Missing eMusic - Music

It's coming up on a year since eMusic changed their terms of service effectively killing what made the service great. As I sit here listening to yet another band that I would never have even considered buying, it just makes me sad. eMusic was such a great service for exploring music and I discovered so much through there. Oh well, I can thank them for introducing me to Flogging Molly, The Black Keys, The Residents, The Dining Rooms, Laika, Nu Spirit Helsinki and numerous other great bands including the symphonic metal band I'm listening to now, Power Symphony.

I haven't really paid much attention to eMusic since I left the service, but my prediction that they would be dead in six months was quite incorrect. They're still around, and it appears they're getting ready to launch an updated site, though keeping the same service offering. Their $9.99 for 40 downloads model with no way to buy more, still makes no sense to me, but what do I know. Maybe in another year I'll stop being pissed at them and actually give the service another shot, the independent labels certainly deserve the support and they really do have some great stuff there.

Hmm, just noticed they have four Patricia Barber albums. If you're an eMusic subscriber I'd definitely look at those. I have three of the four digitally and the last I have on vinyl, unfortunately it looks like they don't have what I think is her best album, Companion.

Update: It looks like eMusic does offer ways to buy additional tracks now, but you sure couldn't tell that from their site. I had to dig down into a customer service FAQ to even find out what their pricing is and it makes no mention of buying beyond your subscription level.

Update2: More digging reveals additional tracks are purchased in Booster packs, 10 for $4.99, 25 for $9.99 and 50 for $14.99. This is a substantial improvement over the way they were first running the service after changing from the unlimited model. Why this isn't clearly outlined when you first go to the site, I have no idea. Maybe I'm just blind.

Posted by Kimbro Staken