eMusic is an online music store that operates by subscription. It is headquartered in San Diego, California, and is owned by Dimensional Associates, LLC.
eMusic differs from other, more well publicized subscription music services, in that the files downloaded from this service are MP3 files free from digital rights management software interference. The service has over 500,000 songs available for download (as of October 2004). New subscribers receive 50 free downloads over a period of two weeks; after the two week period, unless the user cancels, the trial account turns into a subscription account. Subscriptions allow users to download a number of tracks per month; there are several subscription levels, with increasingly costly subscriptions allowing downloads of even more tracks. Booster downloads are also offered to subscribers.
The selection of tracks offered by eMusic is strongest in alternative rock. The store offers a large selection from Beggars Group labels such as 4AD and Matador Records, offering many British and American rock and pop acts that appear on those labels. They also appear to pay more attention to classical music than other similar services. They also have a decent jazz selection, featuring albums from Concord Records and JSP among other labels.
The company was started in January 1998 and called GoodNoise Corporation. It purchased a company operating the Web site eMusic.com and renamed the company after the site on June 2, 1999. However in 2001 the major label Universal Music bought eMusic.com for $24.6 Million. It was relaunched in 2004.
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