Information on eMusic

eMusic is a music store that operates online by subscription. It is owned by Dimensional Associates, LLC and it’s headquarter is in New York. It is the largest online Music store based on subscription and has more then 250,000 subscribers as of March 2007. The main eMusic was started by Mark Chasan in March 1995 as the fourth online CD store. In February 1998, Nordic Music and eMusic formed a joint enterprise to become the first retailer of digital media and sold first online MP3 player.

eMusic is different from other well known subscription Music services (like Rhapsody and Napster) in the format of music available on the site. It is MP3 and fully compatible with all of the Digital Music players and are free from digital rights management software restrictions like copying, expiration dates and limitations of CD burning. While lauded by several, the absence of Digital Rights Management encoding and low price, the service has made unappealing to the Big four record labels.

Files on eMusic: - due to the controversial nature of Digital Rights Management encoding used by contending download services, the company has won praise for not including any of its files, although the fact that they have cost them agreement with major record labels. The record labels which are working with eMusic do not be concerned regarding file sharing of their music, as eMusic user be inclined to be older, and they are less likely to appoint in sharing of files.

File Status of eMusic: - according to the record of December 2006, eMusic sold more then 100,000,000 tracks and had more then 2,000,000 available. New customer get 25 free song downloads for the 14 days of trial period. After the period of 14 days, unless the subscriber cancels, the account turns into the subscription account. As of march 2007, monthly charge for 30 song download is 9.99 US$. With premium and plus subscriptions, they offer more monthly download with higher prices. It also has yearly package for subscriptions called as “Booster Pack”.

Selection of Music: -most of the contracts of Music are with the independent labels, providing the service a reputation for principal offering Indie pop, Indie rock, Jazz, Classical Music and Puck rock. The company eMusic highlights their offering by a host of special editorial content. With the main four labels of record—Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI—unwilling to work with the site.