Online (Legal) Music Providers

Yahoo, Real/Rhapsody, iTunes - there are bunches.

AUTO SPAM FILTER is what i use its only $0.10 per song and like $1.10 an album and im pretty sure its legal here in the U.S. now too.

EDIT (Moderator): Link Removed

MP3s for pennies? Russian cops say no
By John Borland


A Russian digital-music site offering high-quality song downloads for just pennies apiece is the target of a criminal copyright investigation by the local police, recording industry groups said Tuesday.
AUTO SPAM FILTER has been operating for several years, asking consumers to pay just 2 cents per megabyte of downloads--usually between 4 cents and 10 cents per song. Alongside the catalogue available at traditional stores like Apple Computer's iTunes, the site offered access to songs from the Beatles and other groups that haven't yet authorized digital distribution.

The Russian site claimed it had licenses to do so from a local clearing house, but record labels have maintained that the licenses weren't valid. After long-standing complaints, the Moscow City Police Computer Crimes division completed an investigation earlier this month and recommended that prosecutors charge the site's operators with criminal copyright infringement.

"We have consistently said that AUTO SPAM FILTER is not licensed to distribute our members' repertoire in Russia or anywhere else," Igor Pozhitkov, regional director of IFPI Moscow--part of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry--said in a statement. "We are pleased that the police are bringing this important case to the attention of the prosecutor."

The investigation marks a potentially substantial step forward in Russia for copyright holders. Record labels and movie studios have sometimes had difficulty persuading Russian law enforcement to deal with piracy problems.

A similar set of self-declared "legal" download sites arose in Spain, claiming to have licenses to sell music from local copyright authorities. Record labels sued both, and only one, Weblisten.com, remains online. The other, Puretunes.com, settled with the industry for $10 million.

The Russian MP3 site claimed it had full rights derived from the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society, as long as customers were planning to download the songs for personal use only. In a message posted in English, the site said it "does not keep up with the laws of different countries and is not responsible the actions of non-Russian users."

The Moscow City Prosecutor's office has until March 7 to decide whether to act on the police department's recommendation. The IFPI has also submitted its own formal complaint to the prosecutor's office.

According to the IFPI, the Russian music market is ranked No. 12 in the world, worth about $326 million in 2003. The group estimates that about 64 percent of music consumed in the country has been pirated, however.

RIAA Lauds Senate Passage Of Measure To Stop Russian Intellectual Property Theft

WASHINGTON, DC - [Early this morning, the U.S. Senate passed a very important resolution stressing that the Russian Federation must provide effective protection of intellectual property rights or risk not being accepted into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and losing its eligibility to participate in the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. The same resolution, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on November 16, 2005, is intended to help ensure that the Russian Federation adopts and enforces aggressive laws, policies and practices against intellectual property piracy. In response, the Recording Industry Association of America issued the following statement from Chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol.]

"With the passage of this resolution in the Senate, the entire U.S. Congress has made clear that the Russian government must significantly step up the fight against piracy as a condition for both its acceptance into the WTO and for receiving preferential trade benefits from the United States.

"The U.S.-Russia relationship must be built upon a mutual understanding of shared obligations and the application of the rule of law. The effective protection of American intellectual property has been sorely lacking in Russia. This resolution is significant because it expresses the will of the U.S. Congress that Russia must take effective action against those who would steal America's knowledge-intensive intellectual property-based goods and services. We must not enter into political arrangements with countries ill-prepared to adequately protect our greatest economic assets.

"We are especially grateful for the leadership and steadfast commitment to the protection of intellectual property demonstrated by Senators Lugar, Biden, Hatch, Leahy, Grassley and Baucus on this issue of critical importance to our industry. We look forward to working with the U.S. and Russian governments in the coming weeks and months to achieve the progress that is so desperately needed."