I wondered the other day how it was that eMusic, or its artists, made money on the $14.99 a month unlimited download plan. I generally, when I remember to do so, find about four or five albums that I want to listen to for that $14.99, and that happens about every two weeks.
So this morning’s email that eMusic was being acquired by “Dimensional Associates LLC,” and changing their pricing model to eliminate all-you-can-download, came as no real surprise. The two tiers in the new pricing scheme: 40 songs a month for $9.99, or 300 songs for $50 a month.
Neither tier is really tempting, but I suppose I’ll stick with the basic pricing scheme just in case I discover another band I should have been listening to all along—like Pavement, Yo La Tengo, Red House Painters, or Cat Power—through the service. And between now and October 30, when the new pricing scheme takes effect, I’ll be pretty busy, especially in the Prestige/Riverside jazz part of the eMusic store.
Of course, the fine What Do I Know beat me to this post this morning…