bye bye, emusic :(

I just canceled my subscription to emusic. I still totally love what they do, and have enjoyed exploring their site and choosing music every month for my subscription. But it's time for me to cancel. They have announced that they are acquiring Sony's back catalog (meaning stuff that's over two years old) but they are also changing everyone's subscription by cutting the number of downloads in half. In my case, that means cutting the number of songs I get each month for my $20 from 75 to 37, from 30 cents/song to 60 cents/song. Not a huge raise, when compared to iTunes at 99 cents/song. And totally understandable if we thought the money was going to the artists. But not if the money is going to SONY! I also don't like the weaselly way they did it: no survey of customers about preferences, just an announcement that "by the way, we're doubling the price for your downloads." Neither, apparently, does a vocal segment of their customer base who, like me, want to find good legal deals on music that may not be on the top 40 charts. It's another case of customers being perhaps more outraged by the shoddy communications than by the actual price. emusic distinguished itself from Amazon or iTunes because it catered to the discriminating music hound, and folks like that don't take kindly to be treated like mere customers. Paradoxes of the tension between sharing and marketing: I want to purchase music legally, not steal it, but I also used to spend hours in Tower Records in Berkeley, flipping through the used album bins, and I don't ever pay full price. OK, almost never: Lucinda Williams is an artist whose work I have purchased new. That's probably about it.

And another fact is that I have downloaded enough music from them over the last two years that I have hardly had time to listen to it all! My iPod is full (and I've only ever bought 4 songs from iTunes: all the rest is my CD collection + emusic) and I want to explore what I have. So I'm going to catch up on my listening, save some money, and see how the whole things shakes down. Here are the artists whose albums I have downloaded (legally!) from emusic over the last couple of years. Some are artists I've loved for a long time while others are new to me, but they each came recommended by other music fans whose reviews helped me discover new music.

• Adele
• Al Green
• Allison Moorer
• Amalia Rodrigues
• Andrew Bird
• Angelo Stefanato, Camerata Strumentale Di Santa Cecilia
• Antony and the Johnsons
• Arcade Fire
• Aterciopelados

• Baaba Maal
• Bebel Gilberto
• Bebo Valdes
• Belle and Sebastian
• Bettye Lavette
• Björk
• Bon Iver
• Bosque Brown
• Bossacucanova

• Calexico
• Camera Obscura
• Carlinhos Brown
• Carmen McRae
• Cat Power
• Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco
• Charlie Parker
• Chris Letcher
• Cloud Cult
• Cocteau Twins
• Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
• Copeland
• Count Basie
• CéU

• Dar Williams
• Dashboard Confessional
• Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer
• David Byrne & Brian Eno
• Day For Night
• Dead Kennedys
• Devotchka

• Edith Piaf
• Eliza Carthy

• Famous L. Renfroe
• Forellen Quintet
• Franco
• Frank Sinatra
• Franz Joseph Haydn
• Fred Astaire
• Funkadelic

• Gary Numan
• Gil Scott-Heron
• Gillian Welch
• Glass Candy
• Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
• godspeed you! black emperor
• Gogol Bordello
• Gotan Project

• Heartless Bastards
• Henry Kaiser And David Lindley
• Hoagy Carmichael

• Iggy Pop
• Ike And Tina Turner

• Jacques Brel
• James Taylor
• Jennifer Warnes
• John Coltrane
• Johnny Mercer
• Juana Molina
• Judy Garland

• Le Concert des Nations
• Los Amigos Invisibles
• Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
• Los Munequitos De Matanzas
• Lura

• M. Ward
• M.I.A. (XL)
• Mahmoud Ahmed
• Manu Chao
• Maria Muldaur
• Mbilia Bel & Seigneur Ley Rochereau & l'Afrisa International
• Mirah
• Mos Def
• My Brightest Diamond

• Neutral Milk Hotel
• Nick Lowe
• Nortec Collective

• Otis Redding

• Pau Casals
• Peggy Seeger
• Plain White T's

• Question Mark and the Mysterians

• Radiohead
• Ray Charles
• Reverend Charlie Jackson
• Ruth Brown

• Santana
• Santogold
• Sarah Vaughan
• Schola Cantorum
• Seu Jorge
• Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
• Simone Dinnerstein
• Ska Cubano
• Soweto Gospel Choir
• St. Vincent

• The Decemberists
• The Kinks
• The Pixies
• The Raconteurs
• The Rolling Stones
• The Stylistics
• The White Stripes
• Thelonious Monk
• Thelonious Monk And John Coltrane
• Thomas Mapfumo
• Tinariwen
• Tony Bennett And Bill Evans
• Tracy Grammer

• Various
• Various Artists
• Various Artists
• Various Artists - Concord Jazz
• Various Artists - Doghouse Records
• Various Artists - Frochot Music
• Various Artists - Hybrid Recordings
• Various Artists - Luaka Bop
• Various Artists - Maison De Soul Records
• Various Artists - Music Resource Group
• Various Artists - Nacional Records
• Various Artists - Razor & Tie
• Various Artists - Shanachie Records Celtic/British Isles
• Various Artists - Shanachie Records Rock
• Various Artists - Shanachie Records Soundtracks
• Various Artists - Smithsonian Folkways
• Violent Femmes

• White Rabbits

• Youssou N'Dour
• Yves Montand