At one point in time, EMusic.com was easily the best source for legal independent music available on the internet. However, when the company was sold off by Vivendi to a private equity firm, the service went through a rough six months of transition. The unparalleled unlimited download pricing model was suddenly abandoned, the message boards shut down, the download servers unreliable, the company unresponsive, and the customer support non-existent. After giving EMusic some time to get their bearings again, Breakdown takes a second look at what was once the dominant online music service.
Sound Quality: All of the tracks added to EMusic in the past two years are encoded as high-quality VBR MP3s. However, some of the material added at the time of the initial launch is encoded as low-quality 128 kpbs MP3. While EMusic is going through the catalog and re-encoding the low bitrate files, some are reportedly unable to be re-ripped, and new CDs must be procured. Though there are now a relatively small number of low-bitrate recordings, and EMusic clearly responded to customer requests for the VBR recordings, the gaps in the catalog pose only the occasional deficiency. Score: 7
Fair-Use Rights: Every track available on EMusic is available as an unencumbered MP3, and can be burned to CD, copied between computers, or saved to portable devices an unlimited number of times. The tracks are of course still governed by usual copyright law, but they are no more restricted than the original CD. Score: 8
Cross-Platform Compatibility: The MP3 files themselves are industry standard and will work on all portable devices, computers, or MP3 CD players. Browsing and purchasing individual tracks is done via the EMusic website, which can be accessed on any machine and any web browser. Downloading, however, requires the stand-alone EMusic Download Manager application, which can be downloaded for Windows, Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, and Linux. While much credit is given to EMusic for offering the download manager for all operating systems, the application itself is notoriously flaky, and updates are few and far between. Score: 7
Usability: The EMusic website offers a straightforward way to search or browse by artist, album, label. Additional features include message boards, public album lists, popular charts, genre-specific homepages, and a "stash" where users can save albums they want to remember for later before purchasing. Unfortunately, the interaction between the website and the download manager is often an exercise in frustration, as are the periodic server outages, occasional slow downloads, and other hiccups. All of this would be partly forgivable if EMusic had any semblance of customer support, but emails are frequently ignored entirely and postings to the public support forums are lost to a void. On the plus side, EMusic appears to be finally turning things around and listening to customer concerns, even holding a conference call with some of the most vocal members. While EMusic gets a low score for usability today, a bit of effort on their side could turn this around quickly. Score: 4
Price: At one point, EMusic had the best pricing plan available anywhere -- offering almost unlimited downloads for a flat fee each month. After the sale, EMusic abruptly changed that policy and now offers three service plans: 40 songs for $9.99/mo, 65 songs for $14.99/mo, or 90 songs for $19.99/mo. While these prices appear very good at first glace, topping out at $0.25 a track, the terms and conditions temper the value significantly. First, all tracks must be downloaded within the month or they are forfeit. Second, there is no way to get an album in its entirety for one price, thus even 2 or 3 second tracks cost full price. And third, there is no way to purchase additional tracks during a given month. In the end, the prices are good if and only if the user finds exactly 40, 65, or 95 quality tracks each and every month. Since this is almost an impossibility and it penalizes collectors that purchase only complete albums (which is a large percentage of the independent music audience), EMusic scores low marks for price. The company claims to be addressing these shortcomings, and these policies may change in the future. Score: 4
Independent Selection: EMusic not only carries five of the ten representative popular independent music selections, but also specializes in independent labels. In fact, none of the albums are on a major label, making EMusic one of the best places online to find obscure electronica, indie rock, and jazz. Though the rate at which new music is added has dropped off considerably, the collection still grows and gets better over time.Score: 7
Overall Score: Once the best service available, EMusic has gone through a rough transitional period. Fortunately there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel, and if things continue to turn around, expect EMusic to be back on top of the independent music scene in 2004. Score: 6
Read the Audio Lunchbox Review.
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Read the Napster 2.0 Review.
Read the Apple iTunes Music Store Review.
Read the Breakdown guidelines for this review.