This article was published on November 17, 2010

eMusic, subscription download service falls out with indie labels


eMusic, subscription download service falls out with indie labels

eMusic, the subscription based music download service has emailed users to inform them that they will soon lose access to music from some independent record labels.

The email, sent on November 16th told the subscribers that they only have two more days remaining to download music from the Domino, Merge and Beggars labels.  This means that eMusic subscribers will be losing access to popular indie artists such as Belle & Sebastian, Cat Power and Arcade Fire.

This loss comes not long after eMusic announced a deal with Universal Music Group which would see eMusic’s catalog expand by 250,000 tracks, but, which forced eMusic to change their pricing model to allow variable pricing for tracks.  Their failure to renegotiate a deal with these indie labels, traditionally their best supporters, must come as a blow to eMusic whose membership of mainly indie music fans has not grown significantly since 2007, despite eMusic’s push to sign major labels, or, perhaps, because of that push.

Read more about changes in the music business on The Next Web here and here.

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