done with emusic – or trying to be

I knew that nothing good would come of emusic’s plan changes. I mean, dumping all your favourite indie labels and replacing them with mainstream crud; how’s that working out for you, yeah?

Just to show you how things have changed, here’s a list of the most recent artists I’d downloaded pre-plan changes. The ones in red are ones you can’t get any more:

  • Barry Louis Polisar
  • Belle and Sebastian
  • Boards Of Canada — only one album available
  • Dum Dum Girls
  • Eels
  • Elizabeth Cotten
  • Elsinore
  • Euros Childs
  • Forest City Lovers
  • Frontier Ruckus
  • Gonja Sufi
  • Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
  • Hold Your Horses!
  • Macy Gray
  • Michael Hurley
  • Mount Eerie
  • Pocahaunted
  • Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
  • Sun Kil Moon
  • The Delgados
  • The Moldy Peaches
  • The Tallest Man On Earth
  • The Turtles
  • The Whitlams
  • Will Powers

And here was me on a major Delgados kick, and they’re gone.

So cancelled my plan on the weekend, and got this:

Yep, if you’re on an annual plan, you’ve got to sit it out. They don’t offer refunds. So now I have to remember to go in every thirty days for the next nine months to find something – anything! – to download. It’s extremely shabby that emusic are holding over $100 of my balance to ransom. I guess they’re just trying to fit in with the mainstream music industry …

3 comments

  1. Here’s a quick dump of the artists I used to be able to download:

    3PUEN
    Adam Hurt
    Ah Holly Faml’y
    Aidan Moffat + The Best Ofs
    Akron/Family
    Alasdair Roberts
    Alela Diane
    Alela Diane featuring Alina Hardin
    Alexi Murdoch
    Angels of Light and Akron/Family
    Animal Collective
    Apollo Sunshine
    Arab Strap
    Arthur Russell
    audioVille
    Barry Louis Polisar
    Basia Bulat
    Beirut
    Belle and Sebastian
    Bellowhead
    Beulah
    Bill Evans & Megan Lynch
    Billy Connolly
    Black Mountain
    Boards Of Canada
    Bob Log III
    Bon Iver
    Bonnie Russell and the Russell Family
    Brain Donor
    Brett Dennen
    Calvin, Don’t Jump
    Camera Obscura
    Caribou
    Carolina Chocolate Drops
    Cat Power
    Chad VanGaalen
    Chocolate USA
    Cocteau Twins
    Colleen
    Colleen Et Les Boîtes À Musique
    Conor Oberst
    Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
    Crooked Still
    Currituck Co.
    Dananananaykroyd
    Daniel Johnston
    Danny Barnes
    Dark Meat
    David Bazan
    Deford Bailey
    Dengue Fever
    Deva Premal
    Deva Premal and Miten
    DM Stith
    Doc Watson
    Dressy Bessy
    Dum Dum Girls
    Eels
    Elf Power
    Elizabeth Cotten
    Ellen McIlwaine
    Elsinore
    Elvis Perkins In Dearland
    Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou
    Emma Pollock
    Erin McKeown
    Euros Childs
    Feist
    Folk Uke
    Forest City Lovers
    Frank Fairfield
    Frightened Rabbit
    Frontier Ruckus
    Funkadelic
    Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams
    George Smith
    Germans
    Gonja Sufi
    Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
    Grinderman
    Grouper
    Hold Your Horses!
    Holy Modal Rounders
    Hurray for the Riff Raff
    Jah Wobble
    James Blackshaw
    James Hill
    Jay Reatard
    Jeff Mangum
    Jens Lekman
    Jim White
    Jimmy Shand
    Joanna Newsom
    John Coltrane
    John Fahey
    John Hiatt
    Josephine Foster
    Julian Fauth
    Julian Koster
    Justin Rutledge
    Jónsi
    Kaada
    Karen Dalton
    Kilby Snow
    Klum
    Kongar-ol Ondar And Paul Pena
    Konono No.1
    Laura Barrett
    Laura Bradley
    Les Claypool
    Lori McKenna
    M. Ward
    M.I.A. (XL)
    Macy Gray
    Magic Slim & The Teardrops
    Malcolm Middleton
    Manu Dibango
    Mariee Sioux
    Marissa Nadler
    Marmoset
    Michael Hurley
    Mimi & Richard Farina
    Mogwai
    Mojave 3
    Mount Eerie
    Mugison
    Nellie McKay
    Neutral Milk Hotel
    New York Dolls
    Nic Jones
    of Montreal
    Okkervil River
    Old Man Luedecke
    Orriel Smith
    Otha Turner
    Otis Taylor
    Panda Bear
    Pearls Before Swine
    Pedro The Lion
    Pete Seeger
    Peter Stampfel
    Pipes You See, Pipes You Don’t
    Pocahaunted
    Pocket
    Porn Sword Tobacco
    Porter Wagoner
    R. Crumb And His Cheap Suit Serenaders
    Rachel Unthank and the Winterset
    Rev. Gary Davis
    Sam Hinton
    Sandro Perri
    Seasick Steve
    Secret Machines
    She & Him
    Shooglenifty
    Sigur Ros
    Silver Apples
    Sinkane
    Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
    Sons of the Never Wrong
    Sophie Madeleine
    St. Vincent
    Staff Benda Bilili
    Stan Rogers
    Steeleye Span
    Steve Weber
    Stew
    Still Flyin’
    Suckers
    Sun Kil Moon
    Surf City
    The Antlers
    The Be Good Tanyas
    The Bees
    The Besnard Lakes
    The Bulgarian Voices – Angelite feat. HUUN-HUUR-TU, Sergey Starostin & Mikhail Alperin
    The Coal Porters
    The Corin Tucker Band
    The Decemberists
    The Delgados
    The Fall
    The Felice Brothers
    The Gerbils
    The Groanbox Boys
    The Hidden Cameras
    The High Water Marks
    The Icicles
    The Kinks
    The Ladybug Transistor
    The Magnetic Fields
    The Mammals
    The Minders
    The Moldy Peaches
    The Negro Problem
    The New Pornographers
    The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
    The Real Tuesday Weld
    The Ruby Suns
    The Sons Of The Pioneers
    The Superions
    The Tallest Man On Earth
    The Turtles
    The Twilight Sad
    The Unicorns
    The Veils
    The Whitlams
    Thelonious Monk
    They Might Be Giants
    Thom Yorke
    Tommy Jarrell, Oscar Jenkins and Fred Cockerham
    Truckstop Honeymoon
    Tune-Yards
    Tunng
    twi the humble feather
    Vakoka
    Vampire Weekend
    Various Artists
    Various Artists – County Records
    Vetiver
    Was (Not Was)
    We Were Promised Jetpacks
    Wee Hairy Beasties
    White Denim
    Will Powers
    Wooden Shjips
    Yo La Tengo
    Zumm Zumm

  2. This is totally off topic to your post, I know, but I just HAD to come in to say “cheers” to you, for publishing that smashing butter tablet recipe on-line. When the whole family turn into porkers, I will give you full credit for it! I’ve just sampled the first batch, and it’s brought me right back to my Scottish childhood, where “Auld Broonie” used to make and sell it over the counter. So thanks, I’m much delighted.

  3. i just canceled. I’ve been a member since 2005. Seems most of the membership base has left–I can’t imagine how they’ll survive. If they want to compete with Amazon, well, they’ll need to retain a competitive pricing system. And provide better quality downloads.

    By the way, they always stated that annual plans could be canceled in advance for a refund in the past. You should be grandfathered into the old agreement since you were a member then. If I were you, I’d check your inbox for any emails that you received from eMusic during that time. I would also contact customer support. I can’t imagine you’re the only one with this problem right now.

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