I’ve been an Audio Lunchbox subscriber for a while now, and have downloaded many, many albums and songs from there. However, I’m quitting them now and decided to give eMusic a try.
What made me go for eMusic is mainly the issues I’ve had with ALB. The website often didn’t perform too well and downloads were rather slow. This month I’m waiting for what seems forever to get access to my account! No matter what I type in the field, I can’t get logged in. The “password forgotten” form doesn’t work, either. I wouldn’t make a big issue of this if I didn’t have any left monthly credits, but I do, and I demand to use them! Anyway, first thing I’ll do once I get access to my account is consume my last credits and cancel my account.
So, now I’m with eMusic and I’m fairly positive about them. Other than Audio Lunchbox, they’ve really got their shit straight. Setting up a new account went remarkably swift and the website and downloads are quick. They run a Last.fm-style recommendation system, which I will check out once I downloaded a little more. Anyway, having had a taste of both services, I’ll list some pros and cons with these two services:
eMusic > ALB
ALB > eMusic
So surely, ALB is cheaper, but cheaper is not always better — unless you’re a Dutchman. I’m glad that I’m in a safe haven with eMusic. The redownloads are a godsend. I lost quite a few ALB songs once, so I could download them from torrents or buy them again. Oh no, I’m not going back no more!
UPDATE: I just got an e-mail, finally managed to log in and cancelled my account. I’ll keep you updated on my experience with eMusic.