[Todd R]

Anyone else have trouble with this "service"?

I signed up for the free trial 25 song download.

1st of all, they barely have any selection, lots of no name artists.

I previewed a couple songs from one album, but didn't like it so I didn't download it.

Once I found something I wanted to hear, I downloaded 2 albums (23 songs total) and 1 audio book.

Sound quality SUCKED! I couldn't even make it through 1 song.

I canceled the account the same day.

The I checked my account and discovered 2 instead of 1 authorizations, AND a $11.99 charge for a month of service.

Wrote in to complain and they claim I downloaded all 3 albums, putting me over my 25 song limit which is why they charged me for a month of service.

I didn't download the 3rd album and don't have it.

Stay tuned for more...

 

[Calexico]

If the audio book is in a bunch of tracks, I'd assume that be more than 25 "songs"

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calexico /img/forum/go_quote.gif If the audio book is in a bunch of tracks, I'd assume that be more than 25 "songs"

No, a book is counted as 1 download.

 

[apatN]

I just download something when I want it for 'free'. I only buy it when I like it enough. Problem solved.

 

[Gurck]

With the industry making it so easy and rewarding to purchase music, it's a wonder that there's a problem with people illegally downloading it.

 

[analogbox]

I would assume that they considered the downloaded audiobook as a separate album, as well. One download usually means one song which is roughly about 5 mins of entertainment whereas an audiobook may range 30 mins to 3 hours. It's as if you're getting a complete book at a price of single track which I don't think any publishers would approve.

 

[Earwax]

Sorry you ran into trouble with them.

I just signed up with eMusic last month and I'm very happy with the selection and quality. I don't really listen to mainstream music, so I don't mind the lack of big name labels and artists. The MP3s are mostly encoded lame VBR -v2, a few have been -v0. I've tested -v2 on my own CD rips and I can't tell the difference from the original.

To those with questions about emusic audio books, it's a separate trial for one free audiobook download. The book doesn't count against music downloads.

To the OP, if they don't straighten it out for you soon, I'd suggest disputing the charge through your credit card company. They shouldn't just slide you into a paying subscription without a very clear verification that it's what you want to do.

 

[davidhunternyc]

I am just sick of hearing stories like this. I am sorry, what can I say? It is not about whether other people like e-music or not. The issue is the fact that the poster canceled his subscription and was still charged.

 

[jinp6301]

I have had no problem with e-music. They have the type of music I like (no name bands ) and the sound quality is 192 mp3 iirc. Not too bad imo

 

[hypoicon]

I've been a subscriber off and on since they started and have never had a problem. They were unlimited downloads for $10 a month when they started. I've found lots of great stuff there and seldom been dissapointed, and never had a problem with billing.

I've been upgrading everything I care about to lossless, but the cheap mp3s make it easy to be experimental with more unusual stuff.

 

[zumaro]

Emusic is a great website, with a huge selection of music at roughly a third the price of amazon or iTunes. No major labels, so if your tastes are more mainstream then its not the place for you, but for indie rock, classical (peerless selection here) and jazz its great. Freedom to explore really diverse musical styles at a decent price is what its all about.

Your audiobook comes from a separate subscription to the music and would not be included in your 25 free downloads. By downloading the book you have essentially agreed to opening a separate non-free trial account, that you have been charged for, and this will require separate cancellation.

I would assume if you have really only downloaded 23 music tracks and then cancelled the account then this would be fine, but you have to be careful that you haven't started to download an album and then cancelled it. This still counts as a download, whether you cancelled it or not.

I have been using emusic for 4 years now and never had a problem with their service. Also for an mp3 site I find ripping quality perfectly adequate - used to be 192 vbr but seems to be higher these days for many releases. I would (and have) recommended them to many people.

 

[Earwax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zumaro /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...you have to be careful that you haven't started to download an album and then cancelled it. This still counts as a download, whether you cancelled it or not.

It sounds like that's what may have happened to the OP.

emusic does have a download counter that makes it easy to see where you stand. It's not so easy to spot it right away, because it's dark gray numbers against a black background, up in the top left corner.

Another tip, if anyone wants to try them out, google "emusic 40 free" and you should find a way to get a trial of 40 tracks instead of 25, some offers even include a free audio book. Read all the fine print, watch the download count and remember to cancel right away if you don't want to convert to paying subscription.

 

[HipHopScribe]

eMusic isn't a scam site, so I'd bet this happened because of one of the issues people mentioned so far. As for the selection and the sound quality, there's no problem on either front in my opinion.

Certainly there is an indie lean, but that's where 90% of good music comes from now anyway. If your tastes are mainstream, you can use it as an opportunity to discover a lot of great new music. Their mainstream collection also seems to be growing at a faster pace than it used to anyway.

For the sound quality concerns, their music is encoded with LAME VBR, at -V 2. This should be indistinguishable from the CD for most people, in most circumstances. If you had an issue with the sound quality, I'd say it was an issue with mastering or recording, which is beyond eMusic's control of course.

 

[Kikuji]

Audio books are a separate subscription from the music. Read the website next time.

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kikuji /img/forum/go_quote.gif Audio books are a separate subscription from the music. Read the website next time.

It said I could have one Audiobook for a free trial.

Once again:
Their download counter said I downloaded 3 complete albums.
I did not.
I downloaded 2 albums.
I listened to 2 - 30 second sample clips from this 3rd album, didn't like the music so I did not download it.
That's the issue, there is something wrong with their software.

They did credit my account back, but it did take some strongly worded e-mails to make it happen.