Some of you might have heard about eMusic's recent deal with Sony Music and the price increase that went along with it. I'm a bit torn about this deal myself. On the one hand, even though eMusic's prices have jumped 66%, eMusic subscribers will still pay less per MP3 than they would buying music from iTunes or Amazon, and there's still a great selection of indie music there. On the other hand, that price jump is an obvious concession to an RIAA label — especially one that once thought releasing CDs filled with malicious rootkit software was "no big deal" — and it makes eMusic less valuable to existing customers. Plus, eMusic has not handled its critics well.
If you're an eMusic customer, I'd like to know your reaction to all this. Do you plan to remain with eMusic in spite of this deal, or are you canceling your subscription? Please answer this poll, and feel free to leave a comment here, too, and let me know if you think Dave's Lounge should continue its marketing relationship with eMusic.
Playlist for Dave's Lounge #161:
- Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy, "Maybe Soon" Buy from: iTunes
- Under, "Beam of Light" Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
- Deborah Anderson, "Breathe" Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
- Mouchette, "Dusk" Buy from: iTunes
- Norine Braun, "Be Brave (Blaxcot Remix)" Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
- Blind Divine, "Disillusioned" Buy from: iTunes | eMusic
- Mooli, "Awaken" Buy from: iTunes
If you'd like to listen to this episode or any other on your iPhone, check out the Dave's Lounge direct download page.
Enjoy the show!
i’ll probably stick with emusic one or two more months to see what the selection is like. i doubt i’ll be interested in most of the new stuff, though the max 10 credits per album is a potentially nice feature.
but after i download a few more albums ive been meaning to get, i’ll probably ditch emusic and try out aime street.
i sense a coming need for an affordable, quality music download site which focuses on indie music. hopefully aime st or bandcamp can step up and fill that gap.
I’ll stick with e-music and Dave, I hope you do too. The fact is that they have to be profitable for not only themselves, but for the labels they sell music for. I am also an artist with music for sale on e-music and appreciate that angle first-hand. (King Midas “The Afterglow EP”, check it out). As much as I love getting tracks for $.25 a piece, I knew it couldn’t realistically last forever. I don’t think they’re abandoning indie music because all of the stuff I love is still there. They need more subscribers to stay profitable and the sony deal should help that. If anything, it helps to make sure they will still be around. 50 or 60 cent per track (or whatever it is) is still a great deal. And you still find stuff on e-music that you don’t find elsewhere. I’m stayin’!
Thanks for spreading the love chill of Be Brave Dave
I also like emusic a lot. I cant buy from Itunes here in Brazil, and most other places don’t sell beyound seas ….
I think in times like this, I can understand a rise in a price even if that’s a mp3. I will go on with emusic… Hope you do too…
I just loved this episode!!!!!
regards
Nina Cartaxo
You should continue to promote emusic. It’s a valid choice and alternative to the others. No one, other than politicians and Presidents, likes monopolies. You are right that emusic will stlll be cheaper, and you can tailor you monthly membership at a click to suit your needs. It’s still pretty good.
Hope I didn’t get into this conversation too late, but I’d vote to continue to pimp eMusic, since it’s at least a nice alternative to the dominant (and lower-artist-revenue) iTunes and Amazon.
hi dave like this pod cast because of nathalie walker singed dusk i liked i like i loved all podcasts okok i dont speak every thing was inglish i love this web site ok good bye