Emusic makes some changes

Emusic announced that they’re now adding some major label stuff to their catalog.
From the website:

We are excited to announce that in early July eMusic will begin rolling out a major addition to our music catalog. The change will add nearly 200,000 tracks to the catalog, including many of the most loved names in music.

Then it lists names like Simon & Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen, Dixie Chicks, Foo Fighter, and more.

I am not sure how I feel about this. At first I was glad, but then I remembered that part of the beauty of Emusic, and why it’s different than ‘that apple place’, is that it is (was) all independent artists. They seemed to take real pride in that, and I appreciated them greatly for it. It seems they’ve sold out. I also know from some of my musician friends that they don’t pay a lot out to them. Less than other places for sure.

Especially now that I see that where previously I got 50 downloads a month for $14.99 I will now only be getting 37 downloads and they’ve discontinued my plan. If I change plans I get an even rawer deal! So they’ll be adding a TON more music for me to choose from, but I get less of it. I am sure it’s because Madonna* wouldn’t have agreed to let her music on there without getting more money for it, so we all have to pay. But it stinks.

(*I’m only using Madonna as an example because she’s a rich artist who doesn’t need the money, I have no idea if she’s even on Emusic.)

However…if you are currently on Emusic the good news (and maybe this will off-set the downgrade in plan) they are offering a free 15-song booster pack.

We’ll see how this plays out, as it stands now I still love them (but I’d like to have kept my plan!). So if you want to join, now’s a good time. At least try out the free trial. You’ve got nothing to lose and there’s some fantastic music on there.

Oh I just saw this too, which is great news!:

Ever hesitate to download an album comprised of many tracks because it’d eat up so many credits? Album pricing will allow you to download selected albums of 12 or more tracks for the price of 12 downloads. The change will be a boon to fans of classical music and two-minute thrash-masters alike.