Apologies in advance as a I’ve posted about this before, but does anyone know if the 7Digital site has folded?
I can still access my purchases but they haven’t updated the main page for weeks and weeks. I have always used it to buy downloads because the default bit rate is 320 as opposed to both Amazon and Apple where it’s 256.
If it has gone the way of all flesh, what other sites do people use for decent quality, legal, digital files?
I think 7digital have done this before – although the lack of any new releases doesn’t look promising….
As an alternate, try Qoboz, which have albums in full lossless quality. They now actually have an UK store (previously had to send them an email for access to the French site)
https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/shop
Thanks Chrisf. After a couple of attempts 7digital actually replied to my email and have said that they’re making changes to the site and it should be back up and running properly “in awhile “but I have to say that reply doesn’t fill me with confidence.
Will certainly have a look at Qobuz though.
I have to say that emusic may be in a death spiral. They have, it seems, lost almost all their labels that release any actual current music you may have heard of, Merge excepted. Their charts are full of live bootlegs and ‘remastered’ jazz ripped from vinyl. If there’s not an upward turn I may have to go its no good having a great deal on a bad product in April when my sub renews. As for their blockchain project, absolutely incomprehensible.
Glad it’s not just me bewildered by the blockchain stuff…
After reading their white paper on blockchain (ok, I skimmed it) I felt more confused. The basic premise seems sound, but as for how it might work for the consumer they’ve done a terrible job of explaining it. Glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t understand.
And as if the lack of decent releases wasn’t enough , they’ve now introduced another step in the purchase process. You now have to specify whether you want to pay using your credit or blockchain. Regardless of whether you have any blockchain to use. It’s a fucking joke
There’s also hdtracks.
My 58 year old ears just can’t justify paying £15 and more for the “higher” sound quality. The good thing about 7Digital is/was that it offered a huge range, with most new releases, but a choice of 320k mp3 (at a decent price in most cases) OR higher bit rates
Looking at the Prefab Sprout / Trawl The Megahertz release as an example…..
Amazon lists at £9.99 for the CD
iTunes has at £8.99 for download
Qobuz UK has at £14.99 for the hi- res version (£12.99 for the CD quality download)
Qobuz France has at 16.99 Euros for the high res (~£15) and 11.49 Euros for the CD quality (~£10)
However if i go to HD Tracks (US) they have at $13.99 (~£10) for the hi-res version and that’s before the 15% off code they always have for new releases – bringing it down to ~£9.
So it turns out that by using HD Tracks US site (which is easy to do – just make up an address and use PayPal), you can get the “higher” sound quality for less that the cost of a standard CD and on par with iTunes.
Note that this may not hold for all albums, but is generally true.
UK music buyers are still being fleeced…….
Add into the mix that Qobuz France is usually cheaper than Qobuz UK.
The emusic current top 10
William Tyler
Mike krol
Stevie Ray Vaughan bootleg
Chet Baker Miles Davis ‘remaster’
Music for meditation
Julia Kent
Miles and Sonny Stitt – live bootleg
V good but 3-year old release of a percussionist Kumiko plahying Steve Reich
Tallies
oscar Peterson bootleg
It’s not exactly thrilling is it.
It’s not – though they also have the Pressure Sounds back catalogue, which has lots of good stuff, if that’s your thing.
I decided to put my account on hold and they’ve given me a £10 bonus as an incentive to come back when the suspension expires.
Back catalogue can still surprise- some bizarre is on for example but as for ‘some new’ – very little. My yardstick is indie releases well reviewed in Fridays Guardian. Months since they had one on emusic. How does the suspension work @lando-cakes
I left last summer after over a decade. I’d have got the Tyler, mind.
I clicked on my account and there’s an option to suspend/cancel in the section that describes your plan. I got a box saying that they expect to have major labels return over the next few weeks and if I opt to just suspend instead of cancelling, they”l give me £10 for my trouble. I’m paraphrasing slightly but you get the gist.
I’ve loved emusic but I too am wondering if it’s nearing the end. The blockchain thing has a whiff of Fyre Festival about it …
I’m very very close to swapping my £12.75 a month I spend on Emusic (and have done for the best part of 20 years!) for a £10 a month streaming service.
As a matter of interest, while your Emusic account is suspended, do you still have access to download or re-download the tracks you’l already bought?
You still have when you’ve left. They always made a big play of that, that you were buying, not hiring.
I’ve ditched eMusic a few months ago as the catalogue was getting ridiculously thin – I’m still wedded to the idea of paying someone for the music they’ve made so I generally just buy the record or CD if I really like something – or if I don’t feel like investing in a physical release (which are getting more expensive) more often than not I can give the artist some cash via Bandcamp and get a Hi-Res download and I know the band will get a far greater cut than if you pay via itunes etc.