Pneuma is gone...there were still a few Eduardo Paniagua albums I was missing. I also notice the label Alia Vox is gone, so no more Jordi Savall. Those were my go-to labels...
I just bought another modest booster and downloaded everything that met the criterion “I would be disappointed to not grab this if it suddenly disappeared.” Apparently this means that for the remaining dregs of my wishlists I don’t even care enough about them to buy them at half off emusic prices.
I just bought another modest booster and downloaded everything that met the criterion “I would be disappointed to not grab this if it suddenly disappeared.” Apparently this means that for the remaining dregs of my wishlists I don’t even care enough about them to buy them at half off emusic prices.
A variation on this. After the talk in the last few days of even more labels disappearing I went to my SFL and tried to buy 3 or 4 albums - all now gone. So I used up all my credits buying everything that WAS still available in the SFL regardless of if I had put it there as more a whim than a serious chance of being bought. If I was the kind of person who believed in that sort of thing I'd be wondering if that isn't part of the Emu "master plan". Oh and I renew tomorrow so that's 200 more things to think about :-)
So I have rejoined at the basic monthly rate, bought extra credit and downloaded all but £1.86 immediately, all within thirty minutes. That remaining credit actually cost me about 75p, so I'm prepared to lose that if anything happens. I'll just buy extra credit when I see something I want. For my £19 I got six full albums and two shorter four track albums. A lot more I would have liked if it was still there....
I also bought a booster a couple of days ago to DL several albums in my SFL I would regret missing if they disappeared. Unfortunately, I prepaid my annual membership last December, so I will have to ride it out though the rest of the year and hope there is enough music still around to spend my monthly allotment. The label defections, talk of missed payments, and whiff of desperation surrounding the blockchain announcement guarantee I will not be renewing if we make it that far.
Error: Sorry,
this album is not available for purchase at this time (code:
INVALID_PRODUCT_ID). If you have questions, please contact us at
support@emusic.com
- And that goes for many others. I suspect that if the player doesn't work, neither does the "Buy album"
Wow, I just killed some time cleaning out dozens, I say dozens, of selections from my Save For Laters that are Not Available, from numerous labels, different genres. I am doing this because I feel this site is sliding under and I don't want to get caught holding the bag. There were a few I'm sad I didn't get when I had the chance, but I'll survive. It was a good time in its day, but I fear the party is coming to a close, and I am not going to commit in any big way again. Most of their stuff isn't worth more than half price, and there's not enough even of that. Vigil commencing.
Everything on that reddit forum from that emusic dude inre: ALL THE AWESOME SHIT THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN!!!! is just so hopeless I don't even know where to begin. It's like there's this new organism on the scene and it's saying, hey guys we're gonna partner with the brain eating parasite that's destroying the brain industry, and become an essential component of its brain eating activities, and that's how, in the end, we're gonna save the brain from getting eaten anymore... and it's totally gonna be good for the brain cells, who are going to get tons of brain cell dollars, and it's good for you, fans of brains, because it'll mean the return of cerebellum and cerebrum and limbic system to the fold, because they're gonna be so excited that we're partnering with the brain eating parasite.
Or something like that.
The thing I sometimes forget to do is separate the concept of eMusic & its digital storefront (which I've adored for nearly ten years) and the knucklehead venture capitalists who view it as nothing more than a variable to tweak their balance sheet. The first has somehow survived all these years despite the parade of dubious executives unveiling their Big Plans to save emusic, all until its inevitable crash and fall, and we get new executives and the new Big Plan, begging us to be patient because it's all going to be different this time. Yeah, sure it is, Lucy.
It'd be awesome to be proven wrong, but I'm pretty sure if we checked the archives on this site and the old emusic message board, we'd probably discover I've been repeating that same phrase with each hopeless iteration of new staff and their new plans.
I think the reports of eMusic's death may not be that exaggerated this time, given the vanishing label situation. Not that I didn't find worthwhile stuff, but my 2nd or even 3rd choices just weren't available this month
Well, the most I could lose at any one time is $75 so I don't really mind risking it to get $200 worth of credit. This has been one of the longest Limited Time sales, ever, that I'm sure will catch up with them at some point. If they can't make a go of it at these prices, I can't imagine raising prices will attract more business. They've gone and established that price point in my tiny brain, now there's no going back. Meanwhile, I haven't run out of things to download so I'll hang in and add some more til the well runs dry for me. When that happens, I'll check what's left in the Wish List and the old Save For Later and see if I can remember why I put them there in the first place. I still have fun just exploring their (limited) library in spite of their terrible search function. (like always having to start at the begin again, arrrggh)
Hmm, then again, there is that blockchain that just might save the day. I guess?
I think many of us were probably aware of something like this going on, but thanks for the link Soulcoal confirming it. They are desperate to make Blockchain work - it does seem as it is the last throw of the dice for eMusic.
i used to justify my eMusic binges with the thought that eMusic was just burning through their VC cash by subsidizing the booster deals, but now it turns out i’ve just been paying someone to pirate music. At this point most of us realize we’re basically buying stolen goods from eMusic. They clearly aren’t paying the labels or artists, but they are paying for new employees to create this blockchain sham. i’m not sure why any labels or artists would trust eMusic on their new magic beans venture.
Yeah, I posted a similar thought on the Reddit forum about the irony that they claim they are building the blockchain project for the benefit of small independent artists and labels, yet they are funding the effort with the wages of those same artists and labels who have not been getting paid for their music. Seems like paying your bills - especially to the very artists and labels whose content enables your company to exist - should come before spending money to write articles on Medium promoting an expensive new development project. I'm sure in their minds they plan to pay their creditors with funds raised from the token sale, but that feels a bit sketchy, too, because what happens when all those tokens start getting exchanged for new music, services, etc. but the funds from them were already spent by eMusic on old debts, more Medium articles, etc.? Seems like the same fundamental problem exists and it will be a new batch of labels (if Orchard never returns) and artists that don't get paid.
i used to justify my eMusic binges with the thought that eMusic was just burning through their VC cash by subsidizing the booster deals, but now it turns out i’ve just been paying someone to pirate music. At this point most of us realize we’re basically buying stolen goods from eMusic. They clearly aren’t paying the labels or artists, but they are paying for new employees to create this blockchain sham. i’m not sure why any labels or artists would trust eMusic on their new magic beans venture.
Well you've pretty well hit the nail on the head regarding my own feelings. My account refreshed two days ago and I spent my 200 credits within 24 hours. Obviously I can still find things to buy BUT am I happy doing it? I'm still working through a mountain of past purchases. I buy a lot of my cds directly from artists at gigs (improv events charging £5 on the door and similar) and this is totally at odds with my Emusic experience. My plan is to wait 28 days and then put my account on hold for as long as possible to see how things pan out. However, even I have more self respect than to continually condone theft on this scale. I don't pretend to understand blockchain but it's looking more and more like the emperor's new clothes to me.
Of course if I weaken in 27 days time - well just pretend you never read this - I'll be over at Bandcamp discovering great new music and not paying for any of it (insert irony emoticon here).
I won't even link to eMusic pages on my site anymore in new posts. I hate having to do that, but not paying artists/labels is a line crossed I can't ignore.
So much of what is there now is out of copyright stuff, certainly in jazz, or what are basically bootlegs. So artists are getting very little, even when the label is getting paid. djh, you are right spending credits immediately, and then going on hold. I've just had my second refresh since giving in and coming back. I shall go on hold and I will be surprised if they are still around in 90 days. Orchard cannot be the only people they own money to, surely? A very sad end... but if it can happen to ToysrUs it can happen to anyone.
I’m going on hold too. There is talk (as far as I gleaned for, the subreddit) about them raising $70 million or something on the back of their bitcoin yarn and using it to pay off the labels, which would at least mean the labels got paid for what folk downloaded, and if there are still venture capitalists who want to offload that much money on emusic based on bitcoinitis, <shrug>. It does seem at least as likely that it will all collapse, though. It has all generated one of the more bizarre customer service responses I have ever seen, over on the subreddit, where an emusic person earnestly assured everyone that they should believe that emusic was like the wizard of oz and that when we got to see behind the curtain then the tin man and the lion and the scarecrow would all get what they needed. This apparently without realizing that the wizard of oz was actually a fraud.
Well folks, I am on a downloading rampage. The advent of My Music did allow 2 things - it allowed me to shop at work without having to DL at the moment (since home is where I want it), and also hop onboard monster big sets right away without having to DL them immediately (space issues). What I realize is that I can DL the MP3s at work and burn them to DVD like I do with my backups, then take them home and transfer at my leisure with backup disc already done - especially handy for sets like 12 Hours Of Christmas. Given the shaky writing on the wall I want every thing I have purchased in my hot little hands in some form - just in case.
Here is emusic talking about itself, posted on the other board. I am posting it simply for my initial amazement that they claim "over 47 million users." When people used to toss around made up numbers for how many subscribers there might be back on the old emusic board it was always in the hundreds of thousands. But he then says they have sold "nearly a billion downloads." So by my math that would be a grand total of 21 downloads per user. So the 47 million cannot actually be what he implies, current users. It must include everyone who ever signed up for the trial and left immediately.
Comments
/Blockchain is the new /Monies
Hmm, then again, there is that blockchain that just might save the day. I guess?
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2018/07/emusic-is-late-paying-artists-labels-.html
It has all generated one of the more bizarre customer service responses I have ever seen, over on the subreddit, where an emusic person earnestly assured everyone that they should believe that emusic was like the wizard of oz and that when we got to see behind the curtain then the tin man and the lion and the scarecrow would all get what they needed. This apparently without realizing that the wizard of oz was actually a fraud.
Here is emusic talking about itself, posted on the other board. I am posting it simply for my initial amazement that they claim "over 47 million users." When people used to toss around made up numbers for how many subscribers there might be back on the old emusic board it was always in the hundreds of thousands. But he then says they have sold "nearly a billion downloads." So by my math that would be a grand total of 21 downloads per user. So the 47 million cannot actually be what he implies, current users. It must include everyone who ever signed up for the trial and left immediately.