Insofar as I can tell, there are two “catches” at work to explain the low price of about $.25 per track:
Only independent labels. Thatdoesn’tmeanit’sallunknownnobodies. Those seven are only a small sample of the variety I’d be interested in. Some groups on major labels have employed independents to tape a few live shows, which show up on the site (and I’m a live/alternate version junkie). So basically, this catch doesn’t stop me. I’d still find 50 albums that I’d really want. (Helps that my favorite independent Bluegrass label, Skaggs Family Records is in there too.)
Subscription payment. But in the way that you’d subscribe to a magazine, not the usual online music (Napster) subscription model. Once it’s delivered to your home, it’s yours to sit forever on the magazine rack of your hard drive or for as much private use as you want. It won’t expire. The site also has liberal re-download, mp3 player ripping, and CD burning policies.
2b) The model follows an X tracks for Y per month model. The most basic is 40 for ten bucks. If, in the month, you remember to use all 40 tracks, great, you get your songs for .25 apiece. If you use 35, then the next month, you don’t get those extra 5 credited to the balance, and it just counts as you paying ten bucks for 35 songs, or a bit over $.28 per song, and at your new month, your balance is back up to 40, not 45. They hope you won’t use all your songs like Netflix hopes you’ll not get around to a movie for a month and a half.
So, for those who have tried the service, is that it? Are there any other catches I’m not seeing? Is this too-cheap-to-be-true service really on the level if you’re interested in independent labels? One Pit thread from an ex-user is all the negative I can find in the archives. And hints that since their model has changed onced (used to be $15 for unlimited downloads per month), it could change again, but then I just cancel.
I love emusic. I loved it more when it was unlimited downloads, but they quickly changed that business practice.
No other catches. Non-DRM mp3s that you can download multiple times (that is, if you download it and accidentially erase your copy, you can download it again for no charge - as long as your account is open. I let one slip for about a year and when I signed up again, my old tracks were waiting for me).
Oh good. I thought this thread was going to sink into oblivion with nary a response.
Pow, how much do the “Booster Packs” cost if you go over your download limit? And are they a cost per single song, or for a pack of 10 or so? I can’t seem to find that info anywhere on the site, and though I assume I could just string out a less-desired album by using up my straggling 3-4 tracks over three months to fill each monthly limit, there’s still the chance that a “booster” would be nice to get that last album NOW.
I’ve been a member of emusic for quite some time now. Pow’s right, there aren’t any other catches. The biggest “catch” is the limited catalog, but if they’ve got what you want, they can’t be beat.
[ul][li]The .mp3s, once downloaded, are yours forever. They don’t expire when you cancel your subscription (like Napster ToGo).[/li][li]The .mp3s are free of DRM, meaning you can load them onto an .mp3 player, transfer them to another computer or burn them to a CD as many times as you want. They’re in .mp3 format, which most anything these days can play (unlike, say iTunes’s music store).[/li][li]If you accidently delete a .mp3, you can re-download it with no penalty. This was a gigantic help when my harddrive crashed last year. That would have been a $120 investment down the drain (a lot more if I’d have had to purchase the CDs individually).[/li][li]For me, at least, emusic has caused me to check out artists I might not otherwise have tried. If I can’t find anything I want to download particularly, I don’t want to waste my downloads for that month and thus download an artist I may never have heard because I’m a fan of the genre, or download different versions of songs I’m familiar with, and so on.[/ul][/li]
Booster packs are 10 songs for $4.99 (~$0.50/song), 25 songs for $9.99 (~$0.40/song), or 50 songs for $14.99 (~$0.30/song), all much lower than the other places. Also, booster packs, unlike your standard subscription downloads, stay in your account until they are used. So if you still want a song or two this month and you’ve used up all your subscription downloads, you can buy a booster pack for just that song or two. Next month, if you’re a song or two short again, you can use up your remaining booster pack downloads without having to buy more.
(disclaimer: I’ve never bought a booster pack, but that’s what their website says…)
I just went there to search for some of my favorite more obscure artists, and I couldn’t find a Search box. They say they have a free trial, so I was going to take advantage of it in hopes of getting access to a Search box. Come to find out they require you to give your credit card information and choose a plan before you can continue. That’s no way to treat people when you’re offering a “Free Trial.” Name, address, e-mail, yeah, I can see all that, but giving a place my credit card info before I even know if I’m interested or not? No thank you.
I doubt they had any Happy Rhodes anyway, but if they didn’t, here are some mp3s for free (worth trying if you like Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Jane Siberry, Sarah McLachlan-type singers…that is, female singer/songwriter/musicians who are hard to categorize):
Yeah, it’s strange that the search field is so hard to find.
However, if you use any of the OP’s links, the search box is available at the upper right. You can also access it by attemping to click on the “Log In” link. Annoying that they hide it like that, though.