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Saliva's third effort for Island Def Jam has completely excised the rap-rock overtones of their original model, adopting instead an amplified hard rock sound informed by the band's Southern roots. There's still some pandering to major-label stylistic cataracts -- "No Regrets, Vol. 2" and "Open Eyes" are forgettable plods comparable to post-grunge also-rans like Chevelle. But Saliva make up for it with a clutch of massively compressed hard-head rockers that revel in rock star debauchery even while railing against the plasticity of the industry. "You music business whores are all about just getting paid," frontman Josey Scott spits in opener "Rock & Roll Revolution," and the song's sledgehammer rhythms are refreshingly at odds with Saliva's rap-rock-coddled past. But Scott can't completely dismiss success -- he happily revels in the twin guitars and two-girls-for-every-guy spoils of "One Night Only" and the title track. Other highlights include the patriotic rant "Two Steps Back" and "Razor's Edge," a faithful Lynyrd Skynyrd update featuring 3 Doors Down vocalist Brad Arnold. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
AllofMP3 fights for survival
As pressure amplifies and Visa yanks payment support, controversial Russian download site goes on PR offensive and is reportedly set to shift to an ad-supported model.
After flying largely under the radar for several years, AllofMP3.com is now squarely in the crosshairs of the music industry.
AllofMP3 home page.
With its home country facing pressure to shut it down in order to ease its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Russian music download site went on a public relation offensive this week to counter claims that it is an illegal operation. But as it did, the site took a major hit when credit card giant Visa International said today that it has suspended service to the site.
On top of all that, the site is set to shift to an advertising-supported business model, offering its catalog of music for free if users watch advertisements, according to the International Herald Tribune.
"The company has been unfairly characterized as a pirate Web site," said Vadim Mamotin, director general of the site's owner Mediaservices, through a translator at a press conference yesterday, according to the Associated Press. "Nothing could be further from the truth. The US government is conveniently using AllofMP3 as an issue to gain further concessions from Russia."
A US trade representative said earlier this month that Russia could expedite its 13-year-old bid for a place in the WTO by shutting down AllofMP3.com.
Visa's announcement today that it was pulling payment support deals the company another major blow. Visa spokesman Simon Barker told CNET's News.com, "[The site]'s no longer permitted to accept Visa cards. The action we've taken is in line with legislation passed in Russia and international copyright law."
AllofMP3.com typically charges under $1 for an entire album and just cents per track. Mediaservices maintains that it pays taxes in Russia and that 15 percent of every sale is sent as royalties to the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS), a licensing body it claims is responsible for compensating copyright owners. Those payments keep AllofMP3 in compliance with Russian laws, the company claims.
The society has "offered to pay the record companies the royalties they collected but [has] been rebuffed," said Mamotin. The major record labels do not recognize the organization as a royalty collector on its behalf.
The record labels also argue that Mediaservices has never obtained a license to sell their music in the first place, a requirement under US copyright laws.
In a statement today, a coalition of music industry organizations, including the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), refuted AllofMP3's claims.
"Under the copyright laws of virtually every country in the world, including Russia, it is illegal to distribute recordings without the permission of the rights owners," the group said. "ROMS has no mandate from international rights holders to license the site in or outside of Russia."
In the press conference, Mamotin said the record labels' beef is with ROMS, not his company.
"In six years of operation we have never been convicted by a Russian court or declared illegal," the AP quoted Mamotin as saying. "Under Russian law we are 100 percent legal. We are troubled by the business dispute and believe that this has hurt our business... we are considering a number of options to address the issues including appealing for direction negotiations with the record labels. As we see it, the record labels really have an issue with ROMS, and perhaps, the Russian government. But suing AllofMP3 and enlisting the US government to put pressure on us is not the solution to their problem. They really should view us as an opportunity."
One of those solutions is a move to an ad-based model like the forthcoming SpiralFrog, according to the Herald Tribune. The paper reported today that AllofMP3 is set to make its catalog available for free if users view advertisements.
The report said the site will offer consumers a new software program that allows them to download any song from the site for free. Users of the new service will only be able to listen to songs by using the AllofMP3 software, and the songs will be usable on just one computer at a time. The interface, called Music for the Masses, will initially be available for Microsoft Windows, with an Apple version arriving in several weeks, Mamotin said.
Users who wish to transfer their songs between computers or to a music device like an iPod or another MP3 player will have to pay for the music.
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