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I considered subscribing to eMusic before, but the only reason holding me back is the bitrate of the MP3s. The songs you download are encoded at 128kbit.

I think it's fantastic they offer their songs in MP3 and not some proprietary format, and I would subscribe immediately if the songs were encoded at a higher bit rate.

You know what? Reading other posts, I can admit when I'm wrong. It seems the article was a bit short on information. I saw the 9.95/mo price, but did not realize that you could only burn 10 songs per month. Apparently my $1 per track is only good up to a limit. Following another post, I checked out EMusic and it seemed cool at first, though I don't see a whole lot of enticing selections from their sample pages. For example, I like urban/hip hop so I did some searches for artists. One Eminem song, no Dr. Dre songs, no Ludacris. On the other hand, if you are looking for more non-commercial stuff I found 3 Dilated Peoples compilations, 3 Atmosphere compilations, etc. So, if you are looking for commercial, mainstream stuff, Emusic probably (though not definitely) doesn't have it. Yeah, I know there will be many derogatory comments about hip-hop in general, but I like it. I apologize.

$10 for the month's subscription, plus $12 for 12 songs.. $22 for a 12-track mix tape, seems to me like not a *great* deal, but that's really not bad either since i get to pick what the 12 songs are. I'd almost be inclined to say they "get" it. In fact, i'd be inclined to say, "yeah, i'll pay for that."

Except, oops, it looks like you have to have windows in order to do any of this stuff. I don't own windows, just this macintosh. My college does have some WindowsXP labs with CD-Rs drives, but the since the user-permissions policies here are currently in the process of changing i'm not sure if i'll actually be able to use their client there. And i do not feel like badgering one of my friends to let me take over their computer for a few hours each month so that i can compose and make for myself mix cds.

Looks like listen.com just lost a customer. Too bad they chose to tether their downloads to DRM technology.. then they wouldn't have to limit themselves to customers who use one software platform.

In the meantime, this emusic thingy that i found linked on this same slashdot forum looks *great*. Looks like i'll be taking my $9.99 over there instead..

Actually, there is something that pretty much does. eMusic has a massive list of music you can grab. They don't have all of the major artists on tap, but they have a lot of good music there from small/indie artists. 10$ or 15$ a month for unlimited completely legal mp3's (and no I don't work for them, just happy with the service). I have been using it for about 2 months now and it has worked great for me. I have downloaded around 10 gigs of mp3's so far and have listened to a lot of music I doubt I would have heard otherwise.

EMusic, for that same price, lets you download fully unlocked standard MP3 files.

$9.95 a month gets you unlimited downloads - not an additional 99 cents per song. You can burn 'em and do anything you want with 'em.

Emusic a very underrated site, now that their big-advertising VC stuff has gone. Really wonderful. (NO I'm not affiliated.)

I hat the way the RIAA/MPAA is paying for their own laws. The US is not my country, so I cannot stop them, but I will do all that I can in my own country if they try their tactics on me and mine. That said, we are all advocates of supporting independent OSs, so why not music? I have happily subscribed to EMusic.com for the enormous fee of $10/month. I can download as much good quality MP3s as I want at great speeds with the knowledge that I am supporting independent music and the RIAA can kiss my European a$$ as they won't see a penny.

www.emusic.com

I know a thousand people have said it before, but that is exactly what Emusic does. Unencumbered MP3s from artists you would not necessarily buy in a store, all for 10 bucks a month.

I find emusic to be great because they carry albums from several artists I enjoy. (They Might Be Giants and Banco De Gaia to name a couple). Go browse on the site; you don't need to be a subscriber to find out what is in their catalog and hear samples.

They also offer completely unrestricted access. I regularly slurp several albums worth of MP3s from them into my collection. It's completely legal and supports the artists.

but NOT from the crapware sites like musicnet. Some well-known artists do sell their tunes online as mp3's, either individually or though real mp3 services.

I say, give people the ability to download MP3's for $20/month and do what they want with it and few will bother to give it to others - they'll tell the others to buy their own.
Check out Emusic. I found it through /. comments, and subscribed. $10-15/month, all you can download 128kbit mp3s.

I agree that using a download service that offers licensed downloads is the way to go (I personally prefer emusic.com), but I think a lot of people aren't going to know the difference right off the bat, or how to find the legitimate services. Heck, my great-uncle has had internet access for five years, surfs every day, but hasn't gotten the hang of how to find something using a search engine.

Charge me $40-$60/month (which is more than i'm paying for CD every month these days), give me access to every song I want, and you'll make a killing.

No downloads, no mac client, no linux client, U.S. only. Seems I, with my PowerBook and iPod in Sweden, is totally out of luck. Too bad emusic's (which have all of the features I miss from Rhapsody) rips suck qualitywise.

If you don't like breaking the law and/or to a certain degree see that music should be either bought by you or given to you by the author ( RIAA, DMCA[, ABCD and the rest of the alphabet soup] is way too restrictive and enforce silly laws that doesn't protect the artist ... ERROR! BUFFER OVERFLOW *** WARNING! CPU TEMPERATURE WAY TO HIGH ...) you should use a subscription service such as emusic which lets you download the music. Or you could by the actual records and rip them (which according to some copyright notice isn't legal, under no circumstances.)

they might be giants use the internet a lot. they may not be in exactly the same situation, but they did manage to maintain a fan base and release new music even when they were between having a label to support them.

they did what i thought was a pretty cool thing they did when they sold mp3's on emusic.com. if you bought the entire album's worth of mp3's, they sent you a cd of those songs, too. they also have some mp3's available for free, which i believe helps them sell the others.

check out their techniques on their websites tmbg.com and theymightbegiants.com.

of course, it also doesn't hurt that they are almost always on tour.

Who this kills is the free (as in speech) players - Zinf, XMMS, etc. They can't afford $50k OR $0.75/copy. They can either hope Fraunhofer doesn't notice them, or try to relocate to a place with either no software patents or no Fraunhofer patent, or they can leave MP3. In fact, Linux users in general may be left out in the cold, because I'm not aware of any commercial MP3 decoders for Linux, at all.

Unfortunately, this probably won't be enough to move the world from MP3s. WinAmp will still be downloadable for free, which is all 98% of users care about.

I remember when I was at EMusic, I met with the Thompson guys, who were trying to figure out how to make money on this (circa 1999). I explained to them that nobody was going to pay for a decoder, and that their choice was either to give the decoder away or have people switch to something else. I also suggested the encoder should be free for non-commercial use, in order to cement their current dominance against (then soon-to-be-released) Windows Media.

One of them replied (imagine a German accent), "I see! Vee give avay evrysing for free, and you make more money selling music!"

So, you could say we had a meeting of the minds. :)

Oh... and if you don't have the original cd, well cry me a river.

It looks like a number of smaller labels, including artist-owned labels have given their entire portfolio over to EMusic to distribute, so they must be doing something right. No, they don't know who Britany Spears is, but if you like music and appreciate variety, EMusic is a goldmine. Oh, and I have no other involvement than being a customer.

It looks like a number of smaller labels, including artist-owned labels have given their entire portfolio over to EMusic to distribute, so they must be doing something right. No, they don't know who Britany Spears is, but if you like music and appreciate variety, EMusic is a goldmine. Oh, and I have no other involvement than being a customer.

It looks like a number of smaller labels, including artist-owned labels have given their entire portfolio over to EMusic to distribute, so they must be doing something right. No, they don't know who Britany Spears is, but if you like music and appreciate variety, EMusic is a goldmine. Oh, and I have no other involvement than being a customer.

It looks like a number of smaller labels, including artist-owned labels have given their entire portfolio over to EMusic to distribute, so they must be doing something right. No, they don't know who Britany Spears is, but if you like music and appreciate variety, EMusic is a goldmine. Oh, and I have no other involvement than being a customer.

How is this any different from EMusic, a company that offers entire albums for download at something like $9.99/month?

/me is not affiliated with eMusic in any way. Just a satisfied customer.

Search for an artist, if they don't have any tracks by the artist online, they'll recommend similar indie artists that they do have.

I dumped my music selection down to just what I knew I liked and started searching for new stuff/styles.

I rediscovered 4ad Records, but now mostly I listen to indie (mp3.com indieradio.org)..in case your curious.

And not to plug them, but emusic.com is all you can download for $9.99 a month and they actually have some good music...

Instead of going out and downloading a bunch of pirated music (not that you would ever do that, I'm sure) or buying a bunch of music at outrageous prices before you have heard anything off of the CD, try looking at EMusic's electronic section. They have hundreds of electronica artists, and they do a pretty good job of providing recommendations if you like an artist. They do a trial of 50 free MP3s and then it's something like $15 a month, download all you want. You'll definitely want a high-speed connection to take advantage of this site, though - it's pretty addictive.

First I'd like to apologise, although I read your post the music I am going to suggest is a bit darker then the selections you have mentioned. That said, this music is some of the best of its kind, it's electronic and tends to be "isolationist" or "paraniod". Who know's, maybe you'll like it?

Terminal Sound System
Twine (ambient, glitchy, experimental)
horchata (dub, glitch, experimental)
S.E.T.I. (glitch, experimental)
Rapoon (ambient, experimental)
Mick Harris (aka Scorn, founder Illbent, dub, experimental)
Sara Ayers (ambient, experimental)
Dead Voices On Air (ambient, experimental)
Muslimgauze (ethnic, found sound, dub, experimental)


A good place to look would be emusic.com if you've got the bandwidth (and $9.99;) you could download I lot of music and probably find a good deal of if suits you. They even have some Sasha And John Digweed.

I also like finding artists I like on mp3.com (suprise) and checking the links they provide to artist they like! Great way to accidentally pull an all nighter.

Now I know this is getting alittle long, so I'll make this my last comment: if you do like ambient (perfect, cerebral, moody ambient) and literature try Paul Bowles spoken word album Baptism Of Solitude , the only thing more amazing then his stories is his voice.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

First I'd like to apologise, although I read your post the music I am going to suggest is a bit darker then the selections you have mentioned. That said, this music is some of the best of its kind, it's electronic and tends to be "isolationist" or "paraniod". Who know's, maybe you'll like it?

Terminal Sound System
Twine (ambient, glitchy, experimental)
horchata (dub, glitch, experimental)
S.E.T.I. (glitch, experimental)
Rapoon (ambient, experimental)
Mick Harris (aka Scorn, founder Illbent, dub, experimental)
Sara Ayers (ambient, experimental)
Dead Voices On Air (ambient, experimental)
Muslimgauze (ethnic, found sound, dub, experimental)


A good place to look would be emusic.com if you've got the bandwidth (and $9.99;) you could download I lot of music and probably find a good deal of if suits you. They even have some Sasha And John Digweed.

I also like finding artists I like on mp3.com (suprise) and checking the links they provide to artist they like! Great way to accidentally pull an all nighter.

Now I know this is getting alittle long, so I'll make this my last comment: if you do like ambient (perfect, cerebral, moody ambient) and literature try Paul Bowles spoken word album Baptism Of Solitude , the only thing more amazing then his stories is his voice.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

First I'd like to apologise, although I read your post the music I am going to suggest is a bit darker then the selections you have mentioned. That said, this music is some of the best of its kind, it's electronic and tends to be "isolationist" or "paraniod". Who know's, maybe you'll like it?

Terminal Sound System
Twine (ambient, glitchy, experimental)
horchata (dub, glitch, experimental)
S.E.T.I. (glitch, experimental)
Rapoon (ambient, experimental)
Mick Harris (aka Scorn, founder Illbent, dub, experimental)
Sara Ayers (ambient, experimental)
Dead Voices On Air (ambient, experimental)
Muslimgauze (ethnic, found sound, dub, experimental)


A good place to look would be emusic.com if you've got the bandwidth (and $9.99;) you could download I lot of music and probably find a good deal of if suits you. They even have some Sasha And John Digweed.

I also like finding artists I like on mp3.com (suprise) and checking the links they provide to artist they like! Great way to accidentally pull an all nighter.

Now I know this is getting alittle long, so I'll make this my last comment: if you do like ambient (perfect, cerebral, moody ambient) and literature try Paul Bowles spoken word album Baptism Of Solitude , the only thing more amazing then his stories is his voice.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

First I'd like to apologise, although I read your post the music I am going to suggest is a bit darker then the selections you have mentioned. That said, this music is some of the best of its kind, it's electronic and tends to be "isolationist" or "paraniod". Who know's, maybe you'll like it?

Terminal Sound System
Twine (ambient, glitchy, experimental)
horchata (dub, glitch, experimental)
S.E.T.I. (glitch, experimental)
Rapoon (ambient, experimental)
Mick Harris (aka Scorn, founder Illbent, dub, experimental)
Sara Ayers (ambient, experimental)
Dead Voices On Air (ambient, experimental)
Muslimgauze (ethnic, found sound, dub, experimental)


A good place to look would be emusic.com if you've got the bandwidth (and $9.99;) you could download I lot of music and probably find a good deal of if suits you. They even have some Sasha And John Digweed.

I also like finding artists I like on mp3.com (suprise) and checking the links they provide to artist they like! Great way to accidentally pull an all nighter.

Now I know this is getting alittle long, so I'll make this my last comment: if you do like ambient (perfect, cerebral, moody ambient) and literature try Paul Bowles spoken word album Baptism Of Solitude , the only thing more amazing then his stories is his voice.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

I Have never been an advocate of the "elastic" Constitution. I feel that we should follow the intents of the framers of the Constitution or follow the procedures for amending it. An "elastic" constitution in effect means it can be "amended" at will by changing the interpation.

"Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the Covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment... laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind... as that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, institutions must advance also, to keep pace with the times.... We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain forever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
-- Jefferson

But perhaps you feel that the founding fathers were authoritarian sons of bitches who didn't want you to think for yourself. Or do you?

I Don't consider life plus 95 years to be remotly reasonable, and would be delighted to see the copyright extensions struck down as unconstitutional.

I consider it awful as well, but I don't expect the supreme court to be able to change this. It's a limited period of time and 'advancing the arts and sciences' is so fuzzy that the interpretation will be left to the politicians.

A Reasonable law, IMHO, would be 14 years of automatic protection, with the possibility of a one time 14 year extension apon registering the copyright. These are the times that were discussed by the framers of the Constitution, and the original copyright law. After a max of 28 years it enters the public domain.

I think that's even too long for software, it's obsolete so soon that there is no real benefit to society anymore after 28 years. The abandonware sites clearly show the problem of a lenghty copyright. You cannot get the arts once created except by breaking the law. Considering the better distribution methods since 1780, those 28 years may be considered to be far too long as well. It took many years to get books recognized and distributed properly at that time. Current books have to make their money in a rather short period of time and often get out of print after a decade. Perhaps we should even have different copyright periods for different products, music is far more lasting for instance and easier to obtain than 'obsoleted' books.

But again, the choice for a certain duration of copyright is so fuzzy that the supreme court cannot set one. Where is the optimum? 0 years? 10? 100? Given the fact that the supreme court doesn't believe the constitution to be infallible, they cannot accept 28 years as being the optimum, but have to let the politicians decide.

Disagrement with a law does NOT give you the right to engage in wholesale violation of that law.

I disagree. A (really) wrong law should not be followed. I'm glad that some jews were kept in hiding and thus escaped the gas chambers during WWII. Do you consider the people who disobeyed the law to help these people to be criminals? Or are they heroes?

However that is NOT the reason the majority of the filesharers are violating the law. They don't agree with the law and simply refuse to obey it.

Many people I know would gladly pay for fair-priced, full-featured MP3-downloading service or for fair-priced CD's. I don't feel bad at all about keeping the money away from these government-sponsored criminals (RIAA). And many decent people feel the same. They would gladly give money to those who deserve it (the artists), but don't accept being ripped off.

Copying software illegally is different however, although I believe it's OK for foreigners, students and others who simply cannot afford the price that companies ask (and thus cannot learn or advance their society). Of course it is different when these groups get cheap deals.

This blatant disrepect for the law is far more likely to result in more severe laws than to result in an improvement in the law, as many recent examples of "Anti-piracy" laws show.

It is the same with drugs. First the government fights it causing the mafia to grow and the prisons to be filled with decent kids. Kids that get influenced by the nasty criminals they share a cell with. And one day the politicians/citizens wisen up and legalize drugs that are not that damaging. At least, that the way it is going/did go in The Netherlands, Switzerland, England and France.

Of course, the US is not exactly a fast learner with the war on drugs either. But copyright infringement can only be stopped with fascist laws. I don't expect the american public to accept these. Although you'll probably accept every law, which begs this quote:

"In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me -
and by that time no one was left to speak up."
-- Pastor Martin Niemöller paraphrased

It makes it hard to establish the moral highground when the RIAA can paint you as a scoffatlaw at best and a thief at worse.

Perhaps I should impress them by buying all their crappy, overpriced CD's. I'll bet the bastards will be thinking about changing their ways when they sniff the line of coke that my money paid for in their favorite brothel. Having all the money in the world will worry them!

I guess that not giving them any money won't impress them at all. I guess that nobody ever will get the point and will give customers what they want for a fair price. Oh wait, someone is already getting the point. I suppose that Napster had nothing to do with this at all, though. Never in history has a positive change been brought forth because people chose to disobey their laws. The DDR also still exists and Milosevic is currently the ruler of Serbia. The french aristocracy rules France. South-Africa has Apartheid. America is a british colony.

Would the world not look far different if everybody was like you? Do you think it would be better?

Mass distribution of a song that was written last year would be illegal if the original copyright laws were still in effect. That would hardly make a good test case against the many extensions of the term of copyright. A test case would involve a song that was published over 28 years ago, something that would now be in the public domain under the original law.

Using a book is much better. Many books are under copyright, but cannot be ordered any more. That clearly shows the problems with the copyright laws of today. Besides, books are usually considered far more important to society than songs. Especially if you use some unobtainable political or philosophical works, you might get the politicians and courts to think about the consumers for a change. After all, who wants go into the history books as the one that prevented the dissemation of knowledge? You might even get free speech activists to support you on this.

While content owners now can try to block access to intellectual property pirates, they cannot use the range of technological options that they want, chiefly because some tactics are illegal under state and federal law. Berman's bill would legalize some techniques over the protests of file-sharing advocates.

Now I ask you, how narrowly do you think the phrase "damage and destroy" could be interpreted? Hardly anything is ruled out for sure. Remember, this is the same legal system that considers loading something into RAM to be "making an unauthorized copy" when it suits them. The same government that interprets "regulate interstate commerce" as "do whatever we feel like."

I am going to be very angry when I can't get my tunes from emusic because the RIAA is flogging my fileswapping neighbors.

Call me crazy, but I was under the impression that just as you can find both legally and illegally distributed software online and just as you can find both legally and illegally distributed books online, you can find both legally and illegally distributed music online.

Mp3.com comes to mind as a place where you can download legally distributed music for free. Emusic.com appears to be legally distributing mp3s for a fee.

I'm sure the music traded on venues such as Kazaa or IRC is more likely to be illegally distributed, but to characterize all online music as being illegal is absurd.

I've been a happy EMusic subscriber for months now and I can't see getting rid of it.

Don't they realise that these noble, honourable souls constantly downloading gigabytes upon gigabytes of MP3s and porn deserve a free ride?

No, but I'm already paying by the month for my MP3s. And Comcast is already gouging me for $55 each month for the cable modem.

The connection is shitty, with frequent lag spikes. Ever had a Google search page stall while loading? It's pretty sad, and I experience it multiple times every day. $55 is already outrageous for the crap quality of the connection they give me, and now I'll be expected to pay more for those laggy, stalling downloads of MP3s I've already paid for.

Thanks, but no thanks.

I too am an Emusic subscriber and I love the service. Nearly every album on the Epitaph label is in their archive. And that's about 90% of what I listen to.

I find this headline funny considering EMusic is a owned and operated by Vivendi!

I subscribe to Emusic. One thing worth mentioning is that their FAQ says that they split the profits from the song 50/50 with "the label or artist", not directly with the artist, which I think is the way it has to be. Emusic is a decent site. I wish they had a lot more good, new music, but they have a pretty good selection of old music that is hard to buy elsewhere: a smattering of 80's (remember "The Land Down Under"?), Glenn Miller (in case you need an emergency "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" fix), and so on. They have some new music too, but not a whole lot. Still, IMHO they're worth $10/month for me to be able to listen to legal MP3's. I'm listening to the Meshell Ndegeocello song now. It's not bad.

This song can be found as an "EMusic Exclusive" on this page, for my fellow EMusic'ers.

>Matador's entire catalog is posted

Sorry dude, it isn't.

I just search for Jega, and their albums aren't there. Just one measly song...

However, surprisingly, Boards of Canada is there.

Maybe I just picked the unlucky "group"?

If you're not hung up on top-40, check out emusic.com - sign up for a year subscription at $10/month, or 3 months at $15/month; there's a 14-day free trial, and you can download:

• as many songs as you want (max 50 tracks during the free trial period)
• unencrypted
• with no special DRM
• and keep the tracks after you cancel your subscription. (They even tell you to keep the 50 tracks if you choose not to subscribe!)

The only restrictions are:

• they ask that you not hog the system by mass-downloading everything; just grab what you plan to listen to now or in the near future
• and you are on your honor not to "steal" from them by sharing those files elsewhere

They don't have many huge names (probably the most famous contemporary group in their catalog is They Might Be Giants,) but they have an awesome collection of old jazz and blues collection, a good classical section, some really bizarro-but-intersting international stuff, and a bunch of small indie labels. (They claim over 200,000 MP3 tracks available, from over 900 different [mostly small] record labels) Oh, and some comedy too, like most of George Carlin's albums.

Sorry if I sound like a commercial - I'm just a subscriber who loves this service, and I don't understand why more people haven't signed up yet...

I have the sinking suspicion that my current provider (1.2mb DSL) puts "heavy" users on a cycle that gradually decreases bandwidth with total amount used.

I suspect my provider does something similar, but much more annoying. In a matter of two days, I downloaded 2 gigs of MP3s (from a LEGITIMATE site, EMusic). The following day, my connection was virtually unusable. Data transfer would stall for upwards of two minutes, multiple times every hour. Hell, Google would stall in the middle of loading a search page, which normally takes less than a second.

This sort of thing has happened a lot, so I suspect it's done on purpose as some sort of punishment for excess usage. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if they reduced me from the 1.5mbit I usually get, down to say, 0.5mbit, or something. But outright stalling data traffic in and out is just plain friggin' annoying. I don't appreciate downloads or even damn web pages stalling halfway through.

I haven't used Napster since "the man" first cracked down on them, because there are so many alternatives which will forever be free. I don't use these, either, as emusic.com provides quality music, fast downloads, and I'm actually supporting the artists in the end. I'd rather pay a small fee to get what I want then endlessly search for what I want with a free client.

Napster is dead, and due to the fact that Napster isn't Jesus, Napster is going to stay dead. I'm glad the record companies are wasting their time and resources trying to bring back the service they destroyed. The irony of companies wasting their money trying to revitalize a service that they claimed would cause them to lose money. -agent oranje. its not just for breakfast anymore.

It's been mentioned before, but I figure I might as well mention it again. EMusic.com is a nice site offering access to some 200,000 songs in pure MP3 format (yay). Subscription costs $9.99 a month if you sign up for 12 months, or $14.99 a month if you sign up for 3 months. If you're really into music, either way that's cheaper than one CD per month. :)

EMusic doesn't have Britney Spears or any of those other "top" artists the RIAA likes to shove down our throats. But if you don't mind independent artists, EMusic is pure heaven. I'm a big jazz fan, and EMusic has pretty much every kind of jazz I could want, and lots of it.

If you really want to support online music services, go for EMusic. It's obvious these guys have figured out what net music fanatics want: Pure MP3s that can be used in any of their personal devices, and even share the music with family members. :)

It's been mentioned before, but I figure I might as well mention it again. EMusic.com is a nice site offering access to some 200,000 songs in pure MP3 format (yay). Subscription costs $9.99 a month if you sign up for 12 months, or $14.99 a month if you sign up for 3 months. If you're really into music, either way that's cheaper than one CD per month. :)

EMusic doesn't have Britney Spears or any of those other "top" artists the RIAA likes to shove down our throats. But if you don't mind independent artists, EMusic is pure heaven. I'm a big jazz fan, and EMusic has pretty much every kind of jazz I could want, and lots of it.

If you really want to support online music services, go for EMusic. It's obvious these guys have figured out what net music fanatics want: Pure MP3s that can be used in any of their personal devices, and even share the music with family members. :)

It's been mentioned before, but I figure I might as well mention it again. EMusic.com is a nice site offering access to some 200,000 songs in pure MP3 format (yay). Subscription costs $9.99 a month if you sign up for 12 months, or $14.99 a month if you sign up for 3 months. If you're really into music, either way that's cheaper than one CD per month. :)

EMusic doesn't have Britney Spears or any of those other "top" artists the RIAA likes to shove down our throats. But if you don't mind independent artists, EMusic is pure heaven. I'm a big jazz fan, and EMusic has pretty much every kind of jazz I could want, and lots of it.

If you really want to support online music services, go for EMusic. It's obvious these guys have figured out what net music fanatics want: Pure MP3s that can be used in any of their personal devices, and even share the music with family members. :)

Step 1: Uninstall all current file sharing progams on your PC

Step 2: When finished, simply start accquiring your music/movies through ethical and legal methods, like Emusic.com, or through an secret, ancient technique from the Far East called "Bu Yingt Hecd" (note from UpEvil medical staff: if you experience discomfort at the thought of supporting the corporate system through the given methods, we have found the best way to alleviate this pain is to cease the purchase/accquiring of corporate-produced music altogether)

(optional) Step 3: As an added bonus, install a Free operating system and avoid having to pay for Monopolyware too!

This has been your daily UpEvil "Kazaa-whores-are-a-bunch-of-cheap-whiny-fucks" post of the day. Thank you, and good night.

I totally agree with you. Except for the fact that I DON'T believe in purchasing CD's. I was in a record store yesterday, and didn't see anything that I considered worthy of purchase. Yet, I would pay for a service like emusic, though I'm not sure if I like the way they distribute the money they make. And, here's why. I don't listen to ANY of the CD's I have. I don't have a CD player in my car, and tapes have become too much hassle for me. When, I'm driving, I just listen to the radio, as mediocre and annoying as it is. And, when I'm at home I listen to music on my PC. I'd prefer to simply be able to pay for high quality mp3s from a service that has a reliable, fast connection and a vast selection of music. I prefer to be able to use my general purpose internet connected device to seek out new music that I can preview before I buy. I guess I'm just spoiled, but that's the way I feel about it. CDs no longer have any attraction to me, and I'd like the content industry to make the necessary adjustments to fulfill the needs of the market that I represent. It would be quite profitable for them.

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Ever heard of eMusic? $120 for a years subscription to unlimited MP3 downloads, directly from the bands. Although their selection is limited I'd say this kind of thing is the next legal killer app in the music industry.

I'm equally skeptical that people will pony up money when they can still easily get it for free

The problem with stuff like Gnutella, Kazaa, etc. is you generally have to know EXACTLY what you're looking for. One of the reasons I joined emusic.com (a pay service, $10-15 a month depending on which subscription you get) is because I can find all sorts of stuff simply by genre and style, or by specific artist/song if I choose.

I can't go to Gnutella and say "find some contemporary jazz" and expect to get anything decent. I can go and type "Louis Armstrong" if I know that's what I want, but I don't always know what I want. Most people don't either.

Here's a sum-up list of why I pay for emusic:

• Search by artist, track, album, or browse the genres. The latter is something you really can't do well in existing file-sharing networks.
• Excellent download speeds at constant rates. I can snag multiple tracks off emusic at 180-200k/sec pretty much anytime, day or night. Contrast this to the crappy 2-5k/sec I got from people on Gnutella.
• Lots of music in the styles I like. I'm not much for what's "cool" like Brititney Spears or whatever. Since the filesharing networks, by their very nature, tend to only have what the majority of people like, it's hard to find the music *I* enjoy. I don't see a lot of smooth jazz or caribbean music out there on the leech networks.

Other than that, all I can say is - go try out the 30 day trial and see for yourself. It's pretty sucky you have to have a credit card to sign up for the friggin' trial, but you may be surprised what good music there is to be found on there. Personally, what I find is worth paying for.