What's Going on with Emusic?

SortSort
edited July 2013 in General
Some of you must still be using emusic. I basically backed out a few months after the Sony drop, ignored most of the posts here, and merrily went on my way. Are there songs still 99 cents a song and ten bucks an album? Even with a subscription plan? How are they still in business? Still the same company? Curious. I'm liking Drip.fm, but I also end up at times with music I don't like, a sin to this music collector. And I miss Guvera.

Comments

  • choiceweb0pen0choiceweb0pen0
    Sort, I'm sure some current eMu users will respond, but meanwhile, you might want to go over to the "Well, this might be of the end of emu for me." I haven't been a member for about a year now either, mostly due to budget but also having an overabundance of underlistened to music.
  • GermanprofGermanprof
    Emusic is currently all over the place. Some tracks are still .49 for subscribers, some are .69, .79 or .89. Some albums have album only tracks, some don't. Occasionally I still find an amazing album for three or four dollars, there are still quite a lot for $5.99-$6.99, sometimes I find a new release is $9-$11 for a single disk release. I get the impression they have let labels choose price points and it's all over the map. Still bargains to be had for the determined who are willing to put up with regular disappointment when an album they had been waiting for posts at a high price.
  • DoofyDoofy
    I have no problem using my monthly allotment, and in fact boostered up for the recent Soundway sale. I find plenty of lower-priced stuff, doubtless helped by the fact that I'm looking mainly for jazz. I rarely if ever purchase albums over the 6.49 price point.
  • kargatronkargatron
    I remain an annual member, with $17 credit/mo. No real issue spending it on well-priced albums I want, though the "thrill is gone", of course. My real cost is generally <$5/album.
  • BigD-BluezBigD-Bluez
    @Sort - The deal is that unless you are logged in as a member the prices you see displayed when you visit are what they call a la carte (near iTunes levels), not the member discounted prices. Stupid system to me because how does this incentivise anyone who's not a member to want to join?
  • MrVMrV
    "incentivise".....wonderful, never seen or heard it before. My goal for the week will be to use it in conversation.
  • NereffidNereffid
    Meanwhile, life in eMusic Europe goes on, very much as it has this past age, full of its own comings and goings, with change coming slowly, if it comes at all.
  • SortSort
    Thanks to all. Sounds like a decent option, though not special. Doofy - the jazz angle incentivises me for sure. Definitely lacking since mtracks went belly up.
  • DoofyDoofy
    ...Though I will cautionize (?) you that some of the bigger jazz labels aren't favorably priced, ECM being the worst offender - Buck or two less than Amazon, at best.
  • GermanprofGermanprof
    I noticed that too, that ECM have biggersized their prices. But Guvera heavily ECMized my collection, so that's not too bad. I find that you can't predict by label in many cases, though - Marcus Fischer's Monocoastal album on 12k (one of his and their best) is still $3.92, while Stephan Mathieu's Coda, which (while good) is one 20 minute track left over from a previous full album release (so an EP really) is $6.99. F.S.Blumm and Nils Frahm have done two albums on Sonic Pieces/Morr, which are respectively priced at $4.41 and $11.85 (the second one is a whole 7 minutes longer so maybe that's it...). (I did query that one twice with emusic but failed to get intelligible utterances back from them). It seems pretty randomized, with some patches of regularity. Some cautionizing is warranted.
  • kargatronkargatron
    Generally speaking, though, a $5.99-6.99-priced emusic album, taking one's "bonus" credit into account, will rarely be priced lower elsewhere.
  • GermanprofGermanprof
    That's generally true, but for albums containing one or two very long tracks (like many ambient/drone albums) rather than lots of shorter ones it is often well worth checking amazon and junodownload to see if they have them on track pricing. The difference can be quite substantial.
  • kargatronkargatron
    edited August 2013
    True, yeah. But I think my statement cuts to the core of why anyone would want to be/remain an emusic subscriber: for some substantial portion of all available albums one might consider buying, emusic is the likely cheapest legal source.
  • GermanprofGermanprof
    edited August 2013
    Agreed, that's the main reason I am still there. Plus I still actually like the subscription model. To an imperfect degree it still serves to set a rough monthly baseline budget for my download purchases. (To an imperfect degree because I often buy elsewhere in addition, but to a degree because it does still make those extras feel like splurges. I fear without the sense that I am overspending my monthly subscription I might cast off all restraint).
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