eMusic, the popular online music service, has launched a Canadian subscription service that offers over 3.5 million songs without DRM.
eMusic Launches Canadian Site
April 30, 2008
Share this post
4 Comments
Law Bytes
Episode 199: Boris Bytensky on the Criminal Code Reforms in the Online Harms Act
byMichael Geist
April 15, 2024
Michael Geist
April 8, 2024
Michael Geist
March 25, 2024
Michael Geist
March 18, 2024
Michael Geist
March 11, 2024
Michael Geist
Search Results placeholder
Recent Posts
- Debating the Online Harms Act: Insights from Two Recent Panels on Bill C-63
- The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 199: Boris Bytensky on the Criminal Code Reforms in the Online Harms Act
- AI Spending is Not an AI Strategy: Why the Government’s Artificial Intelligence Plan Avoids the Hard Governance Questions
- The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 198: Richard Moon on the Return of the Section 13 Hate Speech Provision in the Online Harms Act
- Tweets Are Not Enough: Why Combatting Relentless Antisemitism in Canada Requires Real Leadership and Action
eMusic.ca annoyance
This is actually more annoying than anything. I’ve been an eMusic member since 2003 and have never come across a song or album I couldn’t download because I live in Canada. Now that there’s a Canadian version, my monthly fee will be larger and the number of downloads smaller. I blogged about this a whie back ([ link ]), pointing out I’ll actually be paying 28 per cent more per track as a member of eMusic.ca. It’s a great service and I’l keep using it, but I’m not that pleased at the moment.
Yay, I get to pay more
Now, for the added service of having “Canada” written under the eMusic logo when I go to eMusic.com, I get to pay 20% more. Great DRM-free service, it’s a shame they decided to gouge Canadian customers.
MP3 levy to blame
eMusic is saying that the additional charges were \”due to tariffs required by Canadian law\” — presumably this is the MP3 levy approved last fall. The levy is 3 cents a song or 1.5 cents per song when you buy full albums, but eMusic doesn\’t set a separate album price, so even though I only buy full albums, I\’m going to be billed enough to cover the full $3 a month for the 100 tracks I download. I wonder if eMusic will pass along the entire $3 to SOCAN or keep half of it.
What the Hell?
Proffesor Mike. Can you explain how it\’s legal for them to steal music customer\’s money like this?!? Taxing Legal Music Download services with a levy?!? With tapes it was to compensate for the fact they might be used to \”copy\” music…but digital music downloads are not media!! If you\’re paying for music how can you \”copy\” music you haven\’t paid for into digital music you have paid for? That makes no sense…!