eMusic raises prices as it signs Sony deal (6, 15 or 25 fewer tracks per month, depending on plan)

Judging from the angry comments on the site's message board, some of those fans are up in arms. The company announced a deal Monday with major label Sony to add catalog tracks--that is, music released more than two years ago--from Sony artists. But eMusic barely mentioned the fact that it's raising prices at the same time. Specifically:

The lowest-priced Basic subscription ($11.99) now offers only 24 tracks per month (50 cents per track) instead of 30 (40 cents per track). Existing customers will be grandfathered into the old 30-song allotment, according to an eMusic spokesperson cited by the Los Angeles Times.

The mid-tier Plus subscription goes from $14.99 to $15.89 and offers only 35 tracks (45 cents per track) instead of 50 (30 cents per track).

The high-end Premium subscription goes from $19.99 to $20.79 per month and offers only 50 tracks (42 cents per track) instead of 75 (27 cents per track).

Subscribers may be angry, but they shouldn't be surprised. eMusic has periodically raised prices since introducing an all-you-can eat download plan for $10 a month back in 2000. Just look at the prices in CNET's review from 2004 (updated in 2006), and you'll notice that the company has cut download allotments almost in half since the review was written.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13526_3-10254985-27.html