emusic.com and other MP3 download services

[Pseudo]

Does anyone here have any experience with emusic.com? This joint seems to be the only place that stocks a decent range of albums from a particular band I'm keen on (except the band's own website - but the current AUD-EURO exchange rate makes this prohibitive). However I've read a number of bad reviews about them, in particular that they don't honour requests to cancel your subscription and will happily bill your credit card for months afterwards.

In fact if anyone has any experiences with any other (legal!) MP3 download sites, let's hear your opinions.

[zipzap]

Does anyone here have any experience with emusic.com? This joint seems to be the only place that stocks a decent range of albums from a particular band I'm keen on (except the band's own website - but the current AUD-EURO exchange rate makes this prohibitive). However I've read a number of bad reviews about them, in particular that they don't honour requests to cancel your subscription and will happily bill your credit card for months afterwards.

In fact if anyone has any experiences with any other (legal!) MP3 download sites, let's hear your opinions.

Does iTunes count?

[Pseudo]

Does iTunes count?

Yes - heap praise or scorn upon it as appropriate. Although I doubt that iTunes would stock the artist I'm currently interested in... iTunes leans towards the produce of the "big 4" music companies does it not?

[zipzap]

Does iTunes count?

Yes - heap praise or scorn upon it as appropriate. Although I doubt that iTunes would stock the artist I'm currently interested in... iTunes leans towards the produce of the "big 4" music companies does it not?

You might be surprised. I only really use iTunes when I can't find something in a local store or heaven forbid, torrent sites or Limewire. I bought a Dot Allison album on the weekend that I couldn't get anywhere else without loads of effort.

Not cheap - 16.90 for an album of compressed sound files is a bit rich! But handy if you are after a few tracks or something you can't find elsewhere. I have an iPod and use iTunes to manage it so it works fine for me. Also great for podcasts.

Every now and then they have special prices - I bought Cut Copy and the Presets for a tenner each. Often albums feature iTunes exclusive bonus tracks.11

Who is this mystery artist anyway? You're after Knuckles' version of Wandrin' Star aren't you?

[Pseudo]

I am surprised... I did a search on the iTunes website and found that it does indeed have albums by the artist in question.

I'm still not so keen on iTunes for the simple reason that they don't sell plain MP3s... most (all?) of their music is sold in an Apple-friendly format, wrapped with DRM which limits the way the file can be used. I've never had cause to use iTunes shop before; my own MP3 player is a Sony and I use pretty much stuff which I've ripped from my own CDs.

emusic.com lets you have plain old MP3 files, and gives you license to do whatever you like with them within the bounds of personal use. Unfortunately however they don't support a-la-carte purchase of songs; you are forced to subscribe and pay a monthly fee for N downloads per month. All I wanted was a few albums by this one artist.

I guess it's going to be a toss-up between iTunes and emusic.

And the artist of interest to me, FWIW, is a Belgian band called Vive La Fête. Type the band name into YouTube for a sample. The lead singer is hot hot hot....

[zipzap]

And the artist of interest to me, FWIW, is a Belgian band called Vive La Fête. Type the band name into YouTube for a sample. The lead singer is hot hot hot....

Sounds good. Eurocheese!