eMusic hits No. 2 in digital music sales, thanks iPod
eMusic, a seemingly small-time digital music service that sells DRM-free MP3s of independent artists, has quietly overtaken other big name rivals such as RealNetworks, Yahoo! and even Napster for the #2 spot in digital music sales. The company attributes its success largely in part to the iPod's widespread popularity and the fact that MP3s play just fine on it, but also says "the consumer confusion over interoperable formats gives us a great advantage". In other words: the tower of babel that is the digital download industry has opened the door for a service that speaks everyone's language to snag the second largest piece of the pie. While not everyone is happy with 2nd place, eMusic seems to be enjoying their 11% of the industry, right after the iTMS at 67%, but way ahead of Real Rhapsody with 4%, Napster - 4% and MSN Music - 3% (data according to NPD Group).[via iLounge]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GadgetGav said 10:19PM on 7-31-2006
Haha... Take that Rob 'freedomofmusicchoice' Glasier..! That's the best news I've heard since his press conference where he accused Microsoft of getting it all wrong with Zune and saying it was a great opportunity for Real to partner with other people.
Which of these potential partners are going to take on Real's version of DRM and try and haul them out of the basement of digital downloads?
Well done emusic..!
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Joel van der Veen said 10:20PM on 7-31-2006
Good to see. While I haven't bought anything from them (I still prefer to have a pressed, physical copy of music, i.e. a vinyl record or a compact disc) I have taken a look at their site and also had a free trial, and eMusic is the yardstick by which other pay-music sites should be measured. Of course, the legal tangle of the mainstream music industry means that most other sites generally cannot compare, but that shouldn't stop music lovers from checking out this great site. And rumours of a lack of "well-known" music are unfounded: there's all kinds of popular and cult artists: Frank Zappa, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Kinks, early Johnny Cash, New Pornographers, They Might Be Giants, etc. etc. etc. Music lovers, please do yourselves a favour and try them out. I'm sure you'll like what you find.
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Taylor said 10:37PM on 7-31-2006
i love emusic, i actually use it more than itunes because of of its non-DRM protection and support of indie artists. glad to see it doing so well.
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Silver said 10:41PM on 7-31-2006
Hey eMusic, offer lossless and I'll start buying!
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Milk said 10:55PM on 7-31-2006
That is awesome news! eMusic is my favorite digital music site. In fact, it's the only one I use nowadays. Not because of its lack of DRM, but because it encodes the MP3s with a high bitrate.
This news makes me as happy as the fact that Apple also beat out all those other chumps in the digital music business.
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bloodthirstyrobot said 11:34PM on 7-31-2006
In fairness, emu bought their way into that second-place finish, thanks in significant part to the aggressive promotions it's offering (e.g., I signed up when they offered me 100 free tracks). But the second key reason has just as little to do with supposed "consumer confusion." Consumers resent DRM and in particular, the way most music services implement it such that it serves a narrow interpretation of copyright rather than the market it is supposed to serve. It shouldn't have to be repeated, but here it is again: people don't want to rent their music. And while most don't mind seeing artists compensated for theor work. these same buyers couldn't give a toss what copyright law would like people to believe as far as fair use is concerned.
But what keeps people coming back to emu is just as interesting a question. The secret is in the word-of-mouth style linked lists in the community. Example: you might be curious about what's available by Bob Dylan. You won't find much, but hey there's a linked list of faves that someone has shared and it includes a hard-to-find recording of Dylan that was included in the Smithsonian collection. Go there and whaddaya know. Someone else is waxing eloquently about Memphis Slim. Go there. Download. Wow...this cat is great. What emu doesn't have (a wealth of top 40 artists), it makes up for with a breadth of tastes and styles...especially of roots, blues, folk and jazz.
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Richard said 8:55AM on 8-01-2006
I'd still be on eMusic if they changed their pricing scheme, however. I don't want to pay $X a month for Y downloads, I want to pay $X PER download. I much prefer a pay as you go scheme so I can spend money when I feel like it, not spend money when I don't, and be in control of my bank book.
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Farhan said 10:03AM on 8-01-2006
I have personally never bought anything from eMusic; but I think their 2nd place in the market after Apple, speaks volumes to the also ran, that iPod support is crucial for your online music store. If eMusic was to offer non-DRM WMA I highly doubt they would be in the 2nd place.
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jerfgoke said 10:11AM on 8-01-2006
I was an eMusic skeptic for a long time, but signed up for a free trial after finding a solid selection of ambient artists there. Now I'm hooked! The price is great, and even though their library is missing some of my favorites, I am always finding new music to listen to. If you like independent artists or ambient music, definitely give them a shot. I'm not affiliated with them in any way, I just really, really like the service.
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Michael Thomas said 11:04AM on 8-01-2006
And there is the small fact that Emusic is a fantastic, inexpensive, easy to use service. For a flat fee that costs less that two full CDs from iTunes, I get 60 MP3s a month, downloadable at my leisure. And, should by hard drive crap out, I can re-download these tracks again and again, without it counting against my monthly downloads. And did I mention no DRM? None. Nada. Track play anywhere MP3s can roam. I love eMusic and recommend it to everyone.
-- MDT
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Charles said 11:34AM on 8-01-2006
This is just another 'me too' post, but emusic is the best out there. I was buying music off itms exclusively until i found the 90 tracks for 20 bucks a month plan on emusic, now i get my fix only from emusic.
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oxjox said 3:54PM on 8-01-2006
I have been using emusic since before there was an iTunes store! I was in for a treat when I reactivated my account after a year of using iTunes and I found tht I could STILL download the music that I had purchased a year or more previously!
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Kenya said 4:26PM on 8-01-2006
I started out with a trial at emusic and then subscribed. I like their jazzselection. I also like that I have the choice as to whether to download their proprietary software and that the format allows me to move them between my Powerbook and my work PC notebook. (When I switched to Mac, I lost about 20 licensed WMA files. Thankfully most of my collection is ripped from my own CDs.) I like iTMS, but have started checking to see if the same track is available on emusic before I download.
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tcp said 4:44PM on 8-01-2006
Another 'me too' here. I love emusic... though they stole me away from cd stores and itms and not one of the smaller services (I wonder if that's the general trend?)
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migbeil said 4:52PM on 8-01-2006
This proves just one thing, DRM is getting in the way of the industry's ability to make money online. They are hurting themselves. People want to be able to play their music on whatever device they own, without the headaches imposed by DRM. What I wonder is, where would allofmp3.com rank if it were considered legal. Again, a non-DRM format and probably the real holder of that #2 position. Also, one also has to wonder how many potential consumers the industry is losing out on because they don't want to be locked into one DRM scheme? Time to rethink strategy. Most people will stay honest if there is a reasonable alternative, pirates will be pirates no matter what (no ninja vs. pirate jokes plz).
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Nate MC said 4:42PM on 8-02-2006
I've spent more money at emusic than I have at the iTMS and as an artist I'm going to definantley have my music put onto both locations :)
I am glad that non-drm sources of legal music are doing well.
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