Pete sez,
I received an email from eMusic today saying that, after November 21, all new subscriptions will cost the same, BUT GIVE YOU LESS.
The Basic plan is currently 40 tracks per month, but will soon drop to 30. Similarly, the Plus and Premium plans are dropping from 65 and 90 to 50 and 75 downloads per month respectively.
By default, the plans of existing subscribers (i.e., me) will not change. Furthermore, if I act quickly, and upgrade my subscription RIGHT NOW, I'll be able to "lock in at the lowest price per download available" (!)
The email does not explain why they're reducing the value of new subscriptions, and I'm unable to find any mention of these inpending changes on the eMusic website.
To be honest, the whole thing is filling me with a growing sense of injustice. Logic (along with my limited understanding of economies-of-scale type stuff) would suggest that as eMusic gets bigger they'd be able to offer BETTER (not worse) deals. But this does not seem to be happening.
I agree. I stopped my Emusic subscription when they went from unlimited downloads to a max of 40 a month. Most months I didn't download any music from Emusic, but I was willing to pay in those months against the months when I'd discover a new artist or genre and download a hundred or more tracks. Charging by the click is a dumb business model — when AOL gave it up for flat-rate pricing, they made more money, not less. After all, when you're selling something inherently experimental (like new music, or new electronic services), it makes sense to keep the cost of experimentation as low as possible.
