Why I cancelled by eMusic Subscription - complaint about emusic monthly pricing model

I have been an eMusic subscriber for several years at their top annual subscription level.

The worst part about eMusic is that on an annual plan, they demand that you download music every single month. They break your annual plan into monthly increments, and if you forget to make the download, you lose the credit.

I do not like the lack of carryover from month to month. This is evil, and I should have cancelled last year because of this.

I dont like losing my credits each month if I dont have time, or if I forget, to go in and make the downloads.

Many months I am very busy, and forget to claim my monthly credit. Sometimes when I remember, I login to eMusic and realize I forgot a month or two. In this situation, eMusic keeps my money and gives me nothing of value. Since I didnt download anything, no author gets credit, so probably no author makes money. eMusic just keeps my money, pure profit for no service delivered.

Carryover of two or three months would be much more fair and equitable.

Yes I know I can "put my account on hold", but this requires me to remember to do this. Maximum hold is 90 days, and your account quietly reactivates automatically. Back to lost credits. Too much burden.

Also very often, I get to the last $5.29 of my credit, and the next complete album I want to download is $5.99. This is a hassle, because eMusic won't let anything more than something like $1 carry over from month to month. So I am forced to download a partial album, then I have to remember next month to download the rest. Or else, I am stuck with an incomplete album in my collection and dont even realize it. This sucks.

Last year eMusic renewed my account, and overcharged me compared to what the plans were being offered on their site. After much hassling back and forth, the finally moved me to one of their better advertised plans. I was very upset with eMusic, because in the previous year, I probably missed downloading my music 5 or 6 months out of the year, but I decided to give them a try for one more year.

The new denominating in dollars, frequently leads to me ending up with an incomplete album at the end of my credits.

I tried to do better on remembering to make my downloads, but I also have probably forgotten to make downloads at least two or three months this year.

The one thing that eMusic gets right, and has made me want to continue all these years is this: The downloads are straight .MP3 files, with no cursed DRM in them. I really like this.

• Secondarily, they used to allow you to redownload your entire collection. At one point I decided I needed to get more organized about all the music I had bought from eMusic over the years. What I had was spread among several different machines that I'd used to download from eMusic. some machines were infested with incomplete albums, due to the problem I detailed above. So I chose a machine, and went through my history, and redownloaded everything I had bought over the previous two or three years to make a complete collection. I was really impressed by that. I marked the things I hadn't downloaded all the tracks on, and I completed quite a few albums over the next couple of months. This was especially good for a couple of albums that when I originally downloaded them, eMusic wasn't able to provide all the tracks.
  • Unfortunately in the last year, eMusic changed this, and they now may charge you to redownload music you've already paid for.

So sayanara eMusic.... I don't like being stolen from. Let me know if you get rid of these evils in your subscription model.

I haven't yet decided whether I will cancel my Audio books subscription with them. It has the same problems as their music plan.

However I am not an annual subscriber. They bill me every month for it, $10 a month, and if I forget to make a download, the credit is gone. That is theft, plain and simple. eMusic steals money from me. There is no good reason at all for the monthly ebook credits I pay for not to roll over. I should go after them for it. Unfortunately, their business model is based on it being too small amount for people to hassle with.

• They also have some ebooks that cost more than one credit. No way to get them without spending extra for osme kind of upgrade pack. Nasty, not nice.

Yeah, I'll probably cancel the emusic audiobooks subscription too.... I got one last ebook download happening... Good finished..... Where is the cancel button.

Don't distribute this link I thought the link to their "Churn Survey" was cute: http://pro25.sgizmo.com/survey.php?SURVEY=VMEF6TX1OJZV3N96NKUXA7XPTR3WHB-60618-165835131&pswsgt=1305651044&sg_g=6cadf791a512afdece803f4aeda72c08&snid=85B3EDF44DF6B38C2D60952EF0A4D135&_csg=34742641I6Of6&notice=DO-NOT-DISTRIBUTE-THIS-LINK See the end of the link: "Notice: Do not distribute this link" Really? Up yours eMusic! How about add this to your link: note=We-WILL-STEAL-YOUR-MONTHLY-CREDITS-FOR-NO-GOOD-REASON-OTHER-THAN-OUR-OWN-PROFITS

Here are some of their survey questions: Are you a resident of the United States? Yes No What is the primary reason you canceled your music subscription? I did not sign up for eMusic. My credit card was lost or stolen I signed up to get free downloads and didn’t expect to be charged I am dissatisfied with the new variable pricing system I feel eMusic's focus is moving away from independent music and toward mainstream Being forced to download complete albums instead of just the track(s) I want. Couldn’t find music I liked I had difficulty using the site to browse music, listen to sound samples, etc. Costs too much I cannot redownload music My child signed up Recent changes to my subscription plan I had technical problems downloading or listening to tracks I am not interested in the recent major label catalog additions I CHECKED THIS - Other - I gave them a link to this blog posting What could eMusic have done to keep you as a customer (Check all that apply)? Lower prices Retain its credit per track system Larger music selection Easier downloading experience Reduce the number of major labels Allow multiple downloads of the same track/album Better audio quality Ability to rollover unused downloads to next month Other Prior to canceling your music subscription, did you ever log into your eMusic account and search for music? Yes many times over many years.... They wanted me to grade them on a whole bunch of issues. I gave them 5's for Excellent on all of these: Music selection Search function Quality of the content on the site Usefulness of editorial comments Overall ease of using the site Ease of listening to sound samples Question: Have you ever downloaded music from eMusic? Yep many times! They wanted me to grade them on these: i gave them 5's. Question: Have you ever contacted eMusic customer service? Yep, last year. Was quite annoyed by them. How did you contact eMusic customer service? Completed the Contact Us form on eMusic website By email By phone Don’t know Answer: If I remember correctly, they made it impossible to reach them by any means other than the website. I was quite annoyed. Another page of gratuitous data mining questions... i answered them Have you used any other digital music services or websites before? Yes No Which ones have you used? (check all that apply)? Musicmatch Napster Pandora A social networking site (like MySpace) Real Rhapsody Amie Street Apple iTunes Amazon.com Last.fm Any P2P or file sharing service (e.g., Kazaa, Limewire, etc.) Other, Please specify: What are your favorite music genres (check all that apply)? Soundtracks / Other Jazz Classical Electronic Rock / Pop Spiritual Blues New Age Alternative / Punk International Hip-Hop / R&B Country / Folk Other, please specify: How much do you typically spend each month on digital music downloads? Under $12 $12–$25 $26–$50 $51–$75 More than $75 Which of the following statements best describes you. Music genius ...I am an expert in music, the person my friends consult to find new stuff. Music enthusiast…I love music and spend much of my free time listening to music. Casual music fan...I like music but I have a lot of other interests. Neutral…I think music is OK. I can take it or leave it. Former music fan...I used to be really into music. I am not a music fan. What year were you born? – Please Select – 19301931193219331934193519361937193819391940194119421943194419451946194719481949195019511952195319541955195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009 What is your gender? Male Female Which of the following best describes you? Student Employed (full or part time) Homemaker Retired Volunteer Not employed What was your annual combined household income before taxes last year? Under $30,000 $30,000 to $39,999 $40,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $74,999 $75,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,00 and over

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