Note:
I've used mp3sparks.com in it's previous incarnation as allofmp3.com. This was before what some have reported as U.S.Congressional pressure on music download sites emanating from Russia. So it didn’t come as a complete surprise that during my review the site had become inaccessible for about 72 hours or more. It has since returned. I think the site offers good value and makes shopping for online music easy and convenient. They offer several features to personalize how information is displayed. The audio quality options are the best I’ve seen on any website. I’d hate to see a mp3 collection like this disappear permanently. However, the integrity of mp3sparks.com has again been called into question with alleged ties to a cybercrime group.
Summary
The home page of this graphic intensive website shouts we've got the goods. Obviously they understand the power that cover art plays in the buying decisions of music lovers. There’s a wealth of tools, lists and charts that offer useful information in making purchase decisions. Listening to tracks on mp3sparks offers the best user experience I've seen on music site. This is just one of the principle reasons why I’ve been a member for years. Recent addition of ratings and display enhancements, along with daily content updates, makes this site more than just a pay and go experience. However, genre searching needs an overhaul and reliability is cause for some apprehension.
Navigation and Searching
I like having quick access of the "Just Added" list right from the homepage before I do any searching. This allows me to see the site's latest CDs, by date, and flip through the cover art. You can search without registering to investigate the strength of the site's catalog. The common search methods, free text, alphabetically and by genre, are available but the real standout is the variety of bestseller lists and unique charts for purchase ideas. Practically every music site has some sort of Top Ten list, but none have the depth that mp3sparks has. Aside from National Charts by country, Greatest 500 Albums, Bestsellers of the Week, think of the value of being a search by
BBC World Music Awards
Latin Grammy Awards
NJR (French) Awards
Digital Top 10
Indie Top 200
Top rated Albums
AllAboutJazz Picks
Billboard's European Top 100
Best sellers in Soundtracks
MTV Chart, just to name a few.
Having the ability to set preferences for My Collection is a very cool feature. All my purchases can be marked and displayed by selecting certain options. I can also vote on any CD that I like and check off if I own it or not. IT's my guess these community settings feed the site’s other suggestions list: "Customers That Bought .. " & "Similar Albums/Artists".
Searching by genre yields too little results, perhaps that why this option appears at the bottom of the site. It hardly seems worth the effort. Therefore my only recourse to search for Brazilian contemporary music was based on my knowledge of artists and CDs. See a future post for the results of my sample searches and recommendations.
Listening to Tracks
Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, mp3sparks makes listening to your track easy. Simply select the track and an embedded music player appears and begins to play a 30 second preview. If you’re a registered user you can listen to the entire track. There’s no scrubbing like at mp3aim.com. This site plays a mono, low quality version suitable enough to make a purchase decision. Mp3sparks has the most extensive bitrate options I have ever seen, 128 kbps to CD quality. However, ID3 track information may need clean up for downloaded tracks. I’ve noticed this with other Russian music sites as well. Especially when a track includes Latin characters like the ç (cedilla), ê (circumflex) or ã (tilde). Cover art is not download but in a pinch one could always cut and paste from the site.
Pricing
Purchasing follows the standard shoping cart method. As with other sites, you must have credits in order to make a purchase. You can refill your balance in increments from $25 to $100, using credit and debit cards as well as phone pin purchasing. In the past I’ve experience problems with this site accepting my credit card from the U.S., I believe this is due more to pressure from the credit card industry and questions about copyright issues. However, I could not locate the About US link on the site leaving these types of questions unanswered. Track pricing depends on the file size and the bit rate. For 192 kbps quality tracks are approximately .12 to .30 cents and a single CD $2.15, double CDs, $5.25. Because I purchase a lot of music there are times when it's convenient to know what I've bought from a particular online music store. Most sites offer download histories as does mp3sparks, but thirty days is inadequate. However you can request purchasing statistics beyond that period via email.
Comments
Has some of the best charts and bestseller lists I’ve ever used. I normally don’t bother with these tools on any websites because I normally access a site with titles in mind. But the variety and uniqueness of these charts are worth consulting. Without a doubt my favorite feature is being able to listen to the entire track right within the webpage. With the exception of iTunes, the leader among music download sites, mp3sparks has very good and clear cover art. The flash images on the homepage are a big draw. High points for the wide range of audio quality options. Customizing the My Collection, bookmarking and user ratings are all excellent features which create a great user experience. I’ve not had to contact tech support so I cannot comment of their responsiveness. Not withstanding the reliability issue mentioned above, this site has much to offer and is very highly recommended if you tend to browse for music suggestions. There are other sites less expensive but not with comparable features and selection.
Of the features mentioned in this review, which are more important to you when you select a music download website?
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