EMusic
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- The title of this article is incorrect because of technical limitations. The correct title is eMusic.
eMusic is an online music store that operates by subscription. It is headquartered in San Diego, California, and is owned by Dimensional Associates, LLC.
eMusic differs from other, more well publicized subscription music services, in that the files downloaded from this service are MP3 files free from digital rights management software interference. The service has over 600,000 songs available for download (as of May 2005). New subscribers receive 50 free downloads over a period of two weeks; after the two week period, unless the user cancels, the trial account turns into a subscription account. Subscriptions allow users to download a number of tracks per month; there are several subscription levels, with increasingly costly subscriptions allowing downloads of even more tracks. As of May 2005 a basic package is $9.99 per month for 40 downloads ($.25 a song) with Plus and Premium subscriptions offering more downloads per month (at higher prices). Booster downloads are also offered to subscribers.
Selection of Music
The selection of tracks offered by eMusic is strongest in alternative rock. The store offers a large selection from Beggars Group labels such as 4AD and Matador Records, offering many British and American rock and pop acts that appear on those labels. They also appear to pay more attention to classical music than other similar services. They also have a decent jazz selection, featuring albums from Concord Records and JSP among other labels.
Additionally, eMusic claims that it "was the first service to sell songs and albums in the popular MP3 format and the first company to launch a digital music subscription service." It also claims that all of its songs can be played on any digital media player, including Apple's iPod. Nullsoft's Winamp is currently including the offer of 50 free mp3s along with the free "full" and "bundle" versions of Winamp 5.
History
The company was started in January 1998 and called GoodNoise Corporation. It purchased a company operating the Web site eMusic.com and renamed the company after the site on June 2, 1999. However in 2001 the major label Universal Music bought (http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,46704,00.asp) eMusic.com for $24.6 Million. It was relaunched in 2004.
External links
- eMusic (http://www.emusic.com)
- Winamp (http://www.winamp.com)
- Who Will Buy EMusic com? (http://web.archive.org/web/20010413084348/www.mp3newswire.net/stories/2001/buyemusic.html) - January 16, 2001 MP3 Newswire analysis
- Universal Music Group Buys EMusic (http://web.archive.org/web/20010604104943/www.mp3newswire.net/stories/2001/emusicsold.html) - April 5, 2001 MP3 Newswire article