MyMusicInc - Review
Site Information
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URL | www.mymusicinc.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affiliated Sites | musicinc.cc, iMusicSearch.com, webreviews.org | ||
| Owner | Account Holder 701 Rossland Rd E Ste 369 Whitby, ON L1N 9K3 Canada |
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| McAfee SiteAdvisor Analysis | Feedback from credible users indicates that this site may be trying to sell you something which is normally available elsewhere for free. | ||
| Alexa Traffic Rank | 15,300 | ||
| Hosting | 209.172.48.171 iWeb Technologies Group |
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| Site Evolution | Internet Archive Wayback Machine |
Pricing
Lifetime Access $34.95. 2 Years Unlimited Access - $0.99/Month (= pay $23.76 up-front). 1 Year Access - $1.49/Month (= pay $17.88 up-front). Movie upgrade package $14.95.
Refunds
The FAQ says: If unsatisfied, for any reason, you can cancel your membership within 30 days for a full refund.
Postings in online forums (example) seem to indicate that it’s not that easy to get a refund.
What are you promised?
Once you become a member you are supposed to get the following for free: Largest selection of
Comments: How can they promise no spyware or adware when you’re connecting to a P2P network? Not to mention “100% safe”
What are you really paying for?
- The fee assessed by MyMusicInc.com entitles You to access the location, evaluation, and or recommendation of software products available from the web site and for the installation and technical support provided. All software recommendations refer to software that is available without charge to individuals at large for specific purposes. The service makes no download speed performance guarantees or the availability of specific files for download on the peer to peer network.
- None of the fee entitles You, as a Purchaser to any ownership, licensing rights or recourse with regard to use of the software other than those rights offered by the software owners or licensees.
- Purchasing a membership in MyMusicInc.com does not give you license to download or upload copyright material. If a person publicly performs, reproduces, distributes copies, or displays works without consent of the copyright owner could be in violation of the law.
Not much to add here. It is clear that you are not paying for any copyrighted material. No part of the fee that you pay to become a member ever goes to artists or copyright owners.
Privacy
There are a couple of sections in the privacy policy that are vague:
- Use and Disclosure of Data - Disclosure shall be limited to only to those that MyMusicInc.com is compelled to disclose to.
- Access to Internet User data that identifies the Internet User’s name and/or e-mail addresses is limited to designated MyMusicInc.com employees who require such access in order to perform their jobs and to an Advertiser or Publisher that provided such information.
Is paying $100 “compelling” enough for them to disclose user information? Also, advertisers and Publishers are poorly defined in the privacy policy. Who are they and under what circumstances do they get access to your user information?
The Terms of Use is much clearer:
- MyMusicInc is a direct marketer that delivers email messages to its subscribers. All information voluntarily provided to MyMusicInc by a registrant may be used to support our marketing partner’s data services business. These services include the provision of personally identifiable data to marketing companies, advertising agencies, data compilers, data companies, and, to the extent permitted by law, individual reference, email marketers and look-up service programs. Such information may be used by such companies to provide users via email with information on products and services that may be of interest to them.
Complaints and Lawsuits
The Center for Democracy and Technology has filed a complaint to the FTC against Mp3DownloadCity.com and MyMusicInc.com. March 08, 2005.
Other Observations
The Terms of Use include a “Class Action Waiver” prohibiting you from participating in a class action suit against the company. We’re not lawyers so we can’t say if this is legally binding, but it is rather suspect that they feel compelled to protect themselves against this…
The home page prominently displays a ZDNet Editor’s Choice logo and a Certified For Microsoft Windows logo. When you click on these graphics you would expect to be linked to an article or a web page on ZDNet or Microsoft.com, but not in this case. In fact there is no trace of MyMusicInc on ZDNet or Microsoft.com.
The home page also displays logos of legitimate music services like Napster, iTunes and Rhapsody. And then there is the comparison page that “compares” MyMusicInc with these services, all in an attempt to give themselves an aura of legitimacy.
Summary
This is a scam. MyMusicInc will happily take your money so that they can recommend free software which you can use to connect to a P2P network. Note that you do not need to be a MyMusicInc member to connect to this P2P network.
P2P networks contain a lot of files, including viruses, adware and copyrighted material. As MyMusicInc points out in their terms of use, it is illegal do download copyrighted material, and paying MyMusicInc does not give you any license to download copyrighted material.
If you are looking to download commercial music don’t fall for MyMusicInc. Instead check out one of the services whose logo is displayed on MyMusicInc’s home page. Here is a list of the many reputable music services available.