emusic

[Sean without an H]

Hey folks...

Just wanted your opinion/thoughts (if you have any) on eMusic. I signed up for a free trial membership, and I'm trying to decide whether or not to sign on fully. They've got a great selection of independent music and the occasional mainstream act on an indie label (I especially appreciate Sandra McCracken, Independentbands.com and CD Baby's presence), and they distribute in DRM-free, 192kbps mp3s. I got my 25 free songs (Jon Shirley's new album [pre-release], Arthur Alligood's first [just to see what he's like before deciding whether or not to get the new one] and pieces of Shane & Shane's bluegrass sampler), and I thought that was a pretty good deal.

What do you think? Any opinions on the file type (I'm happy for non-DRM [unlike most subs. services], though 192 kbps is a little low), model itself, or relationship to artists ? [e.g., how does it "pay", etc.]?

Sorry if this is a little muddled ... lemme know if I should clarify anything.

[Sean without an H]

PS I forgot pricing... 40 songs/mo for $9.99 , and some more scaled up from there... honestly I would have shut it down up front, but when I tried to , they offered $5.99 for 20 songs/mo ... I closed the browser until I could make a decision.

PPS I found some 50 CDs that I would like pieces and parts of, ranging from lateST Patty Griffin to Josh Ritter and John Rouse, etc... like I said, pretty good selection.

[EDIT: I sure HOPE Patty's not dead! haha]

[kagomeshuko]

Sorry, no opinions. . .really don't use d/l programs. I either rip my CDs, or tend to find free d/ls.

BTW: What is DRM??

Stein Auf!
Bridget

[Sean without an H]

Sorry, my geeky media studies talk... it stands for Digital Rights Management... like the copy protection that can disable your music you bought from Napster (works as a subscription service... when you stop subscribing, your music stops working) or keeps you from illegally burning copies of CDs (brought to the news by the Switchfoot copyright issues on their last CD, "nothing is sound", which kept many windows folks from being able to pull it onto their computers at all). I still buy most of my music and then rip it onto my computer, but occasionally use iTunes and now eMusic to buy legal downloads.

BTW, there's a good blog for keeping up w/ free Christian downloads, but I'll have to post it when I'm on my other computer (writing a midterm paper and don't have the link in this web browser =\ ).

[Sean without an H]

Okay... I bit the bullet and signed up for it. Have you guys ever heard Explosions in the Sky? I'm in the middle of the CD, and whew... it's pretty amazing. 5 tracks, 45 minutes, instrumental rock... yeah. it's pretty awesome =D

PS They've also got some Jonathan Rundman i'm thinking of checking out :looks to Bridget: I've got a choice between Sound Theology and Public Library in the next few months... which would you recommend?

[Greg adkins]

Jonathan is great... I would recommend maybe picking a few tracks and seeing what you think from there. Sound Theology as a whole is awesome, but I'm not sure I would buy individual songs as downloads because some of them are just short instrumental hymns. My favorites from that record:

Ashes, Forgiveness Waltz, Cold but I don't Mind, I love you with all of my mind, Closed out of Close Communion, Local Road, We're Creating Monsters (very cool song), ... probably others I'm forgetting right now.

Off public Library, I really like Cuban Missle Crisis & Second Language. Also "The Serious Kind".

I can't recommend "Sound Theology" highly enough... it's kind of weird and quirky, but it is an incredibly impressive collection of writing and performances... be warned though... it's intentionally a bit lo-fi. Part of the charm. I'd probably recommend that you pick this one up for real with the packaging and everything... the liner notes are pretty extensive.

- Greg