Is this site legit?

Factual Questions
1

[Note to Mods: I am trying avoid using a less than reputable music downloading service. I want the artists to get their royalties. I am not looking buy music from Russia, or file share. I found this service, and I am not sure, so I am asking a factual question. 'K?]

I was searching around the net yesterday for a place to download some fairly obscure 60’s folk music. The only place that seems to have it is eMusic
OK, I see on their The Scoop page are quotes from Rolling Stone, New York Times, USA Today etc singing their praises.
Sounds legit, right?
But then I read the FAQs
No long term commitment (month to month)
Prices start at $.33 per song and go down from there ($10/month for 30 songs)
No DRM on downloaded music “eMusic is the only service that offers the usage flexibility that avid music fans demand unlimited CD burning along with the ability to transfer music to any desktop, portable music player and digital device (including the iPod ®”

I mean this sound great, right?
But you know that old saying if something sounds too good to be true it probably isn’t true? I am getting that feeling about eMusic.

So dopers is this site legit? Here in the USA.
And do the artists get paid for downloads of their songs?

2

I’ve been using (and touting on this board) eMusic for a few years, and haven’t heard anything about its possibly being less than legal.

It is month-to-month, just like it says, though I think you can sign up for longer terms to get discounts. The no DRM is true as well – you download plain .mp3s.

The catch (if you want to call it that) is that you’re not going to find major-label stuff there. If you browse and find stuff you like, it’s probably one of the best places to get it. Don’t miss their message boards either (small text link at the bottom of the homepage).

I can’t answer as to its legality (though like I said I haven’t heard anything to the contrary), but if you’ve got any other questions about it while someone more knowledgeable about that aspect comes along, feel free to ask.

3

Thanks Garfield I didn’t think about the content being mostly non-mainstream, and until you join, it appears you can’t search.
That is starting to put my mind at ease. Thanks.
Anyone else?

4

I think if you click on the “About eMusic” link at the bottom, then use the tabs at the top to navigate, you can get an idea about the kind of music they have. “Charts” for instance gives you the top artists and albums for today, the past week and the past month, as well as letting you filter by genre.

5

:smack:
There it is.
Wow they have some way cool music there. I hope it is legit.

6

They sponsor the programs at dl.tv, which if they weren’t legit, I don’t think that they’d do. Somewhere on the dl.tv site is a code that enables you to get more songs during your free trial.

Patrick Norton from TechTV (and now on dl.tv) raves about the service and he’s not the kind of guy to promote something if it’s illegal.

7

Additionally, if you nose around the “about us” section more, you find this

I’m guessing that Circuit City’s lawyers would have something to say if it wasn’t legit. Also note the sections asking artists and labels to contact them about offering their music on eMusic…

8

Has anyone used them for classical music? How do they rate?

9

The Contact section is for subscribers only or it wants your credit card details. And their UK number is temporarily out of service. This does not look good.

10

And it’s not looking good for those interested in classical music: with a classical piece you typically want the whole thing, not particular tracks. Something like the Messiah is 55 tracks, and it looks to charge them individually.

11

They’re a client of mine, and they most certainly are legit. They are the 2nd largest music download service, behind iTunes. Their content is definitely non-mainstream but they have great selections and some stuff that you cannot get anywhere else.

12

Here’s a link to search: search

I threw some obscure favourites like Christine Collister and got results, but none for Mary McCaslin.

13

Oooh… Shangri-las singing “I’m Blue”. I am closer to joining… much closer!

More assurance that this is a good site, please, and I’ll whip out the credit card.

14

As far as I know eMusic is legit. I was introduced to the site through software included with my MP3 player.

However: when I decided to stop subscribing to their service, they continued charging my credit card for three months after I cancelled. It took repeated e-mails to get them to stop.

Independently (he doesn’t live with us) my older stepson also signed up with them, and was also charged for months after he cancelled.

15

OTOH, the Firebird Ballet is complete, in one track. They also have the entire NAXOS catalogue available.

16

Way cool, thanks for the info everyone.
OK, it sounds legit enough for me.

17

I’ve had an account with eMusic in the past (about a year ago). I downloaded a crapload of stuff and about a month later canceled. It was a smooth cancel and they never contacted me again asking me to re-join.

It was how a company should cancel your service.

My daughter now has an eMusic account and we’ve never had a weird billing problem.