Here is a discussion thread to post alternatives to emusic... URLs, descriptions, pros/cons, pricing, selection, whatever you know about them.

I know this one exists from mentions on twitter ( #emusicfail ) and/or on the 17dots "More of the good stuff" thread comments. I don't know much other than what I saw by browsing around for maybe 10 minutes. They seemed to have 60-second samples, and the price/track was variable depending on the album (sounded like more popular = more expensive). Not sure how extensive their selection is, if there are that many inexpensive tracks, how reputable they are, etc. Take a look and post your thoughts:

http://amiestreet.com/

Will post some others I have seen mentioned separately.

http://www.jamendo.com/en/

Don't know much, but it appears to be a "community" site where artists upload their music for others to download, for free (it says). So if that is correct, I'm thinking new, unknown artists, and probably very few established, known artists.

Could be a great, free way to explore and discover emerging artists, or it could be less useful, depending if they have music you like or not. ;-) I guess if it is free, the worst thing you could do is waste time.

That's my impression based on just looking at it briefly and looking a tiny bit at their offerings. I could be mischaracterizing it. Please post any corrections or additional insight you may have.

Update on jamendo... I picked one album somewhat at random (actually it had a name that interested me, "Sufi Qawwali"). It is at:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/22038

Clicked download and a window opened with options to download the album, as well as buttons for making a donation to the artist ("SoLaRiS"), a link to the artist's "shop" (which had some for-money albums) and something else. Anyhow, clicked on the download button, and it opened a new window where it prepared a .zip file and then let me download it. Unzipped it and out came the individual .mp3s (192 kbps), a cover artwork .jpg file, and two txt files... a readme about jamendo (in a bunch of languages) and the license applicable to each file (all were creative commons :-) :-) ). Oh, and if you didn't want to have them generate a .zip to download, there were alternate torrent links for .mp3 and .ogg versions.

Copied the files over to the directory where our music lives, imported them into iTunes and I had six new tracks from an artist that I probably would download from emusic for $$. And I have a new artist to investigate and a way to buy his/her music where they benefit financially from it. Not a bad model and it's exactly the "exploration" sort of thing that emusic is (was) so great for. Now, the question of if they have a selection of music that interests you is something you'd have to answer yourself. Probably little chance that some album that you already know about and really want will be there, but post your own impressions below.

BTW, I did the above without having to create an account, although I bet having an account has some perqs. It appears that for-money things are priced in Euros. I think they operate out of Luxembourg.

The readme files are below, as they actually have some info:

READ ME FILE:
This 'Readme' file is available below in: English, Français, Italiano, Español, Deutsch, polski.

Thank you for downloading this album!
It’s FREE and LEGAL distribution by Jamendo:
http://www.jamendo.com/
On the website you'll be able to:
- Write a review about the album and check out other reviews already written by members of our community.
- Obtain more information about the artist and/or album.
- Download other quality music for FREE.
- Learn more about Jamendo. Register and post messages in our forums.
- Make a donation to the artist to support them.

Visit Jamendo and help us promote FREE music!
Thanks again, we hope you enjoy listening to this album.
---
The Jamendo team.


LICENSE FILE:
Track | License URL
----------------------------------------------
01 | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
02 | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
03 | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
04 | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
05 | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
06 | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
artwork | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

AUDIOLUNCHBOX.COM:

http://www.audiolunchbox.com

Looks like an emusic clone. They claim over 2 million licensed tracks. If you click on the "Rock" genre, it returns a list showing 20,000+ albums, for "Electronic" it lists 23,000+ albums and for "Classical", 17,000+ albums. Apparently you buy credits on a subscription basis just like emusic, and a review I found by googling "audiolunchbox reviews" states that most songs are one credit and most albums 10 credits. Looks like there is a 50-credit signup bonus. The review I found is here:
http://music-download-review.toptenreviews.com/audio-lunchbox-review.html

Don't know much else about them. Please post any info you have or discover. Last thing is the following pricing from their join page:

PLANS:
( from http://www.audiolunchbox.com/register )

* $9.99 month to month Gold
(40 credits per month + 50 Free Credits)

* $24.99 month to month Diamond
(125 credits per month + 50 Free Credits)

* $100 Pre-Paid 1 Year Gold
(30 credits per month + 120 anytime + 50 Free Credits)

* $250 Pre-Paid 1 Year Diamond
(80 credits per month + 250 anytime + 50 Free Credits)

* A La Carte / Pay as you go

LALA.COM:

http://www.lala.com/

Sounds like an alternative .. of sorts. It sounds most useful if listening to music with their webstreamer is acceptable, but they also offer mp3 downloads for quite a bit more. If I understand their pricing ( http://www.lala.com/#howitworks ) it is $0.10 per song and you get unlimited plays of it on the web (well, unless/until they change their TOS, or are bought up by Sony BMG, or go bankrupt or ..). For $0.79 more (total of $0.89), you can download the mp3, so if that is really the way it works, it's as bad, worse, or maybe in the same ballpark as Amazon MP3 or iTunes.

They say “No ads, no subscriptions” but of course emusic said your subscription package would stay the same as long as you kept your account in good standing, and look what that was worth.

I guess it sounds quite a bit different than emusic, but it is an alternative. I don't know if their webstreaming player works well on iPhone or other smartphones, and I don't know how many people are OK with maintaining their music library on an external site, etc.

Maybe someone reading this has tried them or knows more about them and could post it here ..

Here's another one, been around for quite a while. Not comprehensive, but worth checking out.

Magnatune: Why Magnatune is not evil

We work directly with independent musicians world-wide to give you downloads of MP3s and perfect-quality WAV files. We never work with major labels, and our musicians always get 50%. You can listen to every album in its entirety before buying or becoming a member.

http://www.magnatune.com/

and pricing plans can be found at http://www.magnatune.com/compare_plans

SPOTIFY.COM:

http://www.spotify.com

Available in Europe and maybe elsewhere in the future.

It looks like something that is evolving, and it looks like it delivers audio via a streaming player, but they also mention a download option in some areas and there is some discussion of a free, advertising-based account vs. a for-$$ no-advertising account. You can look at it if you are in one of the covered countries and ... post your impressions here.

From the FAQ ( http://www.spotify.com/en/help/faq/ )

"What countries is Spotify available in?
Spotify is currently available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France and Spain. We hope to launch in more countries in the future."

"What is Spotify?
Spotify offers you legal and free access to a huge library of music. All you need to do is create an account and download our streaming music player. For more details have a look at our video or introduction page."

"Can I download or buy music in Spotify?
We have links on a large number of albums and tracks that you can click to purchase mp3’s from our download partner. To purchase tracks right click on the track or album (control click on Mac OS) and select “Buy From”. Downloading is currently only available in the UK, France and Spain."

*--*

OTHERMUSIC.COM:

http://www.othermusic.com/

Has two sides, Digital (downloads) and NYC (cds, vinyl). I looked at the Digital side.

More like Amazon MP3 or iTunes in per-track pricing, but album prices vary (usually due to the number of tracks from the ones I looked at). It isn't a subscription site so it is like Amazon MP3 and iTunes in that regard too.

Their FAQ is http://digital.othermusic.com/faq/index.php

I'm not sure what their selection is like for any given genre, but it could be another resource for exploring and finding music. If anyone explores it and has some feedback regarding selection, typical pricing, and pros/cons, post it here.

CD SOURCES:

http://www.secondspin.com/

FAQ:

http://www.secondspin.com/stores/ss/about/index.jsp

CDs (DVDs too), used ("100% guaranteed" regarding defects), prices vary greatly, saw some at $2.69, others $8+, selection most likely constantly changing, basically a chain of 4 physical music stores and the internet site that also pulls titles from music brokers. You can apparently sell CDs to them, so that is another source of their stock.

-------------------------------------------------------

http://cdbaby.com/

From their "About" page: ( http://cdbaby.com/about )

" * CD Baby is a little online record store that sells albums by independent musicians.
* [In•de•pen•dent: (adj.) Not having sold one's life, career, and creative works over to a corporation.]
* We're just a bunch of people in a cool Portland, Oregon, warehouse that looks like a playground. We listen to every album we sell before we sell it, so we can help you find other albums you'll like.
* We only sell music that comes directly from the musicians. No distributors. Musicians send us their music. We digitize and warehouse, sell them to you, and pay the musicians directly.
* Cool thing: in a regular record deal or distribution deal, musicians only make $1-$2 per album, if they ever get paid by their label. When selling through CD Baby, musicians make $6-$12 per album, and get paid weekly.
* In business, and thriving, since March 1998. We're one of the largest sellers of independent music on the web.

Current Numbers

* 287,828 artists sell their music at CD Baby
* 5,499,750 CDs sold online to customers
* $113,840,869 paid directly to the artists"

-------------------------------------------------------

And of course Amazon.com . Have gotten super-cheap used CDs from time to time. Actually, sometimes just 'cheap' after shipping but check out Amazon Prime if you buy a lot of things from Amazon... $80/year and you get free 2-day shipping (US) on things that Amazon sells themselves, and anything from marketplace vendors who use "fulfillment by Amazon" (FBA). Amazon Prime doesn't apply to things like used CDs from marketplace vendors who ship it to you themselves, though.

I don't know what to think about this one:

http://mp3fiesta.com

Site Tour: http://mp3fiesta.com/publication/sitetour.html
About: http://mp3fiesta.com/publication/about.html

OK, so it's in [the] Ukraine. That might explain the ridiculously cheap rates (saw $0.05 per song listed on some, and a quick review of some artists showed $0.50 for the entire regular-sized album was not uncommon.

They claim it is legal and that all music is licensed and fees paid to copyright holders: http://mp3fiesta.com/publication/legal.html

I'd have to say to check it out yourself. Maybe someone can do some additional research and get a better handle on them. Given what I know so far, it sounds like "if it sounds too good to be true . . ."

Please post here any info on them that you may have or uncover.

Joe--
Everything I've heard about mp3fiesta is that they don't pay out to the labels as they say. Because they're in the Ukraine they've been hard to touch.

All I've got is hearsay, but it's negative hearsay, and I like to know that I'm paying the artists (via the labels) for their work.

Here's an article listing six or so alternatives I've personally never heard of. The article reviews the first three, which are the ones they deemed to be the best (subjective, of course).

1. GoMusic.ru
2. MP3Panda
3. LegalSounds
4. MP3 Sparks (which they call " the mirror of the once notorious AllOfMP3")
5. MP3 Sale
6. Just Music

I don't have experience with any of these... just tossing some leads out there :-)

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-ultra-cheap-music-download-services/

I personally can vouch for CD Baby. Wonderful to do business with. Look forward to them offering more downloads.

I love that they benefit the artists more, but of course it won't compare price wise to Emusic, and leads me to wonder how Indies benefit from volume pricing, where I'll definitely take more chances (the former eMu model), versus selling less at a higher price.

Thoughts? (LOL, this is its own discussion topic)

Paul -

That fits with my overall impression of the mp3fiesta site. I should have included more skepticism in my post than I did.

I guess even if you believed that they actually paid royalties to the labels/artists, you have to wonder how some fraction of $0.50 for a whole album could really be compensating the people who created the music. Once one subtracts credit card processing and currency conversion fees, website and company overhead, whatever healthy cut the site would take... the label would maybe get a dime, and the artist a nickel or a penny. Or something along those lines. :-(

I have to say it would give me pause to give out credit card info to an outfit in the Ukraine... especially if it is rumored to be stealing their product to begin with.

I guess there are no shortage of questionable sources. The argument that emusic's price changes are just going to drive people back to illegal or questionable downloads is pretty valid. It is really similar to what started the peer-to-peer illegal download trend in the first place... major labels deciding that they were going to charge $15-$20 for CDs and there was nothing the 'consumer' could do about it.

Michelle -

I have seen artists say that they liked CDBaby , in particular when they were starting out. Since eMusic is going up so much (and unless they grandfather my plan I'm leaving after my last cheap downloads are used up) it makes looking at other sources more attractive, even if they are at higher cost.

I also seem to be coming across many positive things about amiestreet and their pricing is pretty interesting. The concept of music starting out free or low-$ and then rising in cost according to popularity (by number of downloads, I believe) is interesting. I bet their "new additions" pages get a ton of traffic. :-)

Whatever collection of alternatives I end up using will no doubt have things that eMusic doesn't / didn't. The one-stop-shop experience that I had (with a few forays to Amazon et al) at eMusic will be gone, but I'm sure I'll also find things I wouldn't have if I had stayed.

I think the net effect at eMusic will be a decrease in payouts to independent artists and labels. People aren't going to take chances as much anymore, there will be an exodus of the long-term subscriber base who downloaded large quantities each month, the 'new' customers will more likely be after cheaper-than-iTunes pricing for Springsteen etc on the old catalog of Sony, and I predict the number of Indie downloads will plummet much more than any increase in per-download payout they *might* get from eMusic.

Sad. I hope they re-think it once the new pricing starts to go into effect in July and, presumably, the cancellations start in earnest.

I am glad you posted the alternatives you listed and I hope other people do as well. Maybe others can come back here and post their impressions of these various places to flesh this thread out some more.

Thanks Joseph and Michelle for the suggestions/research. I can tell already I'll be looking into audio lunchbox. There were a lot of posts on 17dots about people not liking the subscription model, but that was one of the things I really loved about emusic. I'm such a music head, it was really good for me to have a limit. Otherwise I think I would never buy music for fear that once I got going, I'd spend a ton of money.

The pricing seems good, too, though I wonder what the difference is between an anytime credit and a free credit. Maybe there are also bonus credits and awesome credits? Anyway, I've got until September before I need to make a choice, but so far this one looks best.

I just checked out Magnatune...similar pricing structure, which is cool, but the selection leaves a LOT to be desired. As in, when I searched rap, three or four things showed up. Too bad.