Anyone here belong to Emusic?

[vi5]

I signed up when it first came out for their free trial. But they really didn't have anything of interest so I cancelled it. I just went back and it seems like they have a ton more stuff available for download. But all it touts is the free trial. It doesn't say what the "low monthly fee" is after that.

Anyone know how much it is a month before I go signing up again?

[Caution]

1. I am

Best. Service. Ever.

Massive amounts of great music in every conceivable genre. Heck the noam chomsky, jello biafra and george carlin stuff alone make the fees worthwhile. They have two plans, both are commitment plans.

3 month commitment at $14.95/month (total $45)
12 month commitment at $9.95/month (total $120)

It is billed monthly. You get unlimited downloads and there is no DRM built into the mp3s (they are pure mp3 format) you can assign filenames as you like them and all files are tagged properly. You are allowed to burn, copy to your other pcs and to any portable devices (iPod, archos, etc).

I have been a member for about two months and have downloaded over 100 albums already. I LOVE this service. eMusic splits all fees 50-50 with the artist/labels in question and they are constantly adding new music. This is how music should be sold over the internet.

[vi5]

2. Excellent! You've sold me.....

I'm going to sign up when I get home!

Question though: When you download an entire album does it come through as one big file or multiple song files that separate each song?

[Caution]

5. Separate tracks

You basically tell the download tool how you wish to organize it from there (they have many options for filenaming). I don't believe you can download it as one single track though. It's broken up liek it would be on the cd. If you wish to concatenate the files together there is a great utility out there called MP3 Splitter/Joiner. I use it for things like spoken word and audio books.

[FlaGranny]

3. Yes, but

do they have anything good? ;-) You know, stuff for those of us who are not youngsters? I'm looking for stuff from the 40's, 50's, and 60's. And then, also, I would rather just be able to buy singles for a fee, rather than a monthly membership charge, because I would be a "light" user.

[Caution]

4. They have a ton of stuff there

Seriously over 200,000 tracks, i dont know much about the era you are speaking of musically beyond the big names and some of that stuff is there (elvis for example) though probably not as much.

Apple's iTunes sells singles for $0.99/track

At the $9.95 price, 10 songs/month would be your break even point, go to http://www.emusic.com and browse their listings (you can do this without signing up). If you see enough stuff go for it!

For me the thing that sold me on the 12 month subscription was the Noam Chomsky stuff. To buy the catalog of stuff they have from a store would have cost me over $150. I have grabbed it all already, so I'm $30 ahead and anything else I grab (which i have grabbed a TON) is gravy. I can't speak highly enough of this service (and for the record I have nNO affiliation with them whatsoever other than as a customer and vocal supporter of the service).

[JawJaw]

6. eMusic

Speaking as someone who rarely signs up to ANYTHING on the internet, I have to say that eMusic is the BEST $10 a month that a music lover could ever spend!!


GOOD POINTS:
Huge variety of genres/artists. High quality VBR mp3 files that can be copied/used as you wish (eMusic trusts you not to act like a criminal). Handy previews for each track, with ability to download individual tracks or whole albums or "stashing" a bookmark for that album to download later. Flexible searching by artists/labels etc - discover wonderful labels you never even heard of! Helpful message board community who can point you in the right direction for inspiration/troubleshooting etc.



BAD POINTS:
None really, but..
You have to use eMusic's download manager which queues tracks up to 45 at a time. Also, you don't quite get the "unlimited" downloads implied in the advertising. When you reach about 2000 tracks per month, and automated message is sent to you advising you to "cool down a little". You may get cancelled if you keep high D/L high amounts.... I accept this as a necessary safeguard to the service, to prevent the whole system grinding to a halt. 2000 tracks for $10 is still a bargain (how much does 2000 tracks cost on Apple's service?)
You will soon find that you HAVE to buy a new hard drive to fit all that great new music you've got ;)


FlaGranny, you may like some of This or This

[DBoon]

7. Suggestion

Go to Google "advanced search". Type in a few artists or song title. Restrict the search to "emusic.com".

My work "blocks" emusic as a forbidden MP3 service. I used this trick to see if they had my favorite artists on it.

I may join yet.

[JawJaw]

8. Hehehe

Go on, DBoon resistance is FUTILE !