Anyone else upset about the changes at eMusic?

[soundave]

I don't know if anyone here uses eMusic, but I've been a loyal subscriber for 5 years or so. Some people here have even pondered if I worked for them, as I always note in the New Music thread "eMu DL's". I don't, btw. I was just jazzed about the service. I've discovered some great bands, and I've downloaded my share of clunkers, too. But, given that I was paying like $24 for 80 downloads a month, I was okay with that.

Anyhow, I'm on the verge of cancelling my subscription, and it pisses me off. I have really liked having lots of new music every month, and I'm a bit sad to think that I won't be getting new stuff, but things have changed. Not the least of which is that I don't have a lot of disposable income, and I have to watch the budget.

Now, add to that, eMusic has decided to go in a sort of different direction, and they are not taking care of their faithful. Ages ago, they guaranteed that my plan would be grandfathered. They went through a pricing hike, but they allowed me to keep my package, even though it was no longer offered. As they said they would. But not this time. And the really annoying thing is that they have really not been completely honest through this process.

So, the big deal is that they have Sony's catalog now. This means Arista, Epic, all sorts of labels. And access to anything there that's at least 2 years old. The catch is that they have taken away 20 downloads from me and are charging me more! To ease the blow, I'll get some extra credits next month. In a special announcement they promised that some "selected albums" that have 12 or more songs can be downloaded for 12 credits. "Okay," I thought. "I can make my subscription worth it, then. I'll find those long albums I've been putting off. I'll still get my 80 DL's if I look hard enough."

But hold everything. I go to the site and start looking at albums, and what do I find? Yeah, there are 12+ song albums available for 12 credits, but an overwhelming number of 10 song albums that you can download for 12 credits! WHAT?! 10 for 12?! That's not at all what was promised. It just feels so skeevy. I feel completely lied to.

And, yeah, no one says I have to DL those albums. But, come on... their whole business model has changed, and I'm feeling taken advantage of. I'm trying to decide now if I'll DL my last few albums and split or not. The one good thing about the Sony deal is that it's a lot of music from when I was little: ELO, Boston, Aerosmith, Quiet Riot.... hell, even Michael Jackson. I could replace a lot of nostalgia-inducing tapes...

Or, I could just GTFO. Anyone else pissed? Or is there a silver lining I'm missing?

 

[beast from the east]

Glad you posted this, because I was just having the same thought yesterday! They WERE NOT completely transparent about the changes - in fact, they have taken it upon themselves to apparently screw their loyal customers. Could they make the fucking plan options any more confusing? I mean, wtf? And I had the same experience - I wanted to DL Mono's new album, and they are charging 12 credits for 7 songs! Now granted, most of them are longer songs, but it is still a far cry from what it was before.

I have a 37 DLs for $14.99 plan now, so I think I'll just stick with that for now. At least I can get three albums for that, so only about $5 a piece, so not too bad. I don't think I'll give them any more business though, and if they change anything else, I just might be gone for good.

No, I don't see a silver lining

 

[Perdido]

You can and should download music for free to begin with, although this is more of a superficial and minor reason to do so.

 

[BloodSword]

Simply put, you were lied to. Period. I never had any faith in Emusic to begin with. A couple of years ago, I had a 9.95 a month plan for 50 dl's. About 4 or 5 times when I dl'ed their was nothing transferred to my player, even though it showed it was dl'ed. I contacted them and told them about this, and they said it was my fault or my computer's. Their records showed that the dl's went through. I immediately cancelled my subscription. They are all about making as much money as they can, regardless of their customers, even those such as yourself, that have been devoted. If you ask me, that's bad business, they lie and they'll lie again man. CANCELL NOW. You can always find the music your looking for, and in a legal way. Invest the time into that, not your money.

 

[beast from the east]

I thought their service was really good..until now. The fucks...:Smug:

 

[Kenneth R.]

That's preposterous Soundave. Did you write them a letter? Normally I scoff at 'internet petition' rallying, but considering the defendant here IS an internet based service, they may actually feel threatened if a large coalition of their users turned on them.