The eMusic Thread

[RobinFinderson]

I know I'm not the only other eMusic fan on the board. For those who haven't heard, eMusic is a music download service that hosts a lot of great independent music. They also have a few big names, and their collection of old Classical, Jazz, and Blues is vast, if you are in to those things.

EMusic works by subscription. For fifteen dollars a month I get 50 downloads, which comes to .30 a song. This is great price for legally downloaded music. But what even sets eMusic apart more than its great price is its music library. It has so much music great independent work that each month's music refill becomes a sonic safari, clicking through samples and searching for great stuff that hasn't reached a wider audience. Looking for great new music is really fun.

So what are other eMusic subscribers downloading these days?

My recent downloads include:

Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion
Grizzly Bear, Yellow House
Helios, Ayres
Loney Dear, Dear John
M. Ward, Hold Time

and then I had a recent need for some metal:

Hammerfall, No Sacrifice, No Victory
Manowar, Warriors of the World
Megadeth, That One Night - Live in Buenos Aires
and some Lita Ford (who really does kick a lot of ass)

[TripletDaddy]

whoops. I forgot about my emusic account. I havent downloaded anything since January! I guess I lose all those downloads? If so, I am going to cancel my account.

[MarkGrace]

My account is on a momentary freeze until I feel like I can afford it again. My last set of downloads (which was either March or April, I can't remember) included Bromst by Dan Deacon, Wavvves by Wavves, Born Like This by Doom, and NEU! by NEU!

[Teenage Dirtbag]

I did the free trial once to get a song called "Picture" by Bottle of Justus. Then I canceled immediately after I downloaded it. I guess they probably hate leeches like me.

[Commando]

One of these days I'm going to feel bad about downloading all my music for free and probably do that emusic thing.

[MarkGrace]

My account is active again. Downloads this month:

Moderat by Moderat - I was interested to see if this album had more of an Apparat or Modeselektor sound to it, and to be quite honest, they actually seem to do a pretty good job of splitting the difference. You get the angular, heavy beats of Modselektor, contrasted by the more smoothed out and melodic programming of Apparat. I've only listened to it once, but I was definitely picking up some dark, Burial inspired dubstep beats. I liked it.

Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors - Full of win. You probably know his story by now: drops out of Yale's composition program to make pop music; crafts songs like he's a composer, which means lots of difficult and sometimes abrasive song structures. Like Animal Collective before them this year, doesn't to go a bit more accessible to give music neophytes like me a glorious peak into their world.

Manners by Passion Pit - The MGMT of 2009. Electro-pop music that's full of hooks and makes even the whitest of guys (me!) want to dance. The programming is not very sophisticated, but it's a hell of a lot of fun.

It's Frightening by White Rabbits - Haven't listened to this one yet because I had trouble downloading song 2. Produced by Britt Daniel and reportedly sounds quite a bit like Spoon. I guess that can't be a bad thing.

Post-Nothing by Japandroids - With an album title like that, you know you're getting a high-energy rock album with lots of punk groove. And, well, that's what you do in fact get.

Did anyone else see the notice at emusic? They're expanding their catalog by 200,000 songs, but apparently it's costing them a pretty penny because now you only get 37 songs for $15 instead of 50. Boo.

[TripletDaddy]

Everytime this thread bumps I remember that I have an emusic account. and that I am paying for it monthly. And that I haven't downloaded a single thing this entire year. i need to cancel that account. can someone please remind me tomorrow.....around 10 or so AM PST? thanks!

[il Padrino Ute]

Everytime this thread bumps I remember that I have an emusic account. and that I am paying for it monthly. And that I haven't downloaded a single thing this entire year. i need to cancel that account. can someone please remind me tomorrow.....around 10 or so AM PST? thanks!

Why not cancel it now?

[RobinFinderson]

Did anyone else see the notice at emusic? They're expanding their catalog by 200,000 songs, but apparently it's costing them a pretty penny because now you only get 37 songs for $15 instead of 50. Boo.

Yes, I noticed. I'll probably download at the more expensive rate for a couple of months, then put my account on hold for a 90 day period.

What did I get this month? The new Eels. Some old Belle and Sebastian (lost the CD during a move). Passion Pit. Horse Feathers.

[RobinFinderson]

One of these days I'm going to feel bad about downloading all my music for free and probably do that emusic thing.

You are clearly a very bad Mormon.

[TripletDaddy]

Why not cancel it now?

That is something that should be done at work, not while at home.

[MarkGrace]

The new set up sucks. Not sure if it is worth it anymore.

[Commando]

You are clearly a very bad Mormon.

I was right. I hardly ever download music illegally these days. First, I've been on a vinyl buying tear, and second, Spotify premium has kept my music jones slaked. I guess I can start to work toward taking the sacrament again...

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I hope Triplet isn't still paying for an account, nobody reminded him like he asked.