I almost let a very important birthday last week pass without notice: the fifth anniversary of Apple's iPod portable multimedia player.
I came late to the iPod parade.
Did you know that, according to a graphic in the "America by the Numbers" feature in last week's Time, daily 'Pod sales in the U.S. surpass 88,000? It took my layoff from Canon Communications to join the podding masses, when I received a sleek, black 30-gig 'Pod as a "good-bye and good luck" gift from my former boss. Since I was out of work as of Aug. 1, the timing was perfect for me to "import" a ton of tuneage into the little bugger. After minimal instruction from my college-age daughter Brenna (our resident iTunes/iPod expert), I lined up piles of CDs from my outsized collection to pour into the program's library residing in my ThinkPad.
With earbuds in place or player hooked up to my iPod Hi-Fi system or in-car FM transmittter gizmo, I have listened in awe to the capabilities of this 21st-century consumer product. I have also pondered---when certain songs segue perfectly to something from another era or the other side of the planet---just how random the random-shuffle mode really is.
Since early August, I've put more than 5400 songs into my iTunes and 'Pod, with an ever-growing number of playlists. But until late in August, every single track had come from a CD. It wasn't until I discovered eMusic, the quirky competitor to the iTunes monster, that I became a part of the online (and legal) music downloading phenomenon.
eMusic offers lots of freebies for new members as well as existing members who bring in new blood. Their model is based on monthly fees, with so many songs for so much a month. For example, pony up $9.99 and you can download up to 45 MP3s, much cheaper than the 99 cents per song at iTunes. At $14.99, you get 65 songs, and at the premium level, $19.99 per month, 90 tracks. Unlike files from other digital music outlets, the eMusic tracks run on iTunes/iPods, and you can share them as often as you like and burn as many CDs as you like from your purchases.
Their focus is on independent-label music, and they claim to be the second-largest online music retailer with the biggest catalog (>1.4 million tracks) of indie stuff. The site also boasts a coterie of expert musicheads and music journos, whose reviews and features will help inform your choices.
The quality of the files I've purchased has been good, with the exception of some corruption in the Strays' tunes I downloaded. After I complained to customer service, the eMusic folks quickly credited me with a "refund" for the nonfunctional tracks. (And I ended up buying the group's CD at the legendary Amoeba Music in Hollywood anyway!)
So far at eMusic, I've bought some fiery modern rock and mind-expanding pop (Raconteurs, The Hold Steady, Sufjan Stevens), cool and crazy electronica (Daedelus, Dani Siciliano, DJ/rupture), righteous jazz (Dwight Trible, Dave Holland), worldly fusions (Natacha Atlas, Gotan Project), classic African (Indestructible Beat of Soweto compilation, Les Mangalepa), and more. Thrown together in a shuffle mix, they make for a very enjoyable, unpredictably eclectic listening experience.
And here's my blatant ploy for freebies: If you check out eMusic and think you want to sign up, shoot me an email and let me know first. Then I can pass along your info and get credit for some more downloads for bringing you into the fold via e-Music's "Tell A Friend!" program.
Now that's my kind of viral marketing!
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