From the eMusic Web site:
eMusic is a digital entertainment retailer focused on serving customers aged 25 and older. The service offers a vast selection of independent music and audio books in a universally compatible file format at great value. eMusic is the world’s largest retailer of independent music and the world’s second-largest digital music retailer overall, with more than 3.5 million tracks from over 27,000 independent labels and more than 2,000 titles from top audio book publishers. … eMusic caters to music and book lovers of all types in the underserved 25-54 demographic. It does so by cultivating a vast catalogue from the world’s top independent labels and audio book publishers that spans every conceivable musical and literary genre, by offering unrivaled discovery tools, and by providing tracks in a high-quality MP3 format (192 Kbps VBR for music and 64 Kbps for books) with no DRM (digital rights management). It all adds up to a pro-consumer experience that gives subscribers the ultimate in flexibility and ample opportunities to discover new, exciting music and books.
Afterdawn is now reporting that eMusic has hit 250 million downloads. As most of the music provided by eMusic is from independents, one would think that this class of provider would be hardest hit by theft and copying of DRM-free music. Well, evidently not. eMusic is thriving and so are its providers.
So there is life without DRM after all.
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Wow, I’ve never even heard of this site. I will bookmark it immediately! I’m all for promoting non-DRM providers.
The absolute numbers of downloads aren’t a great metric when eMusic routinely offers 75-song free trials (and offers them repeatedly to former members), but if it’s true that they’re profitable then I’m happy for them.
I’ve been a member on and off and it’s a good site, but the volume of music they acquire is not enough to sustain me as a continual subscriber. Keep in mind that a lot of those 2.5 million songs are complete crap (for example, cover albums by session bands). At least their comments system allows users to alert each other of dodgy content, at the expense of the poor soul who downloaded it once.
Like Liza, I’ve been an eMusic member for a while, and like her I’d call it a good site. But 3.5 million isn’t as large a catalog as it might seem, given that it spans all musical genres, includes audiobooks and “eMusic exclusives” (usually live recordings), and music that “is unavailable for download in your country”. It’s rare that you will encounter a tune in the outside world and be able to find it on eMusic. After about two years on the site, I’m having trouble finding music to spend my subscription on.
I’d also argue that given “most of the music provided by eMusic is from independents”, it’s not true that “[eMusic] would be hardest hit by theft and copying of DRM-free music”. In fact I would argue the opposite – that type of music is unlikely to be pirated or found on pirate websites because of its obscurity. Pirates focus on the popular and mainstream.
Having said all that, let’s give eMusic their due. They sell at a competitive price (around half the price of iTunes), don’t use DRM and have a website and tools that make it as easy as possible to sample and buy music. I’d credit a large part of their success with that – making it as easy as possible to do business with them.