I asked CS what options I had for canceling my annual or switching over to another non-annual plan. Instead of an answer, I received a pro-forma declaration of the new pricing system and 12 complimentary credits. I'm baffled. Maybe I should declare my desire to leave every week just to see what will happen (I estimate I will lose 54 credits, so I'm more than 1/5 th the way to be fully compensated.)
I genuinely believe that the old subscription model of smaller labels/lower prices was untenable, or in any case "ungrowable." Or at least, the way it was marketed (eg, Pizza Hut), going out to sign up large numbers of subscribers who then turned out to be disappointed by the limited selection. They might have been able to secure a nice little niche by marketing to snob appeal ("indie iTunes")...we'll never know. But they didn't want a little niche!
i just posted basically the same point over on the emusic message boards, with a significant twist on your last thought.
Hmm. I was offered "Rollover Credits" to come back to emusic. I am not sure at all what that means at this point. This was not an offer from Customer Service to make things right - I never bitched on the boards before quitting. It's in the standard format of the "Rejoin emusic and we'll give you 75 free credits" emails. But "Rollover Credits"? Really? They aren't going to be credit-based an longer. And haven't people been asking for this feature for like ever? To note, I wasn't offered a free month (or anything at all, for that matter) when I quit.
it's been one long swirling flush since-what?- June of last year?
if cd baby continues to dump their well used bands at 49 cents a track, i will stay at least one more month ( I need to get "Heavy Water Experiments" cheap);
after that, I believe the signs are saying "thin haired freaky people need not apply."
I got the same email Cafreema quoted in the first post except the opening sentence:
Mark your calendars because in November 2010, eMusic is adding more than 250,000 tracks from Universal Music Group to its catalog, the single largest addition ever!
This addition comes as part of our mission to offer members a rich catalog that is both deep and broad, with every day low prices that make music discovery as affordable as it is rewarding.
is replaced with this opening sentence:
In November 2010, your membership will transition to a new currency system.
As you may know, regional restrictions in our licensing agreements with record labels have prevented us from offering some music in your country. eMusic's goal is to provide all our members, everywhere, with as wide a selection as possible.
Hey thanks for the unenthusiastic non-sequitur, eMu.
I'm gonna ride eMu to the bitter end since I have so few other options, but I have gone on a Booster splurge this weekend picking up the most essential (and by my guess most likely to be highest priced after the change) and I think I will start making more use of Wolfgang's Vault live downloads, particulalry their $4 daily deal. The Mance Lipscomb they were offering today was sweet.
Oh and I just did their pointless survey. When it asked what would be most likely to keep me at eMusic I was tempted to tick "Bigger catalog of music" because I would be thinking of, say, more Rounder titles or other country/folk/jazz/international labels but I'm sure eMusic would choose to interpret it as "more hits of the 80s plz" so I didn't.
That's OK. Bukka is cool, but Mance is a higher priority for me.
I'm thinking of a booster, but I'm honestly exhausted by music shopping after last month's extravaganza. I have little hope that my regular targets (Da Capo and Rounder, for instance) will gravitate to the lower price points.
I've been pretty upset, but CCRGMac made a two word post over there that encouraged me to look at the situation again. He wrote, "Deutsche Gramaphon." To which I'd like to be able to add two more words, "Blue Note."
Hmmmm, Deutsche Gramaphon you say? That would be tempting. (So would Blue Note). Ah well, at this point they'll have to work hard to win me back. I can get DG in a number of places, but maybe, with right deal....
Blue Note is under EMI. Rumor has it that EMI will be hitting eMu by the end of the year, but AFAIK the deal has not been made yet. Verve and ECM, however, will be up sometime in November.
I asked about how the new plan is supposed to get new customers, considering the prices are approaching Amazon and iTunes yet require a subscription. Cathy replied:
Prices per track and per album will be clearly marked, and you'll be able to see the 20% - 50% savings compared to iTunes and Amazon a la carte prices.
But will those prices only be visible if you subscribe? I know what happens when I go to eMusic.com on a computer I've never used before, and it's not the most transparent customer experience if you're not logged in.
Here's the other thing: As an eMusic customer, I buy music credits ahead of time without the guarantee of knowing music I would like and want is available. I'm willing to take that risk because I get something valuable in return: much cheaper prices. Now that price benefit is slipping away, and it feels like I'm just left with the risk and the annoyance of spending my money before a deadline.
Perhaps it's time to dump my subscription and put that money only toward must-have music. Since discovering eMusic, I've willingly spends hundreds of dollars a year on music. If they can't keep people like me as a customer, maybe the business model is broken for good. That's a problem for the whole industry, not just eMusic. As someone else put it, it's hard to get people to pay for what is so frequently free these days.
(Goes back to Vevo to listen to "Bad Romance" for the 250th time without ever purchasing it.)
If they can't keep people like me as a customer, maybe the business model is broken for good.
Word. These are the people who got me hooked on having a steady supply of music every month. If they lose me, it would be like a junkie quitting heroin because he didn't like his pusher's business model.
It has occurred to me that not necessarily all music available on a label/group is necessarily available as a download - more salient examples AC/DC or Ozzy-era Black Sabbath - so we must accept this next "upgrade" without knowing precisely what we are going to be able to purchase.
I've pretty much decided that I want nothing to do with these frauds. I was willing to take a wait and see approach, but the fact that logging into my original account still gives me the chance to sign up for an annual membership without any mention of the changes in place shows how little regard they have for their customers.
I've long since burnt out on the idea of a community over there, and have never felt that eMu owed me anything more than what I bought from them. But they now don't even feel they owe people what was paid for.
Hopefully they crash and burn. We need fewer cheats in the music industry, not more.
I am already very happy not being tethered to an emusic subscription any longer. And this will also illustrate why emusic has become completely irrelevant.
In the past day, I have purchased the Bad Books for $2.99 at Amazon, and The Black Keys "Brothers" Deluxe Edition for $7.99, including a bonus track and a digital booklet from iTunes. Total price = $10.98. Now, if emusic even had The Black Keys, I can assume these would have required me to use all 24 credits for the month @ $11.99. And I wouldn't have received the bonus track and digital booklet either. And I would be done for the month, having used all of my credits.
I can only imagine what these would cost me in the new system... $12? $14? $16?
What emusic fails to calculate into their apparent "20-50% savings" is the very frequent sales at the stores they keep mentioning (iTunes + Amazon).
I saw her post, but I can't find any changes to the overall announcement and I haven't received the email. The only change is that the little box that shows what my plan will be has an extra 50 cents per month--hardly an incentive for those who want to leave. What I would like to see is a payout of the credits that will be lost in advance.
Comments
i just posted basically the same point over on the emusic message boards, with a significant twist on your last thought.
so: good point.
if cd baby continues to dump their well used bands at 49 cents a track, i will stay at least one more month ( I need to get "Heavy Water Experiments" cheap);
after that, I believe the signs are saying "thin haired freaky people need not apply."
is replaced with this opening sentence:
Hey thanks for the unenthusiastic non-sequitur, eMu.
I'm gonna ride eMu to the bitter end since I have so few other options, but I have gone on a Booster splurge this weekend picking up the most essential (and by my guess most likely to be highest priced after the change) and I think I will start making more use of Wolfgang's Vault live downloads, particulalry their $4 daily deal. The Mance Lipscomb they were offering today was sweet.
I'm thinking of a booster, but I'm honestly exhausted by music shopping after last month's extravaganza. I have little hope that my regular targets (Da Capo and Rounder, for instance) will gravitate to the lower price points.
This is SFC, its going to be the name of my next album
Need to swap the order to do sappy country don't-leave-me-darlin'-song:
I'd be lost without you
So I've got to know
Is my today your yesterday
Or is it your tomorrow?
On the other hand, I'm going to name my next album "So F**king Cool".
Personally I got my fill of Blue Note last month
...ahem.
I asked about how the new plan is supposed to get new customers, considering the prices are approaching Amazon and iTunes yet require a subscription. Cathy replied:
Prices per track and per album will be clearly marked, and you'll be able to see the 20% - 50% savings compared to iTunes and Amazon a la carte prices.
But will those prices only be visible if you subscribe? I know what happens when I go to eMusic.com on a computer I've never used before, and it's not the most transparent customer experience if you're not logged in.
Here's the other thing: As an eMusic customer, I buy music credits ahead of time without the guarantee of knowing music I would like and want is available. I'm willing to take that risk because I get something valuable in return: much cheaper prices. Now that price benefit is slipping away, and it feels like I'm just left with the risk and the annoyance of spending my money before a deadline.
Perhaps it's time to dump my subscription and put that money only toward must-have music. Since discovering eMusic, I've willingly spends hundreds of dollars a year on music. If they can't keep people like me as a customer, maybe the business model is broken for good. That's a problem for the whole industry, not just eMusic. As someone else put it, it's hard to get people to pay for what is so frequently free these days.
(Goes back to Vevo to listen to "Bad Romance" for the 250th time without ever purchasing it.)
Craig
I've long since burnt out on the idea of a community over there, and have never felt that eMu owed me anything more than what I bought from them. But they now don't even feel they owe people what was paid for.
Hopefully they crash and burn. We need fewer cheats in the music industry, not more.
Craig
In the past day, I have purchased the Bad Books for $2.99 at Amazon, and The Black Keys "Brothers" Deluxe Edition for $7.99, including a bonus track and a digital booklet from iTunes. Total price = $10.98. Now, if emusic even had The Black Keys, I can assume these would have required me to use all 24 credits for the month @ $11.99. And I wouldn't have received the bonus track and digital booklet either. And I would be done for the month, having used all of my credits.
I can only imagine what these would cost me in the new system... $12? $14? $16?
What emusic fails to calculate into their apparent "20-50% savings" is the very frequent sales at the stores they keep mentioning (iTunes + Amazon).