EMusic - C/D

Just cancelled for good. I basically spent three weeks trying to reduce my account level and got no help from customer service. Every time I'd try to drop to a lower plan I'd get a glitch. Luckily the cancel function did not glitch. Was barely worth it anymore anyway -- near CD price for low-quality mp3.

I have an eMusic question. How do the royalties work with the labels in this type of situation: eMusic has just put the new Sacred Bones reissue of the Eraserhead soundtrack up for £1.28. It's retailing for about £40 on vinyl. I'm sure this was some kind of automated thing, because it's only technically a four track album (similarly, the reissue of Sleep's Dopesmoker was put up for 84p as a single song).

Am I boning the labels or bands if I jump on those possible mistakes, or will they get the same cut no matter what?

I have read (in an old interview with one of the emusic honchos) that the labels always get paid more for tracks over 6 minutes. No idea about comparing it with LP sales.

I want an emusic this-or-that thread.

Ie, should I go ahead and buy the new Gudrun Gut, Wildlife for the unusually high $9.48 of credit, or should I wait til November 6 to see if Andy Stott's Luxury Problems will get a timely emusic release.

Not a rhetorical question.

the psychology of buying on itunes is v different than the psychology of buying on emusic. with itunes i think, "do i really, really want this? can an album with a lead song called zed the mythical goat possibly be worth $9.99?" with emusic i think, "eh, they've already taken my X dollars this month; might as well download this."

anyone know what's the typical price of an album for an emusic subscriber these days? to non-subscribers (who can now buy a la carte), the emusic and itunes prices are mostly equal.

I just don't see the benefit of this service vs. $10/month for Spotify Premium

do they have anything spotify doesn't?

it's a function of my age, really. i have an attachment to owning, not just "renting" (streaming), music. purely personal preference.

typical price of an album for an emusic subscriber these days

6.99

in other news, since the motherfucking orchard swallowed up ioda, the amount of actually good music available to me on emusic has diminished to microscopic levels

they still have bruno mars.

the entire catalogue.

oooooooooh

for me it's a portability issue. i can't put spotify on my ipod and that's what I listen to the most because i like to listen to music while walking/running/moving from a to b. if i had to drain my phone battery i'd be stingy about listening to stuff and that would be stupid. better to just have mp3s. also they're MINE.

Also if the label decides they don't wanna be on emusic (or spotify) any more, I still have the music.

the psychology of buying on itunes is v different than the psychology of buying on emusic. with itunes i think, "do i really, really want this? can an album with a lead song called zed the mythical goat possibly be worth $9.99?" with emusic i think, "eh, they've already taken my X dollars this month; might as well download this."

otm. i cancelled my emusic subscription a few years ago because i was basically just downloading only remotely interesting stuff in order to use up my monthly amount. it was this contest every month to use it up before I forgot about it and lost the money. i almost never buy music on itunes. maybe like 2 albums in the past 6 years. lots of people give itunes giftcards though so i've certainly used those.

i basically use spotify now, primarily to check out new stuff that i eventually will buy in physical format if i really like it.

do they have anything spotify doesn't?

Yes, definitely - ECM and ReR and also some dance oriented things like Hessle Audio and Hemlock are a few labels that spring to my mind. Also some labels put things up on eMusic on day of release but you might have to wait a couple of months until it's on Spotify (e.g. RVNG)

my main problem with spotify as an alternative to downloading is that i can't take it anywhere! just thinking about that makes me wonder if my walkman still works.

Well, you can pay $10/month for premium and then you get it to mobile devices, and you can set certain albums to play in "offline" mode which is kind of like a temporary download. Of course this is limited by the space you have on your phone or mobile device (a problem for me since mine tends to be full of baby videos at all times).

it also requires carrying my phone at all times and using its battery for something that is not related to the phone so what do i do if i binge on spotify and can't make/receive a phone call?!
i'm a super ambulant person and also paranoid about batteries dying so spotify on my phone just isn't really an option for me
i'm ok with emusic for now! why do i keep talking about this?!

Accidentally found this on emusic today, it's under 6 bucks:

http://o.scdn.co/300/c43c2b8375e245a80b7c23227b9c63018f043357

100 mambo-craze-era songs by a great, weird roster: Henry Mancini, Johnny Burnette, June Carter, Eydie Gorme, Ivory Joe Hunter, Sophia Loren, Lavern Baker, Huey Piano Smith, Ruth Brown, Hank Snow, and on and on.

I was just thinking about eMusic yesterday—I just upgraded a bunch of old 128 CBR mp3s from eMusic through iTunes Match. I'm glad it's still around.

what's the fifth song on that comp?

Ha. There is a version of that, though not the original. (But there are a few others by Perez Prado.)

"As a result, beginning today, we will be exiting the mainstream music business and offering exclusively independent music."

in full support here

Wait what?

(My monthly credits reup tomorrow...)

in full support here

― outback bumfuc (electricsound), Friday, September 26, 2014

wish i had a better idea of what this announcement meant, or what the catalog will look like tomorrow. no major-indies, plus loss of major labels, leaves micro-label and self-released (which was already onsite).

i haven't been an emu member for years now. but if the service again looks like it did in 2010, i might reconsider.

So many of my Saved albums are classical things on labels like bis, Harmonia mundi, aeon, and bridge, and I assume those are indie enough to still be there in the morning.

Bummer to lose sony and warner though.

as a grandfathered non-US type i expect the catalogue will look entirely unchanged to me.

it is probably a bit much to dream that Orchard-distroed labels will return but hope springs eternal

I'm sure they were margin squeezed on the major label releases (eg 0.89 / track at eMusic vs. 0.99 at Amz vs. 1.29 at iTunes).

I haven't forgotten the reason tracks are 0.89 vs the earlier 0.49 is so eMusic could woo the majors.

There's so much "meh" on my saved list I'm sorely tempted to drop.

still plenty of major label stuff on the site - anybody know anything deeper about what's going on here?

It changed today. Universal is gone, warner is gone. Sony still there, though! Maybe they have the best terms. I seem to recall they were the first major emusic got...

All the large indie classical labels I checked for are still there.

Universal is gone

So ironically the new U2 album has been taken down from emusic?

ironically?

Canceled my membership over the weekend. Found an album that got my balance down to zero (Horace Silver's The Cape Verdean Blues, for $4.74) and which is doubtless gone now - Blue Note being part of Universal/EMI.

Oh man- all the Blue Note is gone?! That sucks. At least I grabbed a bunch of the Silvers while they were available. Are they actually adding any new indies or just removing the major labels? My "Saved" list went from about 35 to 10. I may have to consider cancelling if they don't follow through on bringing in new labels to replace the majors.

It still annoys me that you can't carry your balance over from month to month. I have probably lost over $200 in credits because of that.

there is a split (albeit an unauthorized one) of MARS and Furious Pig on emusic!

Merge is now on eMusic in the UK for indie rock fans

How much of that is Furious Pig?

wow, it's still going

Never mind, it's on Spotify, Merge and HMV digital as well!

Anyone else noticed that a lot of new releases have been slow to appear on the site since the change to a Friday release day?

I don't suppose they offer FLAC yet.

No. Recently upgraded to 320kbps MP3 for new additions.

My "Save for Later" list has eroded down to its smallest in 6 years membership (now: ~20 albums). Too many missing indie labels, and I'm more comfortable supporting artists through Bandcamp. Every booster credit sale just hastens my departure.

Bought by yet another company.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/business/media/triplay-to-acquire-emusic-a-pioneering-digital-music-service.html?_r=0

i think they finally are letting you carry over your unused account balance? like, as of a few months ago? or am I just imagining things

Good grief.

I'm still hanging in! Independent classical & experimental labels is enough to soak my monthly credits up.

Independent classical & experimental labels is enough to soak my monthly credits up.

Same here, but I tend to do things like not feel like "buying" anything for a month and a half, and then wanting to get a bunch of stuff, and end up getting booster packs, and resenting the fact that the credits didn't carry over.

I buy boosters whenever there's a sale on them

The intention to "roll eMusic into the MyMusicCloud service" doesn't sound initially too promising for my continued membership, but shall wait and see.

http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/emusic-acquired-by-cloud-computing-firm-triplay/063193