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MP3sparks - where has it gone ?

Wed, 08/01/2007 - 09:01 — hermanthebenz
After the demise of my old friend Allofmp3, I had little trouble shifting over to MP3Sparks - up until last week Sparks was working fine, but today Sparksie seems to have vanished - does anyone have any inside info about what has happened to my little friend Sparksie ? Has the KGB taken him out too ? Has Keanu Reeves been sent in to save the world from reasonably priced downloads, dude ? Would love any of your opinions of the best of the alternatives to allofmp3/mp3sparks - I was what i would call a moderate user IMHO. cheers gang, let's keep fighting for truth, justice and nicely priced music ! :)
‹ Which MP3 site do you use? flac and/or ogg ›
Thu, 09/04/2008 - 21:12 — Visitor (not verified)

alltunes working... but no payment

alltunes / mp3sparks seems to be working again. however, there is no way at the moment to pay by credit card. i have been able to download using my existing balance. the pay by phone thing doesn't work here in the good ole USA. btw, great service. i've been using them for years and they have been scrupiously honest with my balance. hope they can get it together for us 'mericans...
Mon, 09/01/2008 - 21:59 — Visitor (not verified)

I was just now able to log

I was just now able to log on to mp3 spark. I've never paid them any money so I've never downloaded anything from them. I've been waiting to see if they were legit. I'm now thinking they my be a little flaky. JD
Sun, 08/31/2008 - 16:38 — Visitor (not verified)

mp3sparks

I used allofmp3 for a while but when it went offline I gave up. Almost 2 years later I found out it changed to mp3sparks. To my surprise I logged in with my old user name and found they transfered my old balance. That was last weekend. Haven't been able to log on since. Odd though, when you pull them up on a seach they are always listing their new songs.
Sun, 08/31/2008 - 04:28 — MP3Sparks user (not verified)

Re:MP3 Sparks

The site seems to have been gone for at least a week now. I just got Scars on Broadway and One Day As A Lion as recently as August 17, but since the new Slipknot album came out Tuesday I haven't been able to connect. It seems common though for the site to go down a long period and people think it's gone for good. I hope it comes back, however once my balance is depleted, I may just switch to mp3fiesta.com for more reliability.
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 04:28 — music lover (not verified)

MP3Sparks

Has anyone been able to access MP3Sparks lately? This is getting to be annoying. First allofmp3, now Sparks. Those sites were well organized and easy to navigate. Not to mention reasonable prices. Any suggestions on where to go??
Sun, 04/20/2008 - 18:15 — Visitor (not verified)

MP3Sparks Demise

Here's a link to why (at least in the West) we can't access MP3Sparks: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/11/mp3sparks_cogent_abdallah/ Someone mentioned MP3Fiesta as an alternative. Another site that's been around for as long as AllofMP3 is http://delit.net/
Sat, 06/07/2008 - 01:12 — Visitor (not verified)

Ugh

Well, it seems the mp3sparks is down for good. Anyone know a back door way to add money on the site? It seems as though it must still be up and running over in Europe; they keep adding new music everyday and traffic to the site hasn't tailed off all that much. Short of that, anyone know of a good site with an ample catalogue that allows you to choose the bit rate (or has one closer to 320)? Mp3Fiesta.com is ok....but it's bitrates are awful.
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 14:11 — NJRonbo (not verified)

I stopped downloading music

I stopped downloading music since MP3 SPARKS stopped taking money. I can't tolerate music below 320kbps and none of the alternative sites mentioned here offer that bitrate on a consistent basis. I am baffled how people are somehow filling their accounts over at MP3 SPARKS. I am going to sit and wait for an equal alternative. May be a long time.
Thu, 01/03/2008 - 00:17 — kendra (not verified)

Just wanted to let you know

Just wanted to let you know that I found a new site (at least new for me) called mp3fiesta.com. All songs are ten cents, all albums appear to be just 99 cents!
Wed, 03/05/2008 - 13:58 — Ronbo (not verified)

Need a site that is consistently 320kbps

I am spoiled by sites like ALLOFMP3 (now defunct) and MP3SPARKS (just went defunct) that offer downloads at 320kbps. I am intrigued by sites like MP3SUGAR and MP3FIESTA but their bitrates which average around 190-220kbps are just not up to snuff! Is there a site out there with a huge catalog of music that offers consistent 320kbps downloads? Anyone optimistic that MP3SPARKS will be back up soon to refill our balances?
Sun, 07/13/2008 - 10:12 — Visitor0001 (not verified)

You, personally, can't hear

You, personally, can't hear the difference between VBR rips in that region and CBR 320kbps MPEG-1 L3 rips. For almost everyone, a lossless file is indistinguishable (audibly) from a CBR 256kbps or VBR 224kbps average MP3. The marginal benefit (if any which is unlikely) is less than the cost of storage. The only reason to have higher quality files is to avoid degradation when converting to different lossy formats which requires a lossless version of the file (which 320kbps MP3 is not). If that's your motive, look into lossless formats (such as FLAC, Monkey's Audio, Shorten, Wavepac, Apple Lossless). If you don't care, then look for MP3's in the 192-224 VBR range (or better).
Wed, 03/05/2008 - 18:31 — Goatboy (not verified)

Sparked out

I too mourn the loss of MP3Sparks/AllTunes, and before them allofMP3. Ironically, loss of their service may actually encourage me to dip into the entirely free world of bit-torrenting... It's a funny old world. Good luck.
Thu, 01/03/2008 - 09:03 — Rob

MP3Fiesta

Yes, it is one of the most popular sites that is reviewed here. Check the review out here: MP3Fiesta Review Link.
Wed, 01/02/2008 - 23:58 — Kendra (not verified)

i'm upset, too!

For awhile, you couldn't pay with either visa or mastercard, then they started accepting MC, so I was happy! I bought LOTS of music-- enough to fill up my 60gig player. Recently, I couldn't pay with MC, so I was waiting for them to fix that, since they answered that it was temporary when I asked for help. Now, I'm sad to find out that it's not just me who can't log on anymore. I'm not worried about losing my dollar balance, but I loved that site and was using it for several years.
Thu, 01/10/2008 - 11:42 — Trinigirl (not verified)

allofmp3/mp3sparks disappearance...

I am really sad too - I really loved those sites. I just hope that they find another way to come back despite all the efforts of the corporate fat cats to block them. They need to keep on coming back - we will always be on the look out for them! If I could find a way of contacting mp3sparks I'd let them know..
Wed, 08/01/2007 - 11:16 — Rob

Use your AllTunes account

To use up the remainder of your balance at MP3Sparks or AllOfMP3, go to AllTunes.com . You will have to download the music downloader program and login using your MP3Sparks/AllOfMP3 account information, and then you'll be good to go.

After you've used up your balance, you might need an alternative: check the sites reviewed on the left to get started!

Mon, 01/14/2008 - 03:36 — Visitor (not verified)

MP3Sparks

I tried to use AllTunes.com to access my MP3Sparks balance. I could log in, but could not download AllTunes. They say it doesn't work with Mac. Now what???
Tue, 01/15/2008 - 02:42 — Visitor (not verified)

On 1/13/08 I was downloading

On 1/13/08 I was downloading as usual and brought my account balance down to 25 cents. So, downloads through mp3sparks and the alltunes software were both working, all day. However, when I tried to add funds via credit card, I was not able to. I got the typical "this payment option is not available at this time. Try another option or try again later." I've seen this before, and sure enough, a few hours or a few days later, I actually was able to use a credit card again. Hopefully, it will be so again. Great site. Hope the record industry will wake up and make this type of service the norm.
Thu, 08/02/2007 - 01:02 — hermanthebenz

Alltunes

Cheers Rob - have added Alltunes today, setup was no porblemo, after launching have tried to log in with my Allofmp3 id and password, its telling me there is a server connection failure, so will try again later, but big thanx for the advice, fingers crossed I can access it later.. :)
Tue, 08/21/2007 - 21:38 — Drunkykitty (not verified)

I haven't been able to login

I haven't been able to login thru Alltunes for more than a month now. I always-always-always every time get the login failure notice. I have a balance. Alltunes downloads the current updated info and I can browse it. I just can't use Alltunes to download anything. This sucks. The only way I can get music from them is to download from the website directly, one track at a time which sucks. If anyone has had better luck please post!
Mon, 12/31/2007 - 11:51 — bamb0o-stick (not verified)

I've been able to recently

I've been able to recently login to my Alltunes account and download songs, but now they took off pretty much every payment method to the site. Now I don't even bother to check out whether that changed or not. I'm still looking for a site that's as good as AllofMp3 and Mp3Sparks, a site that offers near CD quality (320+ kbps) bitrates for all their tracks and a decent library. Any recommendations?
Wed, 01/16/2008 - 08:43 — Rob

Check the reviews

I would check the reviews, but I can immediately tell you that some of the most popular sites have many albums at 320kbps. Check the Beginners Guide: How to Pick the Right Store for You to get a quick overview of them without having to read through all of the reviews.

Fri, 08/29/2008 - 13:10 — Dave K (not verified)

MP3 Sparks

Hello........ I see that MP3sparks is down again..........I remember it happening earlier this year but I expect they will be back. I was happy to see that they went back to taking credit cards.........
Sat, 08/30/2008 - 10:38 — Visitor (not verified)

dido ... I couldn't use the

dido ... I couldn't use the credit card facility last week ... just kept saying it was not available. Shame really as this is one of the few sites that offers 320kps bitrate.