eMusic Review
2008 Editor's Choice Winner
| eMusic Site | |
| Website address | |
| Payment Plans | |
| Subscription - 30 Songs / Month | $9.99 |
| Free trial | |
Overview - eMusic offers access to over 3.5 million DRM free MP3 song downloads from more than 27,000 independent labels. Songs are sold in monthly download blocks far less than competing services. All song downloads are DRM-free and can be played on any MP3 player including iPod or Zune. Plans start at $9.99 a month for 30 songs. Thaat's only $.33 a song, 1/3 the price of iTunes DRM tracks. They also offer higher volume download accounts at an even deeper discount. eMusic is currently offering a two week free trial including 25 free song downloads to get you started.
History - eMusic is a pioneer in the music download industry. In 1999 "They Might be Giants" released an Internet only album on eMusic. Since then the site has gained access to compilations from Moby, The White Stripes, and Paul McCartney just to name a few. They now add live concert recordings weekly. In 2007 they also started offering audiobooks.
Song titles - eMusic offers over 3.5 million song titles from 27,000+ independent labels.
Music - all of the titles offered by eMusic are in MP3 format and are DRM free. This means you are free to transfer them to your MP3 player and burn backup copies to keep forever. Sound quality is high as all songs are downloaded at 192 kbps bit rate.
Search - eMusic allows you to search for music by song title, artist, album and genre.
Pricing Plans - pricing plans are simple. It comes down to how many songs you want to download each month. Plans include 30 songs for $9.99 a month, 50 songs for $14.99 a month, and 75 songs for $19.99 a month. The most important point with eMusic is that you own the tracks downloaded so even after you end the subscription you still have your music.
Supported devices - since eMusic offers all titles in DRM free MP3 format they will play on any MP3 player or portable devices including iPod, Zune, cell phone, Blackberry, and many others that support MP3 files..
Digital Rights Management - all eMusic songs are DRM free. Whatever you download is yours to keep just as if you had picked it up at your local music store. If you are new to the topic take a look at our DRM article.
Supported Operating Systems - eMusic is compatible with Windows, MAC OS X, and Linux.
Customer Service - eMusic offers live chat support via their site and answers to common questions in their Help area..
Bottom line - eMusic is our Editors' Choice selection for "Best Song Download Site". Download MP3 songs at 1/3 the price of iTunes. All songs are DRM-free and compatible with MP3 players including iPod, Zune and all major brands. Get started with their 2 week free trial and enjoy 25 free song downloads.
