I mean, if you loved a work of art and wanted it in your house, you'd gladly pay the painter... right? Or if you went out to eat and loved the service, you'd also gladly pay - maybe even give a tip!

Music's an awesome thing, and so I believe we should all support the artists we love. It's a very unpopular view - ripping it off YouTube is cheaper and so easy these days - but one that I think everyone should at least hear, whether they agree or not.

I know that if I was an artist, I'd sure want my music to be bought. And I'm pretty sure you would too! :)

Anyway, that's me done; thanks for reading if you got to the end. I'll stop rabbiting on now... us humans and our bloody opinions, eh? :P

- Nova, 16, UK.

P.S. And because this topic's getting kinda... cut-throat, I'd just like to clarify that the last statement I made was a joke. x
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 13:54 — Visitor (not verified)

...

You're 16, shut up.
Mon, 04/12/2010 - 23:29 — Visitor (not verified)

And you're a c**t, shut up.

And you're a c**t, shut up. Nova speaks the truth. About time someone did, ass*ole.
Wed, 11/18/2009 - 19:49 — Visitor (not verified)

Is Legalsound.com illegal?

Our band Kuru's debut CD called "Jälki" was released in October 2009. We haven't got a record company and paid all the expenses ourselves. It was released two months ago and we still haven't got back the money we put in. And we don't have the money to make another CD before we pay the first one. And now I can see that you can download our album from legalsounds.com for 1,08USD. They haven't asked permission and for every download we get...well, nothing. So, what do you think? Is legalsounds.com illegal? Jussi
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 11:39 — Visitor (not verified)

eh, yeah, you should demand

eh, yeah, you should demand payment from the 'collection society' under Russian law. You may need to research that. I'm guessing you will find your licensing payment satisfactory. You see, legalsounds is earning interest on pre-paid account balances (which is the only payment method, and larger replenishments earn free downloads). That's all; that's the whole explanation for 9 cent songs. Pretty simple. But, you can also demand legalsounds (and other services like it) delete your work, and/or cease distributing it.
Sun, 01/03/2010 - 01:06 — Visitor (not verified)

Sure it's legal

Jussi, You said you did not get paid for the music by the Russian "Legal Sounds" and you assert, therefore, that it is illegal. But, that site is in Russia and operates under Russian laws. If it's legal in Russia, then it's legal, period. What you should do, though, is request that they remove your music from their site or to pay you a commission. If they fail to do either, then you would have legal rights under international copyright agreements to file a lawsuit against them in Russia. Good luck with that, though. So, I understand your situation. What Legal Sounds is doing appears to be entirely legal, but it does not work in the interests of Artists from other countries. There is little you can do until you can get your own country to negotiate directly with the Russian government to work out some kind of royalty agreement. Does your own country care about your ability to make money on copyrighted works? If so, then they ought to do something. This is not a matter of the RIAA vs. some country, but country vs. country. It is not a matter of laws being broken, but a matter of agreements being negotiated. Paul
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 19:31 — Visitor (not verified)

It's bad enough musicians

It's bad enough musicians rarely make any money and are literally starving, when these companies try to leech off your hard work it is absolutely absurd. I just had to get them to get our album off and can't believe how quickly these mp3s have gotten around, not just legalsounds but plenty of others. I wish someone would step in and discipline these companies, like others wrote there are loop holes so it's a hard task. It is just so lame to take advantage of people especially hard working independent musicians. Just some thoughts, Kindle to Ember
Fri, 10/16/2009 - 19:37 — Angie (not verified)

legal sounds decision

After reading the comments, I will not purchase from Legal Sounds.com. I read one comment saying if they can sell it for that price why can't the studio, because they are greedy. I have the opposite feeling. The studios have to scout for artists, pay for voice/dance coach, position the artists, create artwork, produce the album, marketing cots, studio costs, payments to artists, equipment, promotion, distribution costs even make up and wardrobe, agents, executives, production people, on and on and on. ......then someone, anyone, can buy a song for $.99 then sell for $.10, it pays itself in 10 downloads, then its all profit. They don't have to pay for much overhead, except for the web page development, shopping cart and credit card transactional fees. Who is the greedy one here? This is robbing not just from the artists and studios, but all the people who work for them. It would be like working really hard on a big project at work and your coworker takes all the credit, gets a promotion and a rasie while you just get more work. Don't get me wrong, I know studio and the stars make big money and all the little people like me work our asses off and make nothing. It hardly seems fair, but I still won't steal from them, or anyone, because it is not just about the studio and the big stars, there are lots of low pay production people involved too. They keep a whole lot of us employed.
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 11:11 — Visitor (not verified)

you need to toughen up and

you need to toughen up and realize that if labels werent so obsessed with all the b.s. expenses you named, and focused on the art it would be more appropriatedly priced. stop buying into the pop machine. records are supposed to be advertisments for live tours. support your artist when they come to town. they actually see most of that money
Mon, 04/12/2010 - 23:44 — Visitor (not verified)

You need to shut up and

You need to shut up and realize that the so called "art" you talk about doesn't even sell!!! If it did, don't you think those corrupt idiots are the record labels would be jumping on that bandwagon istead of manfactured crap like Britney Spears and American Idol shite??? PS: To the person who posted before: The artist pays for studio costs, make up, videos, etc etc. The record company then owns them. Not fair at all. I don't not give two shits about record companies, but I do about certain artists and they should get the money for making their music. Simple as that.
Thu, 10/15/2009 - 03:41 — Fraulein (not verified)

It's definitely illegal - >

It's definitely illegal - > they just published Rammstein's album that hasn't been released yet.
Thu, 09/03/2009 - 20:00 — Joe (not verified)

Web Site Down

As of 4 PM EST, the legalsounds web site was down...page not found.
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 21:53 — Rob

Back Up

Legalsounds is back up. Looks like it was a temporary problem, whatever it was...
Thu, 09/03/2009 - 23:51 — Rob

Web site down

Hi guys- Well, although I haven't heard anything about this downtime from them, I doubt it is much more than a technical problem. They're a very popular and well running site; this is most likely a temporary problem.

I'll post here when things appear to be back to normal.
Thu, 09/03/2009 - 22:14 — Lev A. (not verified)

Confirmed

That's confirmed here. I tried it at 6pm EST and it's down, as is the downloader.
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 02:12 — Visitor (not verified)

It's not down, it's blocked.

I'm on Verizon FIOS and I couldn't get to LegalSounds.com today. So I checked via a different network, and you know what? It's up, fine, and I downloaded some music from it today. There is some sort of routing issue or maybe it's being blocked or filtered somewhere. Try using a proxy server or if you have your own server not on Verizon you can do a SOCKS5 proxy to gain access to LegalSounds.com and get around Verizon (or their peers) filtering.
Fri, 10/09/2009 - 06:08 — Guest (not verified)

If you don't like American

If you don't like American rules and law, If you're tired of paying Amazon and creative artists the royalties they deserve, if you so much hate corporations and capitalism of the free world, ... Then why don't you just move to Russia or China or Cuba or Mexico!!!... OF COURSE YOU WON'T!!!... You want your cake and eat it too, don't you?... You wouldn't even think about stepping overseas and embracing other nation's laws as yours... for life . Would you? You love America's freedom but you are unwilling to pay the price!!! I'm tired of ungrateful people complaining about America and it's laws. I'm sick and tired of the spoiled and lazy attitude of some people who want everything EASY, HERE, NOW, CHEAPEST, BEST QUALITY, "AND DON'T YOU DARE TO MAKE ME WAIT!!!"... yet, the same people are usually the ones who are unwilling to go the extra mile and work hard. They complain more and they work less and contribute much less to society and the improvement of their surroundings. Parasite LEACHES!!! Stop complaining and start working hard for what you desire and need. If you want MP3s but you don't have the cash to pay what they are worth here in America, then you know it's time to get off your lazy butt, work some extra hours, make some extra money and buy LEGALY what you so much desire to have!!!... But I guess being an ILEGAL lazy parasite is much, much easy, isn’t it? And if you do not agree with American legislature and prices with … then get active and do something LEGAL about it!!... You see, your lazy, cheap attitude won’t let you even move a finger to fix what you so much cry about. You just sit there on your lazy bottom, complain and get fat, trying to pull down America with you into your pit of mediocrity. But let me tell you this, you and all the illegal people like you will crash and fail, and eventually vanish forever. America as a nation will move forward and will survive and be amazingly greater. If you call yourself "American"… then start embracing America and its laws and regulations . Stop your ILEGAL activities! Otherwise... Move out of the way and relocate to a nation that allows you to get MP3s for 9 cents or less!!!!... Chicken crap, lazy people... I dare you!!!
Wed, 06/16/2010 - 08:52 — Visitoroftruth (not verified)

I know this is an old

I know this is an old comment but moving to another country is far more difficult than you'd imagine. VERY difficult. America wants to keep us dumb and trapped in this country and other countries don't want us stupid Americans so it's very hard for Americans to emigrate anywhere unless they have relatives that live in those countries. I'd gladly leave and get my unsaturated and fair priced music, our definition of freedom is a joke and so is the top music corporations that punish and rip off good people who support the music and let pirates thrive. You have a very nasty attitude...I'd expect that you're perfect and you've never not once downloaded something, even if it was for free and legal. America is full of crooks who don't care about you one bit! You think these big corporations that rule everything, rich as hell, truly care about about you! HA what a joke, you're a mindless shell waiting to buy into the next gadget or product. CONSUME CONSUME CONSUME. That's all this nation cares about. Anyway, I use legalsounds, started using it because I thought it was a trustworthy site after I skimmed through their legalities and such, I never thought to look into it deeper...after reading these comments and now that I'm older I will research and see what I've gotten into. I'm not sure if I'll stop using it though because it's done me no wrong for two years. For a "bad" site it is damn good..so long as it's legal. When I have more monies, maybe I'll transition to itunes because I care about the musicians, just wish they actually saw a lot of that money, it is true though that they get the majority of it from touring... I just don't get why some people here will bash legalsounds and not torrent sites that sometimes charge for their downloads/memberships and others often come packed with trackers and viruses that could get you into trouble or even banned from your ISP or sued, often times with music that is terrible quality. I will gladly pay a meezly 9 cents for high quality music that is virus free. Too bad about artists not getting their dues though, someone besides legalsounds has to be benefiting...I know some top corporations that own music copyrights all over the world would be all over this...in other cases they make exceptions so they word can get spread by other means (ie. without them forking a fee or lifting a finger to get it to that audience.) Sometimes you have to do shows for free just so you can gain an initial audience who will tell their friends and those friends will tell their friends and in this case a free song might see to it that your sales will spike on itunes or amazon. As for the starving musicians who have said their bit here, get your music onto itunes ASAP and get onto social networking sites and spread the word. GL. I've personally never Dl-ed music that wasn't made by very popular(very rich) artists and would support any up and coming artist that put their music on itunes.
Tue, 02/23/2010 - 20:57 — Visitor (not verified)

Shut up, idiot.

Shut up, idiot.
Fri, 11/20/2009 - 02:31 — Quikquik (not verified)

That's not the way I see it.

That's not the way I see it. I see Legalsounds as a wake-up call for Itunes and Amazon to stop gouging their prices and sell at 9 cents instead of 99 cents. If Legalsounds is making crazy money from selling songs for 9 cents then selling for 9 cents on itunes and Amazon will be even more profitable for Apple and Amazon as it will bring in even more customers to download from their sites (to prevent long-time customers from getting angry: they will get an appropriate amount of store credit) and thus be more profitable for them. I've always resented Itunes for being a money toilet (it's like flushing one-hundred dollars down the toilet for a paltry ninety songs) but if we all want people to download legally again, Apple and Amazon have got to take a good look at their competition, regardless of dubious legality.
Mon, 04/12/2010 - 23:54 — Visitor (not verified)

Are you an utter, total

Are you an utter, total moron? How are companies supposed to support themselves in the 'real world' selling their tracks for 99 cents? People out there who created this music for royalties so that they can make more music. There's a reason that amazon sells it for 99 cents instead of 9 cents, because they rely on their back catalogue to keep them going and launch new artists. If they were to sell it for 9 cents, they would go bust within a few years. And then there would be no new music. Think about it.
Fri, 11/20/2009 - 08:55 — Rob

You're right

I agree.

Think about what you're really paying for:

The capability of listening to a song when you like.  That is it - nothing else.  The music has already been produced, you can listen to it for free elsewhere (radio, whatever) - all you are paying for is the convenience.

And music companies want you to pay for this in several ways - by listening to accompanying ads on the radio, or looking at ads online when you use a music service, or buying a CD, or buying a MP3, or - god forbid - buying the latest and greatest music media format.

Who here has paid for the convenience of listening to a song more than once?  Buy the CD for $15, and then later the MP3, and ... when will this end?

You don't own it, you can't let others listen to it (according to the music industry), you can't share it, you can't make new music from it, you don't have any rights whatsoever to what you have paid for - you basically can't do a damn thing with it except listen to it when you like.  How much is that really worth?

Tue, 11/03/2009 - 23:27 — Visitor (not verified)

Typical US nationalist moron argument

You don’t’ think large US corporations take advantage of laws in other countries that provide them with greater profit? If I vacation in Mexico because I get more for my money (that my government taxes the hell out to start wars I don’t agree with) does that make me anti-American?. Can I not capitalize on the loose laws in Russia the way health insurance companies capitalize on human suffering? If I don’t capitalize on this situation, doesn’t that make me a socialist? The USA was stolen in the first place. How do you think we live the way do, and consume so many of the worlds resources? Is it because we are a nation of Christians, and God loves us best, or is it because much of the world lives poorly and we take total advantage? Go watch pro-wrestling and hit on you cousin.
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 14:09 — Rob

It's Blocked

You're right. I checked via a network in Germany (versus Comcast in the USA) and sure enough - it's blocked in the USA, but not blocked in Germany.

Sounds like something fishy is going on.
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 11:45 — Drezic (not verified)

Legal service

Hello, I would like to comment on several people here that rant and rave about the "moral issue". I think you have a point when you say that this is a moral issue, but do keep in mind that most succesful companies are constantly looking for loopholes in any law, and on far more immoral grounds than legalsounds.com. The only "immoral" part is that they are settled in Russia, which to some Yanks might be a crime itself (don't freak out, take a joke). Legalsounds is completely legal, and many US entrepeneur would invest in a company like it if it would bring them big bucks, even when settled in Russia. You can call this immoral, but there are also be those that call this smart business.
Wed, 07/15/2009 - 19:28 — Visitor (not verified)

Legalsounds

Interesting discussion here. I came across this subject today as I was looking for a particular song to download, not the whole album, and without wanting to be in shareware sites. Legalsounds seems one of the possible providers and does so at a very low price (with the snatch that you have to pay US$ 25 minimum, but OK, I want to buy every now and then anyway). The low price ,ade ,e a bit suspicious and so I ended up reading this discussion. I agree that if it's legal in Russia, then it's every buyer's own responsibility to make sure they can buy legally as a citizen of their own country. Many countries allow you to do so, however for personal use only. Then if you can buy legally from them in your country, the second question would be the moral one, for example do you think that for US$ 0.09 per track there would be room for a reasonable compensation to the artist. That is a personal decision for everyone, not a legal issue. But I just wonder how much or rather how little, in the old-fashioned way (i.e. CD, vynil) the average artist may get per each song, out of the consumer sales price to the public. The reality might surprise and shock you.... And still, the performing artists have survived being "squeezed out" by the labels over decades. So what's new? I think this is how the global village and the internet age play out, and it's our reality, like it or not. If the labels don't like it, I am sure they will try to set their legal departments with lawyers in the other country (like Russia) at work to fight it. If they are not successful in that effort, too bad for them. This can happen with every business that exports its product. If you don't like it to be accessible in your country, go to your congressman or your delegate in government and ask for stricter legislation to address this (which will not work, but that's a detail). The politicians will not like it because most of them have no clue what this is about, but you can be sure the big record companies will love you forever. As to the artists, I am sure that not the artists individually, but the labels and/or the representing organizations have refused to collect the royalties from the Russian organizations that collect them. If you want the artist to benefit fairly, then first have a look on the artist's own website to see if you can download what you want there. If artists don't offer that option, well I am sorry to say, but then they apparently don't want to accept today's reality. That was exactly what I found out when looking for the song that I wanted to download. She did not offer it, their French label did... but only if you have a bank account in France!!! Although many other artists (themselves or their labels) offer that option, they sometimes charge prices almost similar to the CD's. They also have lost contact with reality because their costs are just a fraction of the price of a physical CD sold through the conventional distribution channels. That, also, would prompt me to look for other options. As to our American friends: the world is a complex place. Your rules apply there, and other countries have other rules. Any exporting company knows that. Any performing artist should by now know that, by definition, their product will be exposed internationally (face it: the medium is called INTERnet, not AMERICAnet). That has its advantages (more sales opportunities) and its disadvantages (foreign law and regulation to deal with). I am sure that if artists would offer their own products on this same internet for download at a reasonable price and with enough flexibility (i.e. purchase by foreign clients, not only whole album but also single tracks etc.), there will be enough people wanting to buy their downloads that way. Some extra's (i.e. cover print etc.) might increase their competetiveness. As long as they don't, for me sites like Legalsounds would be an alternative that I will use. The comment about having to buy the same product on all different carriers (vynil, CD, MP3 etc) also makes sense to me. Why pay several times to the record companies for the artists' products that you already purchased and paid for? Finally to Rob. If you are indeed the guy or one of the guys behind Legalsound.com, and if you are American indeed, then I leave it to others to say whather it is morally, ethically or politically correct, but then I have to give you the credit that as an American you sure have been able to look beyond what may be the mindframe of some of your compatriates. JTinNL
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 21:21 — Visitor (not verified)

Man I read some of ur

Man I read some of ur Commets about Legalsounds.com U guys are something I been useing them off and on for about a year now...Thay dont sell my cc info at all and I dont get nothing in the mail from them I dont understand why u are bitchen about them.. if u what to pay $10.00 for an album or more go right ahead spend ur $10.00bucks on that...
Mon, 06/15/2009 - 16:56 — Gary Fisher (not verified)

Legal Sounds are definitely stealing from me.

I try and make a partial living by selling opera accompaniments to Opera Singers to help them learn their roles. I work very hard making the accompaniments artistically viable in order for them to be of the utmost benefit. I type in my business name in Google and up comes Legal Sounds. Not only using my business name but selling my accompaniments (for any price) has to be stealing no matter how you spin it. They could put me out of business destroying everything I am doing which includes making any further additions to the library. I don't see them selling Sony Products for dirt cheap. The problem here is MP3 downloads. They are pirate friendly.
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 11:24 — sam (not verified)

Legal Sounds gave me a virus

Legal Sounds gave me a virus and totally hosed my computer. Beware! It's a scam!
Sat, 08/08/2009 - 18:37 — Visitor (not verified)

legalsounds

Its not a scam... Ive been using it off an on for like a year now. and I use their downloading program, which also works perfectly. The only reason you get viruses is because you dont check the things your downloading and do not have the proper protection. Its been a good year and a half since my last bad virus... and I use my computer several times a day from 1-5 hours a day. Find a good reliable antivirus like AVG, and a good anti-spyware, like Spybot S&D. keep them up to date and you wont have those issues.
Wed, 06/03/2009 - 04:23 — John W (not verified)

The Legality Doesn't Matter...

People seem hung up on the legality issue. We all know that legalsounds is selling music without the permission or payment of the artist. So legal or not, we know each purchase is effectively buying stolen goods. Which is a strange thing to be doing, given that the purchaser is probably a music lover. People always mention the "greedy record companies" as a justification for bypassing the legitimate download sites. So are these people record-company insiders with an intimate understanding of record company finances? And do these people find a more efficient way of ensuring the artist receives what they deserve? No, it seems not. In their "anti-greed" quest they decide that they want albums for a dollar each and no money to go to the artist. So no greed there then. Now I know if cheap/free music is available (illegal or not), people will take it. However if you love music and you have a reasonable income then you really need to start buying legitimately. You have no excuses.
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 01:28 — Visitor (not verified)

where to buy hard to get titles then?

But what to do if the artist your looking for is not able to sell or allmost not available anymore at the original store? i was looking for difficuld to find materials (cultlike audio cds) but they were not available outside the country itself. is amazon or some companies like that than the wisest choice to make? or are there other normal or legal ways to get the music just for the right price or less? any suggestions? (not legalsounds.com ofcourse) thank you.
Wed, 06/03/2009 - 07:15 — Rob

Legality doesn't matter..?

Perhaps you are overlooking the most important point, John: legalsounds is doing everything legal, and *attempting* to compensate the artists. The record companies have rejected the payments (to the artists) to try to say "we won't play by your rules". In this case, it is not Legalsounds that is refusing to pay the artists - it is the major labels themselves.

Thought that the labels are siding with the aritsts?  Think again.  They want more money, and don't give a damn about paying the artists from the pile of money (royalties) that Legalsounds (and other Russian music sites) have been paying to the legal entities in Russia for exactly that purpose.

So who is it really that is ripping off the artists?

Thu, 06/18/2009 - 23:00 — Gary (not verified)

Compensation???

They are using my material and there is no offer of any compensation from them or in fact any contact of any kind. Compensation??? You are fooling yourself. No way! You are just trying to justify your buying stolen merchandise.
Wed, 06/03/2009 - 12:05 — John W (not verified)

Legality doesn't matter..

Hi Rob. Thanks for verifying that legalsounds.com does not pay royalties to either the record companies or artists. I know some of the posts on this forum were unsure of that fact. As for attempted compensation, I guess we (on this forum) will never really know the true details of what was offered and why it was rejected. However, looking at your pricing structure, I would guess the record labels/artists didn't like cutting their income by 90%. And let's face it, who would? So as for your question "who is it really that is ripping off the artists", I'm afraid the answer is still legalsounds.com.
Wed, 06/03/2009 - 13:32 — Rob

Legality matters

John -

The legal entities in Russia responsible for collecting royalties doesn't pay the royalties in the same sense that your utility company refuses to accept money from you when you attempt to pay your bill.  If they don't want your money, you can't exactly force them to take it.

In Russia, there are a couple of organizations that are the legal entities for collecting royalties for the work of the artists.  Legalsounds pays them.  The labels won't accept the money, because they don't like not being able to force the legal entities there to do what they want.

If I were an artist, I would be angry at my record label for refusing to give me any royalties, regardless of how much they are.  Since the Russian entities likely set their own rates at which a label or artist can receive a royalty, we don't know either if the artist is entitled to 90% of the price of a song (which would be on par with what they would receive from iTunes) or what.  So you are right, we don't know the details.  For all we know, the Russian system could favor the artists more highly than the labels, and that could be the reason that the RIAA/IFPI don't want to play by their rules.  Perhaps the artists would benefit more than the labels under the Russian system.

Of course, like you, I am only able to speculate.

Thu, 06/04/2009 - 02:55 — John W (not verified)

Stealing Cars

Hi Rob. Given your continued defense of legalsounds.com on this forum I would guess you have a vested interest in the company. This would certainly explain why you keep trying to dodge the issue of music theft. So let's make things simple. Let's say I want to buy a car. The seller wants $10,000. I offer $2000. The seller declines my offer. So later that night I go and steal the car anyway. Do you really think anyone would agree that I was entitled to steal the car because the seller didn't accept my offer? Probably not. But that's exactly what you are asking people to believe regarding the music on your site. So no matter how you try to justify it, the current situation is that legalsounds.com is profiteering from stolen goods. Anyway keep going with your responses Rob. You're giving me some really good material to work with.
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