eMusic Europe changes to a monetary system from Nov 2010

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chrisbe · #1 Post by **chrisbe** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 3:38 pm

I just got an email from eMusic Europe. To grow their catalogue and to get more deals with major and indie labels, eMusic will change their pricing from credit-per-track system to monetary system. That means every song will be priced EUR 0.49 instead of 1 credit, and albums will be priced as the sum of the individual tracks (btw. with the change from eMusic to eMusic Europe it already was like that: we've lost the opportunity to buy albums for 12 credits).

Further they write: "All current members will be migrated to new Preferred plans that insure you can download the same amount, if not more music as you can today, depending upon your plan."

What about eMusic US, eMusic CAN, eMusic UK? I guess, there will be similar changes? I am wondering what will an individual track cost in these countries?

kbuxton · #2 Post by **kbuxton** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:34 pm

I got the same thing from the US emusic today. (With the exception that it was vague on actual prices... just that it would be money not credits anymore)

#3 Post by **JesseMiner** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 7:46 pm

To answer your questions from eMusic.com's Q&A:

Q: What countries are affected by this change?

A: The conversion from credits to currency will take place in all regions. Expect to see albums and tracks priced in your local currency starting in November 2010.

[...]

Q: Will it cost more per download?

A: With the new pricing system, you will see a wider variety of prices, with some tracks costing more and some less than the effective price you pay today. Over-all however, eMusic members will consistently be able to enjoy savings of 20% - 50% compared to iTunes a la carte prices.

With your eMusic membership, you’ll get the biggest savings on albums released a year or more ago. Generally, albums released more than 12 months ago will be available at a 35% savings compared to iTunes a la carte prices. More recent releases will be available to members at generally 25% less than iTunes a la carte prices. For example: an album that sells at retail for $9.99 will sell for $7.49 on eMusic.

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

Jesse

chrisbe · #4 Post by **chrisbe** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 3:28 am

Thank you Jesse, very interesting.

The eMusic Europe Q&A are not that detailed so far!

straycat · #5 Post by **straycat** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:46 am

Just got the same email today from eMusic UK. It's time to keep my fingers very much crossed, as I still have the same plan I began with over three years ago - GBP14.99 per month, giving me 90 downloads, so the cost of one track for me comes to £0.17 (around $0.26)

Probably as a consequence of this, I don't get the album rate, but as I so rarely buy whole albums from eMusic, I've never been bothered about that.

I count myself very lucky I've been allowed to keep this rate up until this point, but for obvious reasons, I'm rather hoping that they keep their promise and preserve my current allowance...

straycat · #6 Post by **straycat** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 8:36 am

A follow-on to this - I've now looked at the account information eMusic are providing to see how the change is going to affect me personally. I have to say, I'm impressed.

At the moment, I'm paying £14.99 per month. They're going to add on a 'bonus' amount of £22.81 per month to boost the amount to £37.80 so I can keep my current download ceiling. Currently it does not say whether this is permanent, or whether there's a time-limit, but the suggestion seems to be that this is going to continue.

I'm actually a little gobsmacked that this bonus amount is 1 1/2 times the size of my actual subscription... makes me very glad I signed up when I did.

chrisbe · #7 Post by **chrisbe** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 5:03 am

I will also get a bonus, but it won't be that high...

lipi · #8 Post by **lipi** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 1:23 am

I tried to cancel today, and was promptly offered a free month to stick around.

Why cancel? Because even if every track I download is the minimum 29 cents, I'll still get a lot less music than before. I tended to get the 12-credit "deal" albums, so I ended up with more than my 30 tracks every month. At 29 cents per track, I can often find a used CD--and I can rip that lossless and enjoy the liner notes.

Anyway: I'm sticking around for another month, I guess.

straycat · #9 Post by **straycat** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 7:52 am

lipi wrote:I tried to cancel today, and was promptly offered a free month to stick around.

Hmm. I wonder - if I tried to cancel, would I get a free month (and my current deal?) Tempted to try it, but I don't want to risk disrupting the deal I have. Maybe if they ever try to remove it...

I've never been able to get the 12-credit album deal, so that doesn't factor into it for me.

straycat · #10 Post by **straycat** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:17 am

... and .... as a quick update, my account's just rolled over to the new month, and....

No change. No change at all from last month. It still lists me as having 90 credits. Looks like the new system hasn't kicked in for me this month.

chrisbe · #11 Post by **chrisbe** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 5:34 am

I guess the change will occur when the personal subscription plan refreshes (mine will refresh on 12th Nov).

straycat · #12 Post by **straycat** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:27 pm

chrisbe wrote:I guess the change will occur when the personal subscription plan refreshes (mine will refresh on 12th Nov).

What I meant was that my plan refreshed today.... and that the monetary system still hasn't kicked in.

#13 Post by **JesseMiner** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 8:51 pm

Same here. My plan refreshed today and is still showing credits, not dollar amounts. The announcement I received claimed that my account would be switching in November, so I don't know if my account will be converted mid-month or not until refreshing again in December. I imagine eMusic just hasn't been able to roll out the changes as quickly as originally planned when the announcement was made last month.

Jesse

Gong-Oh · #14 Post by **Gong-Oh** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 10:41 pm

The credit system is still in place for my account too. Besides, I haven't noticed any signs of eMusic's "single largest addition ever".

Lorenzo

chrisbe · #15 Post by **chrisbe** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 4:32 am

In another email I've got, they write:

[...] beginning on November 16th we will be switching from the current credit-per-track system to currency pricing. [...]