MP3Fiesta is a music download service for those who want the latest music tracks for cheap and without any digital rights restrictions. Personally, I don't like iTunes because it's simply too restrictive with my music: songs can only be played on my computer or iPod. If you want to move them to another computer, you have to go through all kind of hoops that are either too complicated for a normal user or too time-consuming.

MP3Fiesta has 19,214 artists, 79,592 albums, and 867,366 tracks in it's music database! Over 300 albums are added to the collection every day! It's complete with new releases, charts, ratings, and has a large number of music genres, including International music from the UK, Euro, and World.

All music that you download from the site is in the universal MP3 format, so you can play it on your computer, iPod, mobile, etc. Another nice feature of the site is the ability to preview any song before you download it, up to 30 seconds with good sound quality.



However, the main reason to buy music from this site and not iTunes is because the price for tracks and albums is GREAT! Most tracks on the site are on average only 10 cents. That means you can download an entire album for about $0.99!! That's cheap! Even most of the new releases are $0.99 for the entire album!

MP3Fiesta also gives you useful information (for tech people) about the tracks, such as bit rate, time, and the size of the MP3.
And as mentioned above, once you download the music, you can freely copy it onto any other device that you like as many times as you want!
Visit MP3Fiesta
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MP3Sale is a Russian site with a good looking design and over 1.7 million tracks in store.

Tracks cost $0.15 per track. A complete album is paid per track but with a 20% discount. They accept major credit cards and a few other methods like wire transfer.

MP3Sale has signed agreements with the Russian copyright organization FAIR. This entitles this service to legally offer music by all artists and from all labels.

You can listen to a 30 second preview of every track using the built-in flash player.



All files are offered in MP3 format and a good deal of them are encoded with a variable bitrate using the excellent LAME encoder and the alt-preset standard switch. This produces an excellent sound quality practically undistinguishable from the original cd. But you will come across other bitrates.
Too bad the filenames are like, 04_-_This_Is_A_Song.mp3, but the ID3 tags are properly filled so automated renaming can be done with a tag editor.

MP3Sale has one of the best catalogues. Even the singles are present, with the usual special remixes.

Songs cost $0.15 per track, but when you order an album you will get a 20% discount on the total price of the tracks.

Download credit can be bought using major credit cards starting from $20,00. Depositing a higher account may give you a bonus up to 100%. Be sure to check their regular special offers.

MP3Sale is a one of the best resources for music. The catalogue is impressive. Too bad MP3Sale lacks advanced features like online encoding and a download manager.

Downloading is fast but you have to download every single file separately. It is advised to use a download manager for downloading whole albums. For those who like clean filenames a renaming tool is needed.

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The success of Allofmp3 has brought more Russian music services. MP3Sugar is one of first to follow this example.

Like Allofmp3, MP3Sugar has signed agreements with the Russian copyright organization ROMS. This entitles this service to legally offer music by all artists and from all labels.

Files are delivered in 192 kbps MP3. There is no copy protection. You can do whatever you want with the music files. Burn audio CDs, transfer music to your portable mp3player, no limits!

The large $10 bonus offered for purchasing $34 in credits and fixed track price of $0.18 will attract customers to this slick site. With a good catalog and credit card payments available, this site might be the one for you.

Most files are offered in MP3 format with a 192kbps bitrate, though we did find a few exceptions. The sound quality is excellent. Filenames are like, 04_-_This_Is_A_Song.mp3. Not quite the way we like them but ID3 tags are properly filled so automated renaming with a tag editor should do the trick.

MP3Sugar offers a nice interface and delivers a comprehensive catalog that includes albums from all major artists. Browsing the catalogue is not very user-friendly but the search feature is excellent.

All songs cost $.18, albums are paid per track ($.18.) To be able to download you have to pay in advance by buying download credit for $19,95 or $34,95.

A $34,95 payment will give you a bonus of $10 download credit and you can get even more free credit by recommending the service to your friends.
Take the site tour to learn more.


Legality
Many question the legality of the Russian services. Lengthy discussions on this subject can be found all over the Internet. The bottom line is that the Russian services are probably legal under current Russian law. Using these services from outside Russia could be legal as well. More information can be found on this page.

Price: 18 Cents a Track
Quality of Files: Mp3 192 KBs - 320 KBs
Selection: Over 530.234 tracks
Payment Services Accepted: Visa/MasterCard/Maestro, DCI, JCB, E-gold, Webmoney or by SMS
Reliability:Reliable
Misc:N/A
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Perhaps the most inexpensive music site on the world, LegalSounds.com boasts a great catalog and most importantly a music downloader and manager. If you want the least expensive option with the added convenience of a native downloader, then this is the site for you! Payment options include credit cards and several other alternative payment methods.



Several of these sites don't offer a native download manager; LegalSounds.com, however, does. For some people, this makes it more attractive than some of the alternative sites. Having a download manager means that downloading and searching for music tracks is quicker and easier than if you use a typical web interface.

Payment options include VISA, MasterCard, Diners Club or JCB and several e-wallets: WebMoney, Yandex.Dengi, Rapida, e-port, and Kredit Pilot. The site interface has what I think is a very classy design, and is available in English and Russian.
LegalSounds.com also has a bonus program: for each payment of $25 or higher, you get free track downloads. For $25 you get 25 free tracks, $35 gets you 50 free tracks, on up to $100 with a total of 200 free tracks. If you use the $100 bonus option, this effectively bring your total price per track down to about $0.076 per track.

Price: $0.09 per Track
Quality of Files: Mp3 192 KBs - 320 KBs
Selection: Over 640340 tracks
Payment Services Accepted: Visa/MasterCard/Maestro, Diners Club, E-gold, Webmoney, KreditPilot, Rapida or by SMS
Reliability: Reliable
Misc: For $25 you get 25 free tracks, $35 gets you 50 free tracks, on up to $100 with a total of 200 free tracks.

* Artist: Dave Gahan
* Album: Hourglass
* Release: 2007
* Bitrate/Quality: 192 kbps
* Style: Electronic
* Genre: Synthpop
* Length: 50 min 25 sec
* Download it


Dave Gahan's second solo work

The fans of the British electronic band Depeche Mode are happy again: its self-perpetuating leader Dave Gahan releases the second solo album Hourglass, a follow-up to his 2003 debut Paper Monsters. This time Dave once again collaborates with producers and musicians Andrew Phillpott and Christian Eigner who play guitars and drums accordingly with whom he has recorded three songs on Depeche Mode's album Playing The Angel. As Gahan states himself the new record is more electronic than Paper Monsters. Yet the main difference between the two works is that on Hourglass the percentage of hard rocking tracks is evidently much less. The musicians started working on the new material at the beginning of the current year, and as a result there have been selected ten most interesting tracks. Although album Hourglass reminds of Dave Gahan's creative work as part of Depeche Mode in many respects, it is quite obvious that his vocal abilities never cease to evolve and there have appeared more elements of introspection in his lyrics.

Loneliness, search of happiness and obsession on Hourglass

There is no doubt that Hourglass is a typical Gahan's album. The basic themes here are loneliness, search of happiness and obsession, and the tunes are sullen and heartfelt as always. The album opens with one of the best tracks Saw Something: slow and melancholic it conquers at once with the painfulness of the emotions Dave is experiencing that are expressed both in the melody and in the vocals. The first single Kingdom - is a more aggressive composition with penetrating instrumental background. One of the toughest songs on the record is Deeper And Deeper, containing all the component parts of the true electronic music - the groaning of guitars, powerful drums and Dave's voice amazing with the width of its range. A slower but all the same tense track 21 Days pleases with the deep thoughts in the lyrics, and composition Miracles sounds like the soundtrack of a beautiful fantasy movie utterly justifying its name and getting the listeners into trans. Faultless guitar hooks of song Use You perfectly combine with Gahan's stunning vocals, and starting with the sounds of the sea track Endless can be called the most electronic one on Hourglass. The record closes with amazingly melodious composition Down, causing the listeners to reflect on loneliness.

Solo career is a success as well

No matter what the evil tongues say, Dave Gahan creates the same impressive music out of the band as well. At the age of forty-five he knows from his own experience everything he sings about in his songs and has never thought it necessary to hide his dark sides from the audience. In the end it is the frankness of the texts combined with deeply thought metaphors or vice versa, primitive simplicity have always served the calling card of both Depeche Mode and Dave Gahan personally. This time the singer did not reject the formula, so, listening carefully to Hourglass, you will learn a lot of new of him. Gahan's biography rich with events - the loss of his step father when a child, early acquaintance with the police, endless looking for a job, drug addiction and rehabilitation - never ceases to be the source of ideas for the new material. With the support of producers and the loving third wife and of course the band, he keeps creating, and judging by the powerful energy of Hourglass, he is not yet finished. The second album has proved to be as lucky as the debut one and one can say for sure that Dave Gahan's solo career is a success as well.