Is eMu starting to pull it's head out?

frogkopf

Or are they desperate?

Today they added two new membership plans to the mix:

eMusic Basic Annual 20% discount PLUS an extra 200 FREE downloads**

24 (every 30 days) $114.99 $0.40 per track (= $9.58 per month and $0.2356 per track with the 200 freebies)



eMusic Plus Annual 20% discount PLUS an extra 200 FREE downloads**

35 (every 30 days) $151.99 $0.36 per track (= $12.67 per month and $0.2451 per track with the 200 freebies)


The 200 freebies have to be used in 30 days.

It's good to see them offering a significantly lower price to those willing to make a commitment.

My guess is that by giving the limited time 200 free tracks all at once, they can count them as promo tracks and not have to pay out for them and not have them lower the average earnings per track in the coming months.

mommio

Those aren't added -- they are revised.

I was "reassigned" to the eMusic Plus Annual, to begin when my old annual expires in October.

eMusic Plus Annual, 35 downloads every 30 days, $171.99

So all they have done is discount it and add the 200 downloads. Methinks they are getting desperate. Based on the boards, lots of people have cancelled. Or they are cutting it too close by depending on all monthly subscriptions staying.

frogkopf

Yes, technically it is a revision of the plans offered.

But it's a pretty big change from what was offered before today, as it effectively slashes the price by more than a third.

The question for me is whether eMu will be around in a year to collect all the tracks, or if they were going under if they would let us use up the remainder of the tracks we paid for. 25 cents a track I can live with.

mommio

Based on the TOU, I don't think there would be a refund or the ability to use those credits early. If they go under, I think we would just be SOL. That's why I won't be doing another annual. If I stay at eMu, I will be doing a monthly subscription, even if it costs more. I hope I am wrong, but I just have bad feelings about the future of eMusic, at least as it currently exists.

jackedUPjazz

Nope

xtrev

I think they're getting desperate and scrambling myself.
I happened to look at the plan options page yesterday and it was only 100 bonus downloads!
They've also added a 200 a month Connoisseur plan since I last checked.

Just hope this doesn't mean the UK are getting SONYfied anytime soon, I was hoping my annual plan would renew at the old rates :-)

Although, not buying boosters (which are, of course, at the new prices) is making it really difficult to decide what to get over there.

Things ain't what they used to be :-(

CaptainWrong

RE: the free tracks. As I understand it per my own stuff at TuneCore (new EP coming soon ) those free tracks would be considered free promo tracks regardless of when they're used and the labels won't get paid for them. So it's a total no lose for eMusic. Hell, they could offer a million free tracks and it wouldn't cost them anything but bandwidth. The artists, however, will essentially be subsidizing eMusic. So it goes.

And I agree, I think they're getting desperate. Based on the survey some of us got, the 75 freebies to re-up and these new offers, I can't help but feel eMusic is hemorrhaging subscribers. I think I'd be nervous about an annual subscription at this point, at least without knowing what eMusic's outlook is for the next year.

brittleblood

boy - all this just strikes me as "they don't know their customer"...

i was floored by the number of subscribers who never posted before showing up in 17dots + the boards to harsh the changes. my take is most of those would have carried a price hike without the addition of the monolith. a price hike on the order of $2us a month for a 40 (grandfathered 50) account.

all they had to do was be honest.

instead they pursued a deal with sony + trashed their identity in the process. they are having to deal with the predictable results.

in the end, if they go back to prior levels, i don't think i'd be interested in re-up'ing.

mommio

In the midst of all this doubting, you have actually made me laugh out loud, JUJ. You haven't lost your touch in finding just the right thing to say. Or should that be play?

Nereffid

Uhhh... I'm on an annual + 20% discount, and have been for years. I thought eMu people had been saying that this sort of a plan was the problem, not the solution. You know: "you people with your cheap downloads are parasites! you're ruining eMu for everyone!" (or words to that effect). I wouldn't necessarily say they're becoming desparate... they may just have seen the error of their ways. Well, one way.

mommio

Seen the error of their ways? Then why is this offer available for a limited time, with no deadline specified?

Nereffid

why is this offer available for a limited time, with no deadline specified?

That, I'd say, is just marketing-speak, persuading people to jump in now rather think about it for a couple of months.
I know it's easy now to refuse eMu the benefit of the doubt, but I'm just saying there doesn't have to always be a negative motivation.

Don't get me wrong... it's still a shit offer compared to what I'm paying now. But "annual + 20% discount" was what turned me into such a big eMu fan in the first place.

jackedUPjazz

If I coulda woulda shoulda

thomnottom

I would definitely stick around for one of those subscriptions if I felt like they were on solid ground. They have until February to convince me.

It is very possible that this is not strictly desperation but that it plays a part. They may very well have learned just how much they fucked up and see it is a dead end road. So now they try to backpedal and get themselves to the point they were once at (or at least close to it). The 20% discount is a pretty decent step in the right direction - previously it was less than 10% and didn't even give you the best deal.