It’s not quite piracy, and it isn’t illegal either: I’ve finally been turned on to the quasi-legal Russian music downloads at Allofmp3.com and mp3search.ru. If you haven’t already taken advantage of these services, good Lord, go ye forth and download forthwith!

Last night, I bought a 192kpbs-sampled soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? for $1.17 from the latter site, which offers all its music for a flat 10¢ a track. Allofmp3’s 1¢/MB pricing is a better deal, though, and you can choose the bitrate and format of your downloads. I happened to choose MP3Search because they had the track I was looking for, and Allofmp3 didn’t. But still. An entire album for $1.17. I shamelessly squandered what, 50¢, for content that would have cost me $16.83 from the iTunes store. The RIAA has got to be beside itself in paroxysms of foaming rage over the legal loophole the Russkis are using; their wroth likely compounded by the fact that there’s no DRM in these files, either. I mean, how the hell are BMG, Sony, and Virgin executives going to afford to snort all that coke and ketamine off of hookers’ stomachs if we’re not paying full retail prices? Poor bastards.

It’ll be interesting to see whether or not the Russian government closes the loophole as a result of some well-moneyed RIAA comminations, or if they’ll keep it open, influenced by the money the site operators bring to the table (not that anything so base as money would influence contemporary Russian politics, heaven forbid). In any case, it’s probably a good idea to stick your face in the trough before The Man empties it. If they do get shut down, you at least got it —legally— while the gettin’ was good. If not, you’re still buying music for pennies. It’s pretty much a win-win situation down here among us mortal folk.