eMusic customer? What does Sony/eMusic deal means?

So I heard lots of rumors about eMusic service changes for existing customers due to the deal they made with Sony. Not wanting to rely on rumors, I wrote eMusic’s customer service asking if there are any changes:

I wish to know whether the Sony/eMusic deal means my 65 downloads per month will be reduced, or maintained at a higher price.

If either happens, I’m seriously considering to cancel my subscription.

Pretty harsh words, but I already didn’t like feeling “enticed” into upgrading my subscription when they previously reduced the number of downloads per subscription. I upgraded so I would come on the up side, rather than NOT upgrading and then wishing to upgrade later on and be screwed due to the reduced download number.

What ended up happening? I upgraded so I gained an advantage, but new customers were screwed, getting a worse deal.

So eMusic answered me!

Thank you for contacting eMusic Customer Support.

Current members will see no change. Prices for new members will change. We’re doing this for two reasons. To help attract new labels and bring back those we all miss and keep us where we need to be as a business.

We really appreciate your being an eMusic subscriber and look forward to providing you with the best value in music downloads.

So if you’re a current customer and the number of downloads changes, you better formally complain at the European level. You were screwed.

It’s sad to see “higher costs” to customers as being an attracting factor for labels. It really shows how much they don’t care for us, only their already quite rich purses, which need a constant feeding.

It’s also sad to see eMusic feels like their business is at stake. It shows how music stores at at the mercy of the major labels for achieving profitability. It also shows how the major labels screw the customer in terms of choice. Stores close down due to costs, and lower sales if they don’t get some of the major hits. This will lead to less choice of the available music selection.

Ok, I replied with my understanding…

Ok, so this means eMusic will not be as attractive to new customers. Is that a way to keep in business?

Hope I’m proved wrong, though.

Which they apparently forwarded to their Marketing Director:

We appreciate that you took the time to give us this feedback.  I’ll make sure our Marketing Director is aware of your email so he’s up to speed on your comments.

We hope that this issue does not impact your enjoyment of eMusic.

It doesn’t impact my enjoyment of eMusic, only for new customers, and with a negative value of impact.