Sony Music is the first of the four major labels to reach an agreement with eMusic to sell songs.

Beginning in the third quarter, eMusic will offer its U.S. subscribers classic recordings from all Sony Music labels, such as Arista, Columbia, Epic, Jive, LaFace and RCA. Artists include Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Leonard Cohen and Outkast.

Daniel C. Stein

The agreement covers music that is two years old or more. Additional terms of the deal were not released.

eMusic subscribers pay $11.99 a month for its basic plan to download 30 songs or a about 40 cents a song, well below prices on iTunes. Songs are in the MP3 format and are free from copying restrictions.

Danny Stein, CEO of eMusic, said he has been in talks with the major labels about adding their music for a number of years. Talks are ongoing with Warner Music, Universal Music Group and EMI. He said many of the independent labels have been asking the company to raise its prices.

"We are excited to bring Sony Music’s vast catalog of music to eMusic’s customers," said Danny Stein, eMusic CEO and Chairman.

"First and foremost, eMusic is about a quality customer experience. We are eager to bring eMusic’s in-depth approach and curatorial excellence to these incredible recordings — as we have done for independent labels for the last 10 years."

eMusic has amassed an impressive catalog from many significant indie labels.  By offering an effective per track cost of $.33 or less, the service is an attractive a alternative for heavy downloaders who love independent music and want to consume it in a safe, legal and convenient environment. 

But Amazon is saying to consumers that they don’t need to buy a $10-$20 monthly subscription.  Amazon will sell you the tracks you want when you want them as DRM free mp3′s. The price is higher then eMusic – $.89 to $.99 per track and $4.99 to $9.99 per album – but often lower then iTunes. And Amazon carries music that eMusic can’t from Universal, EMI and others. Can’t find the mp3? Amazon will sell you the CD.

I wrote extensively about problems with the eMusic model back in May. Some notable labels like Vagrant Victory and Epitaph have already left over lower payouts. How long will others accept a share of eMusic’s $.33 or less when a download at Amazon nets them far closer to the $.65 they get from other sites?

The major labels will never embrace eMusic. But if Amazon’s payments, variable pricing and powerful brand are enough to entice the two remaining major labels to experiment with mp3′s, an eMusic subscription becomes even less attractive. 

eMusic is stuck between raising prices and driving away subscribers or loosing key labels unhappy with a lower payouts.

Amazon has changed the game and there is no clear way forward for eMusic.

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eMusic is the second largest music download company after iTunes. They have more than 300,000 subscribers and 2.7 million tracks, which are from independent labels.

AT&T will charge users $7.49 for downloading five songs Users can download an additional copy of a song from their PC at no extra charge.

"We think there are customers that are ready for eMusic, but they haven’t heard of it yet," said David Pakman, the president and chief executive of eMusic. "We’ve focused on making this easy to use."

Sprint charges its mobile customers 99 cents per download, which is a bargain compared to AT&T’s new service. Verizon Wireless charges $1.99 for each song downloaded which is twice as much as Sprint and more expensive than AT&T’s charge of $1.50 per download.

"We know that we have a lot of customers in the segment that eMusic is trying to reach," said Mark Collins, a vice-president at AT&T.

The music downloads will be available on mobile phones from Samsung and Nokia. AT&T is the service provider for Apple’s iPhone, but eMusic will not be available on the device.

They found that providing free content immediately is a plus. eMusic makes such an offer before visitors land on its home page. The company says that they have converted around half of its free members into paid subscribers.

A third of the sites surveyed offer trials after users click on content that is available to paid subscribers.

Over half of sites that offer a free trial after users click on a subscriber only section put up a complete barrier, not displaying any content. Members have to sign in and non-members have to join the site.

Just over a quarter of sites show a partial view of content above a barrier requesting users to sign in or register.

Free trials can be helpful to the user in deciding the value of subscriber only content.

Allen Klepfisz of free-to-consumer music firm Qtrax said, "Free is important. In an Internet context, people expect things to be free. News is free, video is free, search is free, so why should music have to be paid for?"

Readers of WebProNews will find my utter disdain of DRM as no secret. As of late, coverage of the music community’s marked disapproval of the practice has become widespread not just at this publication, but throughout the entire blogosphere as well.

At first, the cries against DRM were like voices in the wilderness with no clear direction of how to escape the darkness. As we enter 2007, however, a new day seems to be dawning in the realm of digital music. Perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel, a beacon of hope on the horizon that signals the downfall of DRM once and for all.

There are those who would challenge tyrannical music stores like Apple for the sanctity of digital music. Bob Caswell, herald of the people when it comes to taking on DRM, takes an in-depth look at those who would champion the cause:

It has the makings of an anti-DRM Justice League of epic proportions. Think of it, champions of the people standing against the forces of The Man, defending the rights of the consumer when it comes to content which has been bought and paid for within legal channels.

This can’t be music to Apple’s ears. The Lex Luthor of the music community, Apple is already up to its neck in legal woes entering the new year. Now they’re looking at the prospect of legitimate opposition to the restrictive DRM structure that the company has milked for all its worth.

What does a DRM-free alternative mean to the consumer? Choice.

Viable alternatives to the iTunes music store, and even the Zune marketplace, mean that music aficionados have free reign over the content which they purchase.

Pondering a switch from the iPod to the Zune? (Hey, it could happen.) With DRM-free content, you would actually have the ability to take your music with you instead of purchasing songs you already own all over again.

The future is rife with possibilities as more join the cause. With any luck, 2007 just may be the year that DRM dies.

Good riddance.

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Joe is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

Apple has the Rolling Stones back catalog for iTunes now. Congratulations. The eMusic subscription service just picked up a few thousand more songs from a number of independent labels.

eMusic claims it sells two million tracks of music per month, and is the world’s number 2 digital download service, according to a press release. The service now has music from the Smithsonian Folkways label available. The stylings of Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys appear on the label, and fans of the soundtrack to “O Brother Where Art Thou” will find that music very familiar.

Merge Records brings such indie-rock luminaries as Dinosaur Jr., Superchunk, and Spoon to eMusic. They never got the commercial play that Nirvana and Pearl Jam did years ago during the so-called “grunge” phase, but Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis (really one and the same) can unleash some incredible guitar work.

“eMusic leads by catering to avid music fans seeking music outside the commercial mainstream. Our exclusive focus on selling independent music has led to a substantially deepened catalog with the addition of these landmark labels,” said David Pakman, COO of eMusic, in the statement.

No kidding. The Internet definitely has room for more than one big player in the digital music space, and if it’s bringing Merle Haggard and Lead Belly along, that’s all for the better.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

Fans of lip-synching teenage frauds may continue browsing the web. There’s nothing to see here, please move along.

For music fans who find a music collection in any format incomplete without Johnny Cash or Roy Orbison, or even that of the Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis, will enjoy learning about eMusic’s latest offering.

The music subscription service now offers downloads from the Sun Records catalogue. Music from artists like Carl Perkins, Howlin’ Wolf, and Charlie Rich will be among 400 tracks initially posted by eMusic.

1500 tracks from the Sun Records catalog (from the Sam Phillips era, 1950-1966) will be made available over the next several months.

“It is with great pleasure that eMusic releases these rare, historic tracks,” said David Pakman, COO of eMusic and a managing director of Dimensional Associates, the private equity arm of JDS Capital that owns eMusic.

“Sun’s coveted collection has never been released for download before and eMusic is proud to make available these national treasures-some of which were last released on vinyl.”

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.