AllOfMP3 has been under attack for the last 6 months, and it’s showing: there are practically no payment methods left to use. So what are decent alternatives to AllOfMP3? Are there any, even?

I did a little research and came up with what I think are the top alternatives. One thing is obvious: there are plenty of options out there, and finding a decent music service isn’t as hard as you might think. In the following I’ve reviewed the top six sites that I think are the best out there, and that will suit most people - possibly even better than AllOfMP3 in some ways.

For some people, just the fact that this site has it’s own download manager with search capability will make LegalSounds.com more attractive than all the other sites - in fact, this is the site I personally recommend. With a download manager, the chore of downloading and searching for tracks is made easier. Although similar in purpose as the AllOfMP3 Explorer (or AllTunes), it isn’t quite the same - for a few reasons.

First of all, the catalog is searched online - not offline - which means that you always have the latest catalog search results, without storing the database on your PC. Secondly, it obviously has a somewhat different design than the AllOfMP3 or Alltunes programs did - but it is easy to get used to.

Track prices are $0.09 for every song - the bargain of all of the inexpensive music providers online as of this writing. With such a low price, you’d think that the encoded bitrates must be low - but all tracks are between 192kbps and 320kbps - which is better than several of the other music providers out there.

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 a 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.

Perhaps the biggest selling point of JustMusicStore.com is the enormous catalog - over 159,000 albums are claimed to be online (much more than AllOfMP3 had). The extensive catalog contains lots of older tracks, too - which may make this site the holy grail for specialized listeners.

There are two “classes” of track prices: those between $0.11 and $0.15, and those between $0.28 and $0.39 - and there doesn’t seem to be any clear cut reason for a track to belong in a particular class (popular albums seem to all be in the cheap range). Your price per track depends on how much credit you purchase ($50 of credit gets you the $0.11 price, for example). You can pay with all major credit cards and PayPal, which will suit most people. The recorded bitrates are good, usually 192kbps or better. If you’re looking for the widest selection available , then this is the site for you!

JustMusicStore downloads are fast, and with the aid of an external download manager (FlashGet or the like), you’ll be good to go. This site also offers free previews of individual tracks or entire albums (albeit at lower quality).

iSOUND.be seems to be right on par with the pricing of JustMusicStore.com, but they don’t claim to have the incredible number of albums that JustMusicStore does. That probably won’t matter, since the catalog is still large (almost 60,000 albums), and the encoding rates are good (192kbps or more).

Similar to JustMusicStore, there are two “classes” of track prices: those between $0.11 and $0.15, and those between $0.28 and $0.39 - and again there doesn’t seem to be any clear cut reason for a track to belong in a particular class, although it most popular albums seem to all be in the $0.11-$0.15 range. Your price per track depends on how much credit you purchase ($50 of credit gets you the $0.11 price, for example). You can pay with all major credit cards and PayPal.

iSOUND.be also provides pre-listening to entire albums, so you can be sure you really want an Album before you purchase it. Downloads are fast, and with the aid of an external download manager (FlashGet or the like), you should have no problem managing your downloads.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of using mp3sugar.com is the large bonus offered when charging up your account: if you buy $34 worth of credits, you get an extra $10 on top of that. The fixed pricing means you may get a better deal on some albums here than other websites; however, you cannot pick the encoded bitrates of the tracks. There seems to be no default encoding rate, with some albums being encoded entirely at 192Kbps, and others using a mixture of encoding rates.

Major credit cards are accepted (VISA, Mastecard, JCB, DinersClub), but nothing else for topping up your account. If you want to use PayPal or some other more exotic payment method, you’ll have to go elsewhere.

If your tastes aren’t too exotic and obscure, the catalog at GoMusic.ru will probably serve you well. With predictable pricing per song, you’ll make out better getting some larger albums here than on other websites. They accept major credit cards, but not Amex or Discover. Alternatively, you can pay with Webmoney, the PaySafeCard, UKash, or use an interesting feature that allows you to charge directly onto your home phone bill. If this kind of payment method interests you, then this site may be for you (as of this writing, no other sites offer this feature!)

Like most sites, you don’t get to choose what bitrate you’d like to have the MP3 encoded in, and there are no formats other than MP3 available. The songs are encoded at various rates (including Variable Bit Rate, or VBR). The website interface is available in either English or Russian, and seems to flow well.

A long-time player in the MP3 world, MP3Search.ru isn’t leaving the scene anytime soon. With predictable pricing per song, you’ll make out better getting some larger albums here than on other websites. They accept major credit cards, but not Amex or Discover. Alternatively, you can pay with Webmoney, the PaySafeCard, UKash, and some other less popular payment types.

Like most sites, you don’t get to choose what bitrate you’d like to have the MP3 encoded in, and there are no formats other than MP3 available. The songs are encoded at various rates (including Variable Bit Rate, or VBR). The website interface is available in either English or Russian. Downloads seem fast and the website is pretty easy to use.