3 ms·

To cater to major labels, eMusic changes its pricing scheme

2 points by shortformblog 16y ago

shortformblog 16y ago
A little more context, over here: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2010-10-12-emusic12_ST_N.htm http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2010-10-... eMusic's change page is blocked off for members only, but here's what it says. Both the above article and the blurb for subscribers are written with lots of PR-ese. -- Coming soon! eMusic’s largest catalog addition ever along with a new way to price music eMusic’s mission has always been to provide our members with a deep and broad selection of music at the best possible value. So we’re thrilled to announce that this November we will be adding more than 250,000 tracks to eMusic! The additions include classic hip-hop albums on the Def Jam label; groundbreaking, forward-thinking rock music on Geffen and Interscope; giants of jazz on the Verve and ECM labels; a wealth of classical music from the standard bearers Deutsche Grammophon and Decca Records; hard-hitting alt-country on Lost Highway; timeless R&B from the Motown label, and much, much more! It will be the single largest catalog addition to eMusic by far, and it comes thanks to a recent agreement with Universal Music Group. In order to continue to grow our catalog and to insure a sustainable business in the long term, we need more flexible pricing. So we are changing from today’s credit-per-track system to currency pricing. Your membership will continue just as it is today and your monthly payments will not change. But starting in November, you’ll see tracks and albums priced in dollars and cents instead of credits. New pricing in a nutshell Under the new currency pricing system, eMusic members will enjoy savings of 20%-50% compared to iTunes a la carte prices. The majority of albums on eMusic will be priced from $5.19 - $8.99. Single track pricing for members will vary as follows: $0.49 for most tracks currently in our catalog $0.69 - $0.79 for more popular content $0.89 for tracks that generally sell for $1.29 at iTunes We won’t know where specific titles (or exactly how many) will fall in the categories above until November. But we think you’ll find that eMusic still offers the best deal out there on a consistent basis. For more on pricing, read The new pricing in detail. Your monthly loyalty bonus To thank you for being an eMusic member, a special loyalty bonus will be added to your account each month. The bonus level depends on the plan you are in. For more details regarding your new membership plan see the Your Plan info on the right. eMusic today, eMusic tomorrow We want to assure you that the heart of eMusic is not changing. As we grow our catalog, we’ll continue to profile records we find interesting or important, regardless of whether they've sold 4 or 4 million copies. By growing our catalog our aim is to also grow our member base, which in turn will help fund improvements to the service. See A look at the future of eMusic for details on some of the good things to come. Read on to get more details about the new catalog, the new pricing and how this affects your account. We want to hear your thoughts about the changes, please take a few minutes to share your feedback on a MEMBER SURVEY.
thewordpainter 16y ago
company has been heading downhill ever since former ceo (and current venrock VC), david pakman, took off. it's a shame that emusic has not been able to make the long tail business model work. i think there is a significant opportunity in the tail, but maybe they just got too greedy? -adam
thewordpainter 16y ago
company has been heading downhill ever since former ceo (and current venrock VC), david pakman, took off. it's a shame that emusic has not been able to make the long tail business model work. i think there is a significant opportunity in the tail, but maybe they just got too greedy? -adam
mr_eel 16y ago
I'm a relatively happy eMusic subscriber -- with a few minor complaints, but nothing serious. I almost see this as a sign of their current business model being unsustainable. eMusic started it's life as a cheap retailer —- subscription or no -- but has had to repeatedly rejig their pricing in order to retain label catalogues. I don't think this should be interpreted purely as an attempt to get major labels involved, this has had an effect on smaller labels as well. An anecdotal example; Relapse had pulled it's catalogue purely because it wasn't making enough money from it. Planet-mu had done the same. Subsequent to the last pricing changes, lots of hold out labels have put their catalogues on eMusic -- for me, notably Warp and Kompakt. So my general feeling is that if these moves help eMusic sustain itself, then I can get behind it. However, these pricing schemes no longer look anything like a subscription; eMusic will not be the simple service that it was previously. I get a sense that a subscription now only locks you into paying a set amount each month to a retailer and removes your ability to shop around with that money. Still, the music is generally cheaper and for someone like me -- given I purchase a lot -- it's still a good deal. I watch with interest.

2 points by shortformblog 16y ago

A little more context, over here: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2010-10-12-emusic12_ST_N.htm http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2010-10-... eMusic's change page is blocked off for members only, but here's what it says. Both the above article and the blurb for subscribers are written with lots of PR-ese. -- Coming soon! eMusic’s largest catalog addition ever along with a new way to price music eMusic’s mission has always been to provide our members with a deep and broad selection of music at the best possible value. So we’re thrilled to announce that this November we will be adding more than 250,000 tracks to eMusic! The additions include classic hip-hop albums on the Def Jam label; groundbreaking, forward-thinking rock music on Geffen and Interscope; giants of jazz on the Verve and ECM labels; a wealth of classical music from the standard bearers Deutsche Grammophon and Decca Records; hard-hitting alt-country on Lost Highway; timeless R&B from the Motown label, and much, much more! It will be the single largest catalog addition to eMusic by far, and it comes thanks to a recent agreement with Universal Music Group. In order to continue to grow our catalog and to insure a sustainable business in the long term, we need more flexible pricing. So we are changing from today’s credit-per-track system to currency pricing. Your membership will continue just as it is today and your monthly payments will not change. But starting in November, you’ll see tracks and albums priced in dollars and cents instead of credits. New pricing in a nutshell Under the new currency pricing system, eMusic members will enjoy savings of 20%-50% compared to iTunes a la carte prices. The majority of albums on eMusic will be priced from $5.19 - $8.99. Single track pricing for members will vary as follows: $0.49 for most tracks currently in our catalog $0.69 - $0.79 for more popular content $0.89 for tracks that generally sell for $1.29 at iTunes We won’t know where specific titles (or exactly how many) will fall in the categories above until November. But we think you’ll find that eMusic still offers the best deal out there on a consistent basis. For more on pricing, read The new pricing in detail. Your monthly loyalty bonus To thank you for being an eMusic member, a special loyalty bonus will be added to your account each month. The bonus level depends on the plan you are in. For more details regarding your new membership plan see the Your Plan info on the right. eMusic today, eMusic tomorrow We want to assure you that the heart of eMusic is not changing. As we grow our catalog, we’ll continue to profile records we find interesting or important, regardless of whether they've sold 4 or 4 million copies. By growing our catalog our aim is to also grow our member base, which in turn will help fund improvements to the service. See A look at the future of eMusic for details on some of the good things to come. Read on to get more details about the new catalog, the new pricing and how this affects your account. We want to hear your thoughts about the changes, please take a few minutes to share your feedback on a MEMBER SURVEY.

thewordpainter 16y ago

company has been heading downhill ever since former ceo (and current venrock VC), david pakman, took off. it's a shame that emusic has not been able to make the long tail business model work. i think there is a significant opportunity in the tail, but maybe they just got too greedy? -adam

thewordpainter 16y ago

mr_eel 16y ago

I'm a relatively happy eMusic subscriber -- with a few minor complaints, but nothing serious. I almost see this as a sign of their current business model being unsustainable. eMusic started it's life as a cheap retailer —- subscription or no -- but has had to repeatedly rejig their pricing in order to retain label catalogues. I don't think this should be interpreted purely as an attempt to get major labels involved, this has had an effect on smaller labels as well. An anecdotal example; Relapse had pulled it's catalogue purely because it wasn't making enough money from it. Planet-mu had done the same. Subsequent to the last pricing changes, lots of hold out labels have put their catalogues on eMusic -- for me, notably Warp and Kompakt. So my general feeling is that if these moves help eMusic sustain itself, then I can get behind it. However, these pricing schemes no longer look anything like a subscription; eMusic will not be the simple service that it was previously. I get a sense that a subscription now only locks you into paying a set amount each month to a retailer and removes your ability to shop around with that money. Still, the music is generally cheaper and for someone like me -- given I purchase a lot -- it's still a good deal. I watch with interest.