eMusic

Posted by Campbell at Monday, June 09, 2008

I've had a love/hate relationship with eMusic since signing up in December of 05. For the most part, eMusic is an amazing outlet for those with an endless need for music. The positives of this service are as follows: 1) deep catalog of independent music 2) $20/month for 90 downloads (less than $3/album) and 3) all content is MP3. On the flipside: 1) the search engine is atrocious, and this is done on purpose, in hopes that consumers won't exhaust their downloads each month 2) the labels that I love get screwed (given the "sharing" model, labels only make about $.22/download, whereas they make about $.65-$.70 via iTunes) and 3) few new releases (I mean, how long has CCR's Greatest been in the top 20?).

If you're even somewhat new to eMusic, it's a treasure trove. If you've spent many-a-month as a subscriber, you'll come to realize that eMusic is akin to the hours you'll spend perusing the vinyl bins at your local record store. In other words, if you take the time, there is a nearly bottomless supply of great music. As I said, I have been on eMusic almost three years, and lately I've found it difficult to unearth the gems. However, tonight I decided to begin my search around page 170. And about ten minutes later, I'm in possession of the following gems:

Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham L'Aventura
The Wedding Present John Peel Sessions 1992-1995
Dirty Three Horse Stories

I now have 26 downloads left until June 16. Tomorrow I'll start on another random page. Just like your record store, sometimes the true prizes are found beneath the piles below.