The end of eMusic and me
Why I ended my 10+ year affair with the digital music service eMusic.
emusic
eMusic to offer streaming?
In reading the recent New York Post article EMusic mulls sale as digital market shifts (pointed to by eMusic subscriber okierambler in a recent message board...
Some kind of a party
A while back my copy of iTunes saw fit to present me (for the first time?) with a party playlist. I honestly can’t imagine any party that would have this as ...
Should eMusic add streaming?
In two previous posts about my current use of eMusic I discussed my musical jobs to be done and how I might now supplement eMusic with other services in orde...
Now with Swindleeeee!!!!!
Swindleeeee!!!!! is dead, long live my old Swindleeeee!!!! posts.
Is eMusic moving away from the health club model?
As all long-time eMusic watchers are aware, eMusic’s business model has always been based on the health club model, i.e., the assumption that a certain perce...
Obligatory Michael Jackson post
Given the extent to which Michael Jackson the person was crushed beneath the weight of Michael Jackson the commercial phenomenon, it’s sadly appropriate that...
Supplementing eMusic with other services
In my previous post I lamented the demise of eMusic as I’ve known it, and in preparation for the future discussed my jobs to be done related to discovering a...
eMusic and my musical “jobs to be done”
In less than a month my grandfathered eMusic Basic 2-year plan (40 tracks per month at a cost of $7.49 per month or $0.19 per track) will end, and I’ll face ...
Economics of eMusic and Sony
Most of the press coverage of the eMusic/Sony agreement has been either regurgitated press releases and echoes of the original New York Times story, or stori...
The letter Danny Stein didn’t write
As is amply clear from recent postings on the eMusic message boards and comments on 17 Dots, eMusic pretty much made a hash of its announcement of the Sony a...
New eMusic US pricing
Well, I significantly underestimated how far eMusic was willing to go in terms of changing its pricing to attract major label content. My personal guess was ...
eMusic to offer Sony back catalog
Danny Stein, eMusic’s new CEO, dropped some major news just now on eMusic’s semi-official 17 Dots blog. As reported in more detail in the New York Times, Son...
How long until a music industry revolution?
Bob Lefsetz recently published another broadside in his continuing crusade to drag the music industry into the 21st century. In this one he asked the followi...
Alex Ross picks on eMusic again
Continuing a tradition from last year, here’s what you can find on eMusic from the list of recommended 2008 recordings published by Alex Ross. (Note that Cap...
Amazon discounted albums, surprisingly uninteresting
On the eMusic message boards I just saw a post from rednano74 about Amazon offering 50 albums for $5. Silly me, I thought this meant for $5 I could buy 50 al...
17dots comes to Twitter
(In the spirit of Twitter, I’ll keep this post brief.)
It’s not mobile music, it’s just music
I happened to get an eMusic email a few days ago (announcing new releases in the alternative/punk category) and noticed a link to a special offer for AT&...
A new game for Pakman
Today I got interrupted from my Swindleeeee!!!!! blogging slumber by the news that David Pakman is leaving eMusic. I have been critical of Pakman one or two ...
Is this why the Stones left eMusic?
I happened to be reading Bob Lefsetz recently on the Rolling Stones moving to Universal from EMI; after a few minutes I thought to myself, Hey, I think I kno...
Context comes to eMusic
Back in February I discussed eMusic’s failure to provide more information about the artists whose music it sells, and suggested some ways it could do better....
eMusic bids the Stones goodbye
Sometimes I can’t help but agree with Bob Lefsetz’s thesis that the music industry is well and truly f*cked, and this is one of those times.
CMO and CRM
I don’t have time to follow every little bit of eMusic news, but I do find it interesting to look at eMusic’s press releases from time to time. One that rece...
Please eMusic, Select some indie classical
Now that I’ve gone and hyped eMusic Selects, I feel I’ve earned the right to make a suggestion, for any eMusic poobahs who may be reading this: As I understa...
eMusic Selects a strategy
I thought I should say a little bit about the new eMusic Selects program. eMusic really wants people to know about this; in addition to a link on the eMusic ...
Out of context
In the past I’ve discussed several ways in which I think eMusic could improve itself for the benefit of both its customers and its suppliers (i.e., the music...
Swindleeeee!!!!! migration is now complete
The migration of Swindleeeee!!!!! to wordpress.com is now complete. The domain swindleeeee.com now redirects to the new blog, as do variant spellings such as...
Last post before Swindleeeee!!!!! moves to wordpress.com
Currently Swindleeeee!!!!! is hosted on a server I administer, and uses the WordPress blogging software. Over the years I’ve grown tired of maintaining my ow...
Minimalist road trip
For the most part I resist writing about the actual music on eMusic, because I’m really not a very good musical critic. However from time to time I do feel t...
Alex Ross picks on eMusic
No, Alex Ross (of The Rest is Noise fame, both blog and book) isn’t being mean to eMusic; in fact to my knowledge he’s never mentioned it, at least on his bl...
Revisiting my Amazon predictions
Now that Amazon has opened a beta version of its MP3 store and everybody else has commented on it (see for example Hypebot’s roundup, as well as good takes f...
eMusic and accidental release syndrome
Last Sunday night I happened to be reading the eMusic message boards when I saw a new post announcing the availability on eMusic of the new album Kala from M...
Universal goes back to the future with DRM-free music
Reading one of Bob Lefsetz’s latest letters recently I found out about Universal’s plan to offer digital music in a DRM-free format (although not through iTu...
To my remaining readers
If anyone is still reading this blog, my apologies: I’ve been preoccupied with work and family matters and haven’t posted anything since May. In fact, things...
eMusic jumps into bed with Alltel
From time to time I like to highlight eMusic-related business deals. Here’s a new one (not mentioned on the eMusic press release page): eMusic will be the fe...
How labels could optimize eMusic vs. non-eMusic sales
In part 2 of my series “Sympathy for the labels” (see also part 1) I discussed the concern of labels that selling through eMusic lowers overall profitability...
Sympathy for the labels, part 2
In my previous post I discussed the difficulties that independent labels were having in adapting to the new landscape of the music business, and whether eMus...
Sympathy for the labels, part 1
I previously commented on the Billboard article about labels’ unhappiness with eMusic, although I got some of the facts of the article wrong—an obvious remin...
Pakman blogs
David Pakman (CEO of eMusic—but you already knew that, right?) has traditionally confined his public comments to press interviews. However in the wake of rep...
Goodbye labels?
I don’t normally do breaking news, because frankly I’m just too busy to keep track of what’s happening every day in the music business. However I’ll make an ...
Two takes on Amazon’s digital music plans
Now that I’ve done a lengthy eMusic-related post I feel less guilty about doing yet another post on Amazon and its rumored plans to enter the digital music m...
Mental accounting costs and the eMusic model
Reading a post by Clay Shirkey concerning Scott McCloud’s abandoning the use of micropayments, I (re)discovered a 10-year-old article by Nick Szabo on mental...
My Amazon predictions: looking good so far
It’s unseemly to gloat that I told you so, but I’m not being paid for this gig so I’ll take my satisfaction where I can find it: According to a Digital Music...
The business case for eMusic’s Connoisseur plans
In a previous post I offered some pretty snarky advice for indie labels complaining about eMusic per-track payouts. For this post I ‘ll try to look at things...
17 dots plus 3 dots is too many dots
I love that people at eMusic are posting at 17 dots; as I mentioned previously, it’s integrating eMusic itself into the eMusic user community. But… I do almo...
Labels and eMusic: Making it up on volume
Hypebot seems to engaging in a mild form of eMusic deathwatch lately, this time questioning eMusic’s apparent success in adding new subscribers and labels. A...
Amazon rumors continued
Courtesy of Hypebot’s New Music Business Briefing this week: The mainstream music industry press (in the form of Billboard) talks about the possibility of Am...
Hypebot’s advice for Amazon
Today Hypebot posted the promised article discussing how Amazon can succeed in the digital music business. Also as promised, I will now comment on Hypebot’s ...
Final thoughts (for now) on an Amazon digital music service
After exhausting myself making predictions about Amazon and its possible entry into the digital music market, I’m now prompted to return to the topic, prompt...
Amazon predictions, part 4: Additional digital music-related services
This is the fourth and final in a series of posts (following parts 1, 2, and 3) speculating on Amazon’s rumored entry into the digital music market. In this ...
Amazon predictions, part 3: Adapting the eMusic subscription model
This is the third in a series of posts (following parts 1 and 2) speculating on Amazon’s rumored entry into the digital music market. In this post I discuss ...
Amazon predictions, part 2: Selling digital music and CDs together
In my previous post I speculated how Amazon’s rumored entry into the digital music market (e.g., through a possible acquisition of eMusic) might initiate som...
Amazon predictions, part 1: The future of online music stores?
When considering the possibility of Amazon buying eMusic, one of the things I think is most interesting is the potential impact of having a single major onli...
Amazon and eMusic: A match made in heaven?
Well, I leave off blogging about eMusic for a month and look what happens: I happen to check Hypebot this evening and find that Amazon is rumored to be buyin...
What is eMusic’s Free Prize?
I recently read Seth Godin’s book Small is the New Big–basically a collection of his blog posts published on dead trees. (I checked it out from the library, ...
Memo to eMusic: Surprise me!
As chance would have it, I was inspired recently to try to start blogging again about eMusic, after a few months during which I was busy with other things an...
Amazon versus eMusic?
When I last commented on the subject of Amazon.com and digital music I had some rather scathing things to say. Now, according to a Hypebot article Amazon is ...
eMusic mashups from eMusic’s Jon Strunk
How come I didn’t know about this before? Jon Strunk, a product manager at eMusic, not only has a blog (is he the only person at eMusic with one?), he’s also...
Like burgers and fries: Johnny Rockets and eMusic?
Here’s a weird one, perhaps even weirder than the eMusic deal with Westin Hotels: Johnny Rockets Expands Music Initiative with Local Market Campaign. For tho...
Songbird gets an eMusic extension (oh, and $1M too)
My apologies for not posting in recent days; work has taken precedence. Here are two quick items to help fill the void for now: First, Pioneers of the Inevit...
eMusic to departing subscribers: We won’t forget you (not)
Harald Walker wrote me to note that eMusic seems to have changed its past policies regarding how it treats departing subscribers:
eMusic’s positioning: It’s just iTunes and us
Yesterday I happened to read a blog post from Paul Kedrovsky containing some sage advice for companies competing in new markets: declare victory early and of...
Interoperability lost, except at eMusic
In a comment to his blog post The strange world of digital music, Nicholas Carr acknowledges the role that Apple’s proprietary DRM scheme has played in fendi...
Subscribing to confusion: The Register on eMusic, Zune, and the iPod
In the flood of press articles on Microsoft’s recent Zune announcement, I happened to take special note of one that appeared in The Register, titled The iPod...
Off with its head: eMusic and the Long Tail
I’ve been meaning for a while to comment on the Guardian article A musical tail of hits and misses, which attempts to address the question of whether the muc...
eMusic Europe officially launches
Well, it’s old news to us, but according to Reuters eMusic is officially launching its Europe service; it appears that eMusic is trying to take advantage of ...
Stereophile article on Naxos’ MPkey strategy
Stereophile just published an online article Naxos: Classical in the Key of MP3 with more information on the MPkey collections from Naxos and eMusic. Along w...
The collected wit and wisdom of eMusic’s David Pakman
I’ve added a new page to the Swindleeeee!!!!! site, “Pakman speaks”, with links to published interviews and other comments by David Pakman, President and CEO...
“This is Money” gives eMusic (and iTMS) its highest rating
This is Money, a UK web site by the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper, recently published an article The Best Music Download Sites, in which they rated t...
Naxos MPkey: CD on the outside, eMusic on the inside?
Courtesy of Google News I found an interesting story in the Wall Street Journal apparently about a new Naxos initiative in partnership with eMusic. It’s behi...
eMusic is hiring
In a prior post a while back I talked about how job postings were useful clues to what a company’s up to. Well, I found some more eMusic job postings, courte...
SpiralFrog: “To think otherwise is to be ignorant”
Really, everyone getting excited about SpiralFrog’s announcement should just stop reading fevered pronouncements like a huge blow to established music stores...
eMusic pricing, part 2: Powers of nine
This is the second in a series of posts about eMusic’s pricing strategy. (See also part 1.) In this post I discuss the possible motivations behind eMusic’s p...
Tzadik (sort of) on eMusic
I happened to read a blog post by a John Zorn fan ruminating about whether to buy albums from Zorn’s Tzadik label from eMusic or elsewhere. So he asked Tzadi...
eMusic pricing, part 1: Goldilocks and the three plans
Im my original post on eMusic Europe I noted that the prices for the Basic plan in Europe increased significantly more versus the US price than the correspon...
eMusic responds to UK and Europe long-term subscribers
Thanks to the persistence of dhaith we now have more definitive information on how eMusic will be handling existing UK and Europe subscribers on the annual a...
eMusic UK press (but no release)
Press articles on the launch of eMusic UK are starting to appear; representative articles can be found in The Register and MacWorld UK, with other outlets li...
eMusic per-track pricing for the US, UK, and Europe
This is a followup to my previous post on eMusic’s new prices. In this post I provide the equivalent per-track prices for all products offered in the US, the...
eMusic prices for the US, UK, and rest of Europe
Thanks to poppi and xtrev I now have a complete set of eMusic prices for the UK and the rest of Europe as they would apply to new subscribers. (Recall that c...
eMusic goes eUropean
The big news on the eMusic message boards the past day or so is that eMusic is introducing a European version of its service (currently in “beta”). There’s n...
USA Today article touts eMusic
The mainstream media is beginning to take note of eMusic. The latest sign: a favorable article in USA Today, “EMusic’s pitch: Download song-and own it”. I fo...
A new Day for eMusic’s web site?
My last post illustrated one way to figure out where a company like eMusic is going: look at its job listings. This post shows another way: look at press rel...
eMusic toolbar for Firefox coming?
As part of my day job I try to keep track of what’s happening in the various Mozilla discussion forums. Today I happened an interesting post in the mozilla.j...
Prepare to be swindleeeeed
For quite some time now I’ve been a subscriber to eMusic, a digital music site that offers DRM-free MP3 tracks by artists on independent (non-major) labels. ...