six degrees and icons on emusic
So… any good new releases today?
Obviously, today is Sony day, which sees a slew of popular — and not-so-popular — titles hit the site. There is a kind of giddy rush that comes from seeing, say, Bitches Brew or the first Stone Roses record turn up, and I’m already figuring my personal Save for Later list is going to grow exponentially in the days to come.
I don’t want to dwell too long on specific titles. Instead, I thought I’d point out a few of the broader features we assigned as a part of this label rollout.
Our coverage of the Sony catalog breaks out a couple of different ways. First, there’s our Six Degrees series, which explores the often unlikely connections between popular records and indie favorites.
The first batch of eMusic Six Degrees includes:
The Clash, London Calling
Sly & the Family Stone, There’s a Riot Goin’ On
Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska
Glenn Gould, The Goldberg Variations
Arcade Fire, Funeral
Carole King, Tapestry
Jeff Buckley, Grace
Miles Davis, Nefertiti
Kings of Leon, Aha Shake Heartbreak
Dolly Parton, Coat of Many Colors
Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Nas, Illmatic
Panda Bear, Person Pitch
Michael Jackson, Off the Wall
We’ve also launched a series called eMusic Icons — guided, curated discographies of musical giants. On this tip, I have to make special mention of Douglas Wolk’s exhaustive, unblinking look at the career of Bob Dylan. Douglas reviewed every Bob Dylan album — the good, the bad and the embarrassing — and broke the catalog out into a guide sure to be valuable to Dylan newcomers and long-timers alike.
Kevin Whitehead gives similar insight to the Miles Davis catalog — records I, for one, have long wanted to check out but have been stymied on where to start. In the coming weeks, you’ll be seeing Icon hubs from longtime favorites like Pavement and the Pixies. Our Icon series right now is as follows:
Bob Dylan
The Clash
Miles Davis
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Bernstein
A Tribe Called Quest
Bruce Springsteen
Michael Jackson
Simon & Garfunkel
Elvis Presley
Harry Nilsson
I’ve already singled out the regular stuff I wanted to get with my downloads this period (Sunset Rubdown, Most Serene Republic) so that I could use the Sony additio to get old stuff that was in my catalog in the CD Ages.
I must admit I’ve bene rather miffed by the lack of meaty NA entries the last few weeks, but knowing that Sony is here and now means I’ve got much more work to do with stuff I know I want anyways.
The latest AMG newsletter didn’t make this week seem very interesting, anyway.
We’re not mentioning the fact that the “hits” off these super awesome so glad they’re here albums are only available if you download the whole album? Take ‘The Wall,’ for example. If you want to download ‘Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough’ nope, sorry, can’t, have to get the whole damn thing. But want to download one of the other tracks? Sure, go right ahead.
And never mind the fact that most of us here at eMusic ALREADY HAVE OFF THE WALL, and if we don’t have it, we already know that WE DON’T WANT IT.
Ugh. Hey, remember when eMusic was all about artists that weren’t already richer than most third world countries?
he-he. elephant in the room.
All right, I was really upset at the announcement of the Sony catalog, but the new download structure is fantastic. Sure, some albums are Full-Download only, but the 12-credit system works out really well for longer, multi-disc classical sets and the like. Plus, I no longer feel like I’m ripping off some of my favorite independent jazz labels (such as Black Saint/Soul note) by downloading a 24-minute song for the same credit as a 2-minute pop track.
Will we get a list, sometime soon, of the labels that are opting-in to “album pricing”?
I’m liking the changes to the download UI. The “Complete this album” button for records that I’ve partially downloaded, for example. That’s awesome.
Wow, you mean to tell me on your little Six Degrees segment that Off the Wall is somehow related to Justified? Really? Thank God you put the effort into crafty that nugget of musical insight.
With the addition of the big labels and the price hikes, I think it’s fair to say that eMusic is two degrees from bullshit.
Consider my subscription cancelled.
Yes there is an elephant in the room and it may be worse than you think, they did bring the RootKit, what else will they do to eMusic. Instead of a cute little picture why won’t you acknowledge it. We don’t really want sony —- stick to your indie base.
Ha! After all the hype and back-and-forth regarding the arrival of the Sony mothership, and I get slapped with the [i]album is unavailable for download in your country[/i] message on the entire catalogue.
Hey Daniel:
I don’t think so, unfortunately, but I’ll look into it!
I did notice Soundway among the “album pricing” labels. It will cushion the blow of the price increase for their albums, which are mostly 20-track affairs, essentially bringing the price down close to where it was under the old plan (at least under my old plan, the Connoisseur 200).
What is going on with the redownloading policy? Way to sneak that in without publicizing it!
The “reasonable” part of the policy isn’t true–I’ve never abused the redownloading system, using it only for lost/damaged tracks and problems with the download manager–and it’s not working for me today.
I understand the need to raise prices and haven’t even considered cancelling, but one of the things that keeps me at emusic is knowing that my music purchases are safe. This change upsets me way more than any of the others. I can’t believe you thought you could sneak it in without anyone noticing.
It seems like all the new Sony releases are unavailable for Australian users. How do you justify the massive price hikes when whole countries are excluded from downloading new content?
Another nasty surprise that I don’t recall hearing any publicity about.
I am a current subscriber from Australia
I went to look at the booster pack options and came across this
http://img173.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=82342_emusic_screen_122_515lo.jpg
I guess this is the 1st step in phasing out the customers from undesired countries
@Anna: whoa. thanks for pointing that out. i took advantage of the ‘report defective track’ thing to report a broken track. so if i redownload it in a few days… and it’s not fixed… when it finally gets fixed i could be blocked from redownloading it? yeah, that’s pretty awful. unlimited access to your purchases online is one of the best things about emusic… please rethink that folks!
How about some new arrivals for those who can’t get Sony releases (yet) (UK)?
& are we getting the “Leaves of Life” compilation curated by Arborea?
this new album pricing is awful. i think this may be the beginning of the end for my subscription and possibly emusic as a whole. nice while it lasted.
You emu guys are crooks. Can’t wait for the redownload policy change to be added to the laundry list of things you’ll have on your class action suit(s). Thanks for the incredibly shitty six degrees editorials to add insult to injury. I was sticking around, trying to hang in, but the fact that I just downloaded a dylan album, it didn’t download correctly, I’m out 12 “credits”, now it’s not in my download que and several albums that I tried to redownloading in testing aren’t available…if they’ve switched to album pricing etc.
I’ll add you to my list of “evil” corporations. No I don’t mean exxon or disney. My list is short: Enron and Emusic. Corrupt, corrupt, corrupt.
I’m not thrilled with some of the recent changes eMusic has decided to make, but this is the course that eMusic has decided to plot.
If you don’t like the “new” eMusic then *please* cancel your subscription and spare me — and the other listeners who have decided to stick around — your tedious and melodramatic comments.
Some of you sound like those crusty old Republicans who are still upset about the thing that happened in Novemeber last year. GET OVER IT.
at this point it might as well be itunes. emusic: you used to be cool. sort of.
sadly, someone wasn’t making enough money, so here we go. My DL plan is cut in 1/2, now we are being punished for downloading longer tracks, and redownloading previous downloads.
ABANDON SHIP!
Crikey moses! eMusic has turned a killer music service into a laughing-stock-hollow-shell-of-its-former-self in less than 30 days flat, this must be a new record.
I hope enough subscribers cancel in order to give them the good hard swift kick in the nuts they they so richly deserve.
Selling out and accepting the poisonous proceeds of a Big 4 RIAA- cancer ridden amoral corporate rootkit spreading plague like Sony Music Entertainment. Not to mention single-handedly destroying one of the coolest music lover communities on the ‘net. Despicable.
Both companies must and will be punished in the marketplace. Cancel your accounts & take your entertainment dollars elsewhere.
“He’s dead Jim” – Bones
17 Dots = 17 lies. Go to hell, eMu!
Nobody mentioned my favorite artist added is Weird Al. I’m serious. He’s freakin great.
I am a crusty old republican christopher, and you’re a young, vital democrat?! Your insults, wasted on deaf ears – pissed emusic users will continue to haunt these pages for the next month at least – are no better than emusic’s pathetic business moves over the last month.
You’re in the minority for now, so I think the analogy of crusty old republican suits you better than it does me. You and the other self congratulating 17dots music “bros” can have your 17dots back after everyone else who realizes the lies that emusic has fed it’s customers over the last month can have their time to vent.
This blog has posted nothing of any relevance in the last week, and I’m sorry, but the six degrees idea is exceptionally terrible considering the lack of insight or any remotely interesting correlations to the development of said albums.
If you want editorial on good music, look to the places that all of the emu editorial teams rip off. Othermusic, AMG, Nytimes, you name it…nothing original here. Now you can depend on more posts to promote the sony catalog, if not least an outlet for more lies.
I was going to stick this out, but no longer. You can have your precious comments section back now.
Note to self: don’t feed the trolls (even if they once were law-abiding citizens).
Looking forward to clearing through some Bob Dylan and Kings of Leon before I cancel my account… i reactivated to grab some older stuff. Great job on keeping me subscribed a few more months than I had planned.
Slayer Reign In Blood is a must have,
@Darren: New Zealand’s out too. No booster packs for me, no access to the Sony catalog and more expensive downloads. Where’s the upside here?
Can someone explain why certain albums with less than 12 tracks are listed as requiring 12 credits for a full album download? The new Sunset Rubdown is a good example. It’s 8 tracks, but the Download Album button says 12 credits.
@Brian: Yeah, I’d like to know what’s going on with that too. I just stumbled on this Roger Waters single that has 2 songs, one being “album only” and it is 12 downloads! Other albums end up being a good deal though, like Byrds collection of 20 tracks for only 12 downloads. As a long time eMusic customer, this variable pricing madness is really frustrating! Also thanks to Anna for pointing out the redownload policy change, which I too was unaware of. As a member since 2000, I find my collection has many pre-VBR, 128kbps albums that I was hoping to replace, and other albums I had simply lost. This too is another saddening blow to what was once the most amazing resource for music lovers. I’m still holding on though, but it’s by a thread. A thin thread.
I would like to know more about the redownload policy too. What’s exceeds a “reasonable number of attempts?” Is it a per-album basis or a per-account basis?
Hi Brian, Eric, Nate,
This was after the promise of limiting multi-track albums to 12 downloads. It turns out to be the opposite. I guess it was a typo. What he meant to say was that a 5 track album would be charged 12 downloads. And, Eric — I agree — it is saddening to know and it once was an amazing resource. Fortunately, there are others out there. I can’t deal with marketing stupidity. And, Christopher, before you sound off, read the comments. They are legitimate criticisms that have nothing to do with raising prices. Just with taking away every benefit that got us here in the first place.
Peter,
I have read the comments. I’ve been reading them since eMusic divulged details of the “controversial” changes that have enraged some listeners. My point is this: voicing your displeasure here — a blog — does nothing. I really doubt the people who wear the suits and make the decisions use this blog as a barometer for their business. And even if they did they wouldn’t spend much time here because most of the complaints are so poorly written it’s hard to take them seriously.
The Bios section of this blog states that this site isn’t an “official” arm of eMusic. It also says “its opinions do not reflect those of eMusic.” And the *commenters’* opinions mean little, if anything, in terms of eMusic’s business practices. This blog is about the music, not the business.
The “old” eMusic isn’t coming back; leveling insults and criticisms isn’t going to change anything. “eMusic Lite,” the site’s most costly per-track plan, charges $0.54 per song. If you can find a more competitive pricing structure elsewhere, let me know.
More eMusic bad news :
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090702/0346555437.shtml#comments
–Certain tracks can only be downloaded with “paid” credits, not the free credits eMusic hands out for trial memberships.
–Individual track downloads disabled for tracks longer than 10 minutes – you must download the entire album
–Certain (popular) sub-10-minute tracks disabled for individual download
–No downloading individual discs in multi-disc sets
–Most new albums use 12-credit album pricing (very few reports of 6 or 9 credit album pricing)
Many albums previously available on eMusic have been re-priced (in some cases, tracks available for 1 credit on June 30 now require 12 credits)
IMO, the fact that eMusic did such a poor job communicating these important changes suggests that they deliberately withheld (or downplayed) this information, possibly to keep from fueling the outrage generated from last month’s Sony/pricing announcement.”
This seems like an increasing disaster. But the way this whole situation has been handled is going to make a terrific case study in how not to do PR. eMusic has turned from a company that customers really loved into one that many seem to hate… and it’s happened in an incredibly short time frame. That’s really unfortunate.
If this new “anything over 10 minutes costs 12 credits” charging was the plan all along (including albums which have only 1 ten minute track) wouldn’t it have been a good idea to get it out in the open a month ago when everything was kicking off? Leaving it until now has just rebooted the hostility towards you.
Many people left but many of us stayed and even started to defend you on the boards. Now we’re beginning to feel like dupes, it won’t be so easy to win us back a second time. Fool me once shame on you etc..
So, what happened a month ago? Did you just straight out lie to us? Did you deliberately fudge your answers so it looked like you were talking to us but in fact it was all a pretense? I can’t think of what a third option might be. We have no idea what you’re doing because aside from one new post on the boards you’re giving us the silent treatment again.
However, if this has all been a mistake and albums have been incorrectly priced then hurry up and fix it! Stop trying to make some extra money off us before you do!
I’d like to give kudos to Christopher to do what I’ve not been able to express in my ire toward the abusers of this blog and the EDITORIAL (read not management) team of emusic that runs their own blog because they are music lovers and not becasue they are eMuisc
I must say that I’ve found the majority of that which I am interested in is well priced and I am finding things both “independent” and “major” and that my buying practices have had zero change so I’ll download twenty fewer traqcks a week I’ll still get those same twenty tracks later so meh
Go to hell, Nergal. We have some legitmate gripes, and last I checked, eMu/17 Dots ain’t Iran.
Rolls his eyes a stupid person (above) you tries to tell some one they shouldn’t expess their opinion by telling them they’re trying to stop him from expressing his; which BTW i’m not, i just think you’re being an idiot which, happily, you can freely do without my stopping you, as you said this site is not iran.
I and Christopher are just enjoying the same freedom to tell you that we don’t give a flying fuck what you’ve got to complain about, you’ve (i assume) made your decision to leave eMusic and we’ve (I assume) made ours to stay and to listen to the still (IMNSVHO) educated and interesting things both the 17Dots staff and the Frequent posters (Such as Daniel ESQ, Televiper, SarahDevil, PtolemyClark and myself as well as others) have to say.
Though i would like to point out a small flaw in your statement
17Dots/Emusic is not a Government. . . the constitution (of the united states and other such countries which enjoy the freedom of speech of which both you and I are QUITE fond of) stops the government from restricting your freedom of speech, it does not protect you from being “censored” by private citizens or corperations especially via Moderated internet postings, television or music owned by the afore mentioned Coperations and/or Private citizens.
damn lack of edit button
Rolls his eyes a stupid person (above) you
change to
Rolls his eyes aT a stupid person (above) WHO
“we don’t give a flying fuck what you’ve got to complain about”
Then why are you addressing the complaints in the first place? If you truly “don’t give a flying fuck,” then why are you taking your time to respond at all? If you disagree, then disagree, but playing it off like you don’t care about the opinions of those that aren’t you just isn’t going to fly.
Hey everyone with questions about download policies, try:
http://www.emusic.com/help/download.html
Pretty much every complaint can be answered by the statement “that’s what the label and/or licensing requires.”
Yes, sometimes change is no fun. Gosh, didn’t gas used to just 79 cents a gallon? What happened???
Rehash time – I’ve been with eMusic since the unlimited download days and so yeah, what used to be an insanely good deal is now merely a good deal. Was the Sony catalog “worth it”? I don’t know. But if the choices were these types of changes or a message saying “eMusic is going out of business,” then I prefer the current status. It isn’t a public service, it’s a business (as are labels, even cool ones), and yeah, if you’re not happy with their policies and services, you should stop giving them your money. I know I will if that day comes. But if you don’t understand why some people would be happy to have a relatively cheap way to load up on Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Leonard Cohen, Miles Davis, etc., I don’t know what to tell you.
I know, I know, music should be about the kids and everything should be free and who thinks they can OWN the MUSIC, man. But in the meantime we’ve got this.
I second Greg. I’m kind of sick of all the complaints. I’m not happy that I’ll be paying more, but, hey it’s still a great deal. I am thrilled to fill in some of the holes in my collection thanks to the Sony addition. Already added Lou Reed “Transformer” and Mingus “Ah Um.” I’ll still focus on finding new, independent music, but it’s nice to have more choice.
17 dots ain’t the gubmint! WELL, SHAZZAM! THANKS FOR THE FREAKING CIVICS LESSON NERGAL NERGIE!
We can still bitch about it. Nobody made you Ayatollah.
Nergal, when are you going to have that surgery to remove your lips from Danny Stein’s backside?
How about letting the rest of the world download these.
Nergal – Your comments regarding the EDITORIAL nature of this blog would make more sense if Danny Stein hadn’t selected this forum for a blog post on the new eMusic structure. Scroll down and read it. This is a very appropriate site for users to vent their frustrations, particularly in light of the fact that blog authors are using it to pimp the ‘benefits’ of the changes.
CLM, You do make a good point, I agree that Stein should not have posted the “news” here and think that he should’ve done this in front of the Entire eMusic site as opposed to the targeting the select few who use 17Dots, in order to sneak it by the site’s majority; however if you look at my post count (Nergal MiDoJo) you’ll easily figure out that, yes, I well am aware of that thread and I’ve even made it clear that I feel if people ARE going to complain about all the stuff going on that they stick to that thread, or better yet use the eMusic Message boards.
I’ve also said that I’m not trying to stifle anyone else’s voice but that I am just using mine to say that I’d rather people not fuck up what’s been a great community for me, where I’ve found interesting people of many different thoughts on music.
Yeah, because it’’s all about Nergal and everyone should just bugger off.
Nergal, eMusic are the ones who have f’ed it up, not the users. I know it sucks but don’t blame the users, they had no say over this mess and have legitimate gripes.
Regarding Christopher’s assertions that this is not an official emusic blog:
If this was not the official blog of emusic, why did the CEO of the company decide to post his official notice of the sony deal here rather than simply email it, or redirect to a page on emusic’s web interface?
All of the lines you mention are simply legal ease to try to cover their butts should something not work out in the comment section, or should the editorial team say something that could bring some litigation against emusic.
It’s standard copy-and-paste legal ease for most corporate blogs. This is the official blog for emusic, make no mistake.
I’m sorry, but the editorial team is certainly culpable in this debacle, if for nothing else, the six degrees features. They’ve dropped the ball on making six degrees worth something. Something for the indie labels to expose new music, or something the music fans who frequent these pages… something at all other than standard mojo “top 100 albums” fare.
Once again, I will say that people like Nergal – who I disagree with about emusic and his need to insult other posters who have dissenting views – have had very interesting broad tastes in music. It was people like these who provided others with the most exposure to new and interesting music, not contrived “product improvements” like the really poor six degrees concept.
Six degrees already existed in emusic. You could be downloading a track by taylor swift, only to discover another user who likes classical country, then another who liked classical music and Highlife – that’s how people’s tastes really changed and expanded. It was this open discourse and open minds, enabled by the tools and knowledgeable customers who already existed on emusic that made it special.
The Sony stuff is a disappointment and the biggest change for me is the change to limited re-downloading which made Emusic special. I agree with Eric (above), the re-download limitation is the killer for me. If something happened, I could always go back to Emusic. I don’t see much at emusic that is worth the money any more. I’ve been a member since 2003 and always looked forward to downloading the best indie label stuff. I don’t know if I’ll keep it up with the new changes.
You can find most of the Sony/BMG stuff anywhere (like bargain bins at CD stores for less money than it costs here to download Mp3s).
I hope they fire the CEO for this dreadful change, Emusic shouldn’t just be another iTunes, Rhapsody, or Amazon.com.
This is terrible – My plan has been reduced, and the PROMISED booster pack I was promised is not in evidence.
Furthermore I am now banned from buying booster packs. AND cause I’m in Australia I can’t even download any of the Sony stuff.
So, in summary: I’m paying considerably more for less, Emusic didn’t give me what they promised they would, and now I can’t download my old tracks, I can’t purchase booster packs, AND things that used to be good value (short track albums) are now terrible albums.
If Emusic is determined to lose my custom, they’ve done all the right things. I’m cancelling my subscription. I don’t know how you guys can stand to work for a company which such a complete disregard for its community. It’s pathetic.
Emusic used to be about “independent artists and labels.” Now it’s just an overpriced, hassle-filled FYE cutout bin. Actually, if you shop half.com, you can get all of that stuff for much much cheaper (if you want to take the chance on getting a rootkit, which I don’t). I quit back in January and I checked back in when a friend told me he was quitting (not knowing I quit long ago). What a mess. Who cares about all those major-label freaks anyway? Didn’t you hear that stuff enough back in the day?